Rating: 
Summary: It should have remained a magazine article
Review: Susan Orlean, on a quest to describe obsession using the world of orchid collectors as a model, ends up falling prey to her own obsession with facts, history, and place, and her book "The Orchid Thief" devolves into a hodge-podge of unrelated tidbits that strut and preen with purported purpose, but in the end mean...nothing. However, despite the scrambled mess of the overall structure, Orlean did indeed create numerous beautifully descriptive passages and also gave us an unforgettable character, John Laroche.First, I'll be the first to admit that Orlean often provided fantastic images...the planes flying over swampland, dropping bags of flour on sold lots of land...the author wading through a swamp with prison inmates armed with machetes...and any scene involving John Laroche. Her strength lies in describing the absurd. But. For every fascinating scene, Orlean heaps five mind-numbing, unrelated, dull scenes into her book. Despite claiming that the orchid-obsessed characters were fascinating...they come out seeming...uninteresting and identical. Hippies in BMWs, plant smugglers, arrogant orchid breeders. They're all the same! They talk about orchids in the same way. They gossip about plants. They're...unreal. Quite astounding considering they are real. Except for Laroche. Who brings electricity to his scenes, almost as if his personality so seeped under Orlean's skin that she brought him to life, despite her obvious inability to render other characters in print. And where is Laroche in this book? The title is "The Orchid Thief," implying that he somehow forms the central idea of the book. But he's absent from 80 percent of its pages. And when the book comes to a close, he's hardly changed by the experience. Laroche was the bait to the story, not the story itself, and it were better that he had been relegated to a minor role. But the bottom line: this is not a book-length story. It should have remained an article.
Rating: 
Summary: Why does this little book charm so much
Review: The Orchid Thief focuses on south Florida colony of orchid collectors and John Laroche, who is charged with taking rare and endangered orchids from the Fakahatchee swamp. From that start, Orlean delves into the feverish world that is orchid collecting. Her focus is sometimes personal and sometimes historical. She shifts lenses and timeframes throuhgout the book. Even with the shifts, it all work beautifully well, although there is a bit of repitition. I particularly loved her chapter on orchid collecting throughout history and the orchid craze of the 1900s. And she sustains interest throughout her book despite these jumps. For some incredible reason, it all works superbly and we are drawn into the orchid world. And I don't even like gardening.
Rating: 
Summary: Writing
Review: This book is a fabulous chance to revel in the beautiful use
of language, and this author is a master.
The book isn't, of course, strictly speaking, about orchids and
orchid hunters, but it is an exploration of the quirkiness
of an individual orchid thief and his relationship with other
orchid lovers, as well as the authorities charged with protecting our wild environment in Florida. Plus, the author
explores her own feelings and impressions about the off-beat
characters she encounters in her off-the-wall (for her) adventure, and she reveals her thoughts as she travels through
this adventure. She obviously has mixed feelings about some
aspects of her travels, but she clearly is having a lot of
fun and excitement, and she does a very nice job of projecting
her impressions with her skilled writing.
The author's use of language has to be experienced, and most
readers will find her work engaging.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: Maybe my expectations were too high. I would have liked to learn more about orchids. I'd heard good things about this book, and it sounded like a fun read. In reality it was so boring I don't think I got much past 100 pages! It didn't help that the writing style was so bad. As I read it I felt as though the author was trying to sound breathless as she related her "adventure." To make it worse, the information was very disorganized, with lengthy chapters discussing the history of orchid hunters (not necessarily in chronological order) or chapters full of miscellaneous facts thrown together (sounding very breathless) or others on the various "personalities" she met. Nothing was in any logical order and much of it seemed repetitive. And I still don't know what she was thinking when she said Florida was the last unexplored frontier in America?!? Florida??? Her description of LaRoche as "handsome" with his missing teeth, bad posture, foul language, beat up van full of soda cans, etc., made her sound like a silly schoolgirl with an immature (and unbelievable) crush! Plus, she described the clothing she wore on every outing with the guy! This is a serious look at the orchid industry? Honestly, this is a marginally interesting story (and that's being generous) that was stretched into a very BORING book. Don't bother.
Rating:
Summary: Ponderous
Review: Saw adaptation. wanted to see the inspiration behind the movie and bought this book. It received positive editorial reviews comparing it even to a "midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil". Boy, was I dissappointed. This book was four parts repetitive description of orchids, history and repeated passages of why people seek them out. Next time, I'll pick up the encyclopedia instead. The best is that there is an addendum to the book. (Orlean interviewing Orlean) which was unneccessary, not useful and not good. This book is not good writing. We should remember why the screenwriter picked this book for a movie about writer's block....because this book says nothing, goes nowhere and is a waste of paper. Story could have been told in 50 pages....or a New Yorker article. I wanted to love the book. Was thoroughly dissappointed in the book and Orlean's writing. Please stick to magazines.
Rating:
Summary: passion - but held at an arm's length
Review: I decided to read this book after seeing the movie "Adaptation." I have to confess that this wouldn't have been a book I'd pick up normally - I'm a ficition junkie, and non-fiction usually gets so ... well, dry. But the movie got me excited about the passionate quest, and this book certainly explored that. While there are no doubt many people who are disappointed with the way the film adapted the book - I find that it captured some of the essence of the novel. Susan Orlean certainly lives vicariously through her subject John Laroche - and his ever changing quest to collect all of something. I loved the historical portions with the explorers and those who travel in search of orchids. Who'd have thought orchids - what I'd always thought of as old lady's flowers - could inspire such passion? I thought this was a fascinating tale - and to validate my feelings, I'd have to point out that my significant other (a man dedicated to Stephen King and cowboy novels) picked it up and battled me for it every night. Can't think of a better recommendation than that.
Rating:
Summary: Book Wannabe
Review: Even though this book has passages that are fascinating and reflections that, in a couple of instances, are arresting, I have to say that, overall, it is a somewhat pokey book. I can see it more favorably as the article it once was. Book length, it has whole stretches that are pretty much just blah blah and more blah.
Rating:
Summary: unusual
Review: I didn't think it was a good idea; writing a whole book on orchids! couldn't finish it.
Rating:
Summary: OK, but too much filler!
Review: I just finished the Orchid Theif by Susan Orlean. I really enjoyed the book, being a new hobbiest in orchids, it was entertaining and informative. The biggest problem I have with the book is the amount of details she gave that really did't matter. I was so tempted to go through the book again and count how many times she mentioned "it takes seven years for an orchid to mature." It was annoying to say the least. Loved all the history on orchids and Florida, but the filler is sometimes very boring.
Rating:
Summary: IF YOU ONLY KNEW
Review: I live in South Florida and speak with most of the characters on a biweekly basis. Although the dirt on the parties is only partially revealed, the reviews that call the orchid people maniacal or crazed is neither fair nor deserving. Passion is the word that best describes these people. Nothing more, nothing less. Orchid people are rich in the world of growers. They are richer than the bromeliad, palm, fern, flowering tree, native species or other societies. They are no more impassioned. Orchid growers are maybe less impassioned as they -- unlike the other growers -- can actually make good money. If the readers could only visit the gardens of many of the orchid growers and contrast their sites to the growers of palms or ferns or bonsai, they quickly would see the obvious difference. Accurate? Yes. Well outlined? Yes. Well written? Yes. Well depictive of Florida? Maybe. If you think these people are nuts, just remember that Carl Hiassen has made a fortune writing about our locals in the papers and carving their characters into his tremendous wealth of Florida fiction -- much of which deals with the swamps and wilds of this book. When I grew up, Califronia bred the eccentrics and goof balls of this country. Times have changed. In short, California is not the only haven for eccentrics. And not ironically, the main character of this book traverses his goals and careers by entering the world of porn. How can anything be more California than that. Hiassen could not have delivered a better ending.
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