Rating: 
Summary: The controversy swirls on...still a good read
Review: Susan Orlean has really done it this time. She has written a book about, "passion itself, and the amazing lengths to which people will go to gratify it." Is it any wonder that her readers feel so passionately about this book. Many orchid experts find fault with the book's facts and criticize the lack of passion for orchids from Ms. Orlean while lovers of a good story and that crazy world known as south Florida rave about it. For my part, I enjoyed reading the Orchid Thief. It reads like a novel, so while I did notice a horticultural error or two myself, I was not reading it as a reference book, but for entertainment. I didn't find it to be quite the page turner I was expecting, but the characters are memorable, the stories are interesting and Ms. Orlean's writing is a pleasure. I am an amazon.com associate.
Rating: 
Summary: brilliant! what non-fiction OUGHT to be
Review: this book is remarkable -- a meditation on place, a hilarious character study, a fascinating piece of reporting, and incredible fun to read. there's something even emotional and poignant about it that really captured me. i NEVER thought i'd be interested in reading about orchids. Little did i know that i would be sorry when the book ended...
Rating: 
Summary: Poorly researched, tabloid journalism at its best
Review: The author has done no proper research, neither she has examined all the facts. She is totally dependent on what the toabloids have published, or orchid zelots, often without proper academic qualification have fed her. Example Phillip Cribb from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has his PHd not in orchids, but in "Cultivated potatoes of South America".Equally, the author has never been to any of the sites where wild claims about them being endangered is made repeatedly, feeding public with fairy-tales, none of which upon close examination hold any water. Another book, to keep the door of my warehouse open!
Rating:
Summary: Adventure, obsession, and the love of rare plants.
Review: The Orchid Thief is a well crafted piece of work. It has the touch of a well done novel in terms of the ways in which the author describes the characters and creates a sense of expectation, yet it is non-fiction. I read it because I have a long history in horticulture (not orchids) and I'm from Florida. I found, however, that it read more like a novel than the sort of book that only plant people might like. If you like salty, extrordinary, characters or enjoy vivid descriptions of our Florida swamps you will love this book. It matters little if you have any interest in orchids at all.
Rating:
Summary: 'Orchid Thief' is a Great Read
Review: This book is my kind of book. It has the characters one can grow to love or hate, it is written well, it is about the beautiful and rare botanical specimen, the orchid. The history of orchid collecting, the orchid thieves, orchid collectors, the orchid show--all of these things and more--are included in this story of true crime. The author has done an excellent job when the reader wants to know even more about such an unusual topic as Orleans has presented here. Don't miss out on a great 'read', this book is a keeper.
Rating:
Summary: A dissapointment and incomplete thought
Review: I have just read The Orchid Theif, one of the most boring disapointments of a read. I was expecting a lively narrative of John Laroche, the "Theif" of the title. Instead what I got was a slow lecture about the history of Florida and orchids. When the author tried to descibe a flower, she was never able to put the picture of what she saw into my head. The author had a tendency to go off on many tangents, many of which seemed interesting, and just as I gained interest in her tangent, she would abruptly stop, and change the subject never to return to what she had made me interested in. The book was boring in that it could not capture my attention due to it's choppy writing style and inability to complete a thought. I would've preferred a clearer glimpse into the seemingly interesting, Laroche.
Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: I read this book with a book club. Of the 10 members only 3 were able/willing to finish the book. Of those who did, the universal opinion was that the historical factoids about Florida make the book. The only problem is that Susan Orleans seemed the make the history of Florida into a her own fictionalized version of it. Even the web site which she states refers to the tracking of Florida Panthers is incorrect. This was extremely disappointing since we live 50 miles from the very sites she describes. For those who enjoyed the book, be aware that she chose entertainment over historical accuracy.
Rating:
Summary: One of the better books I read this year.
Review: A wonderful story of bizarre characters selling beauty for profit and greed. This is a must read book even if you do not like orchids, gardening or plants. Orleans is a funny, masterful storyteller.
Rating:
Summary: A gifted writer on the bizarre subject of orchid thieves.
Review: Susan Orleans came to my attention several years ago in the pages of the New Yorker, where her matter of fact, man on the street stories stand heads above the rest. The book is a page turning, and a laugh a minute. She's a keen observer of humans and their bizarro ways, and knows how to share the weirdness.
Rating: 
Summary: fascinating
Review: Hard to say what was more interesting: the orchids themselves; the obssessed who populate this book; or Ms. Orlean who, like the unseen ghost orchid haunts her book (sorry about the pun) with her own preoccupations. It is our good fortune that these result in some wonderfully vivid descriptions of Florida,and its flora and fauna. I learned a lot about orchids, Florida, the Endangered Species Act, Seminoles and human treachery. I would know a lot less about any of these were it not for Ms.Orlean. And to Mr. Brown, editor of the North American Native Orchid Journal, lighten up!
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