The Orchid Thief

Rating:
Summary: Ghost Orchid
Review: Over all it's a fascinating look at orchid collecting, the industry, the hobby, the culture around it and its history. The book starts as the author attempts to follow the trial of a man accused of trying to steal (and clone) the Ghost Orchid which grows in the wilds of Florida. The trial quickly gets left behind as the chapters follow their own orchid related tangents. By the last eighty pages I was ready for the book to refocus on the main "characters" as the book had begun to drag.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and entertaining!
Review: I'm glad I hadn't read the negative reviews here before I bought this book, because they might have dissuaded me from making the purchase. Instead, I started reading the book with no preconceived notions and I loved it. I knew nothing about orchids prior to reading -- I thought they were simply a family of pretty, white flowers that ended up in corsages and bridal bouquets. The book really opened my eyes with riveting stories about the history of orchids and those who collect them. It was written so well that even the more "bookish" material came off as light and entertaining.

I feel compelled to own an orchid now, but I have no luck with plants and fear I'd kill it. Instead, I'll spend the money to send my similarly green-thumb-challenged mother a copy of the book, because I'm sure she'd enjoy it.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a light, entertaining read that's nevertheless educational.

Rating:
Summary: excuse me?
Review: In this book is revealed John Laroche's guide to "mutating" plants, and his general theory of mutation. Laroche says that mutation is responsible for some people being real smart. Like him, for example. He tells Orlean that what must've happened is that he was exposed to some kind of toxic stuff when he was young and was then mutated into the brilliant person he is today. I am not joking. This is in the book. Apparently either Orlean is making the whole thing up (quite possible) or John Laroche actually believes in a comic book account of genetic mutation. I guess this is where his lack of formal education really starts to show.
As any schoolboy who has not gone to school and instead has learned about life from reading comic books knows, people are mutated by being pivotally exposed to some radioactive or otherwise toxic agent. This is how they derive their superpowers. In the case of John Laroche, the superpower is extreme intelligence. Laroche then goes on to state that he has "mutated" lots of plants by putting germinating seeds in the microwave. Now, again, there is a popular misconception, propagated by the media, that microwaves are in some way "radioactive" This is not so. Microwave ovens do nothing but excite water molecules with non-visible light, making the water heat up. Laroche would have achieved the same result by putting the plant seeds under a heat lamp. The result would be that the germinating seeds would wither and cook and die. The result would NOT be that they would "mutate." So this is all nonsense. The only thing difficult to determine is whether Laroche actually believes any of this. I'm guessing he just made it up as he went along while talking to a captive audience in the form of Susan Orlean.