Rating: 
Summary: Get Orchidelirium from Orlean
Review: I went into this book with the only information I had about orchids being what I had gleaned from reading Nero Wolfe mysteries. (Wolfe is a portly detective who keeps thousand of the flowers in a greenhouse on the roof of his brownstone.) In addition, the main reason I read the book in the first place was--like most people my age--because I really enjoyed the movie Adaptation, which, for the unfamiliar, is a comedic film about screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's attempt to translate The Orchid Thief into cinematic form. But a couple of things prepared me for what I was getting myself into. First, Adaptation does a good job of introducing the audience to the characters of Susan Orlean and John Laroche before it takes them in an entirely different direction in the last third. And second, my own bibliophilic tendencies well-prepared me for the orchid obsession described within the book's pages. "John Laroche is a tall guy, skinny as a stick, pale-eyed, slouch-shouldered, and sharply handsome, in spite of the fact that he is missing all his front teeth." The first line of the book is one of those that could easily become a classic--a first line that, at the very least, will be included in one of those quizzes of first lines. It instantly describes the character 1 and puts you in a place where you are instantly familiar with him. (It is a testament to the moviemakers that they chose Chris Cooper for this role, who, like Laroche, is handsome--and became a sex symbol as a result of Adaptation--in spite of appearing in the film with no front teeth.) (This keeps turning into the film review I thought I wasn't going to write, but I think I'll just go with it and see how it turns out. It does make sense that I would notice similarities and differences in the film and book, so we'll just see what happens.) Orlean's prose is conversational and introspective. Like the film (there I go again!), the writer is really the main character here. She tells the story, and how the orchid obsession surrounding her affected her (for one thing, it made her fear contact with the flowers lest she become obsessed), and there are scenes where Laroche is not present, but never one where Orlean isn't. In the end, I was fascinated by Laroche, but I remained distant, as I was simply being told what things about him Orlean wanted me to know. However, Susan Orlean herself came through as a fully-realized character, with all her prejudices and motives intact. The Orchid Thief is a quick read and I enjoyed every page. My only complaint is with the ending. Kaufman calls the book "sprawling New Yorker-type stuff" and it resembles that magazine's fiction choices in the infamous manner of them not having endings. The book simply stops. I was being carried along--and didn't notice how close I was to the end due to the Reading Group guide in the back--and then I felt dropped as Orlean ends her book without even having finished her current scene. It was as if she said, "282 pages, that's enough" and then hurried up to finish. She normally used the mechanism of "show, don't tell," but in order to wind it up quickly, she tells an event, that could have taken up another five or ten pages, in half a paragraph. It was jarring and didn't fit in with the tone of the rest of the book. But, as I said, that is my only complain with a book that taught me a lot about flowers and about its author. I noticed that Orlean has written other books (some of which are in the column on the right), so I think I'll check some of those out.
Rating:
Summary: Passion Plus
Review: Susan Orlean writes with passion about orchids. Not necessarily because she loves orchids, but because she has a passion for story telling. She seems ready to do just about anything to get the scoop on these rare flowers. Of course, her personal involvement in the "orchid adventure" is what makes the book come alive. She is one game woman, and one heck of a writer! THE ORCHID THIEF works even without the drugs, car chases, and shootouts of the movie ADAPTATION. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: And I thought they were just corsages...
Review: After a recent illness my room was crammed with the usual bouquets and plant-me-later mums. I spied a couple of very tall orchids in this jungle. Dogwood orchids. Orchids?? I can't handle exotic flora from Java and Sumatra. Coffee, yes. Orchids, no. My sister, an intrepid gardener, assured me they would 'take care of themselves' and gave me a book called 'Growing Orchids at your Windows.' All the plants expired except the 'fragile' orchids which were dormant but still alive. I got on with my life. Rented a video by my favorite off-the-wall director, Spike Jonze. The movie was 'Adaptation.' A screenwriter has difficulty turning a non-fiction book into a script. The book is 'The Orchid Thief' which I just had to read after seeing this hard to follow but hilarious film. Susan Orleans has written a treatise on the history and cultivation of these tenacious plants. They cling to tree bark in dank uninhabitable swamps taking nourishment from the air. The thieves of the title include a charismatic wierdo living in Florida obsessed with finding the elusive ghost orchid for the purpose of propagation in a nursery. His rationale for making it more available to the public is to save it from people like himself. In spite of his grand design Laroche really just wants to persue the object of his desire. He is a lothario lusting after the unobtainable since the ghost orchid cannot survive outside of it's natural habitat. The seducer is seduced. Beguiled by the thing he wants to possess, he becomes enslaved. The only way to free himself of this infatuation is to turn his back on the orchid world. He had promised the author a glimpse of his prey but lost interest before it came to pass. She has fallen for him, of course, and misses his company while she completes her assignment. He finally relents and they slog about in the primevel ooze, get lost, bicker and never find what they are looking for. Does it really exist? Was it a dream? Does it really matter? Meanwhile my phalaenopsis is blooming. I had to wait for twelve months but seven buds flowered in seven days. I am besotted. I want to own more of these creatures.
Rating: 
Summary: What the....?
Review: I found this book in the "Science/Non-fiction" section of my college library...I was intriguied after knowing that the movie Adaptation was somewhat based on this book. Boy, was I wrong! This book is so packed with intricate details regarding EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about orchids. Read and enjoy only if you're somewhat interested in this subject. I wasn't at first but I still enjoyed the book.
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Summary: She Did It Her Way - And That's OK - - -
Review: "The Orchid Thief" by Susan Orlean True, this book grew from a successful magazine article, which Susan had done for the The New Yorker. She had picked John Laroche because he was an obsessive individual, who at the moment, was into Orchids. The topic of Orchid's to Susan is secondary, she started this project with wanting to understand how not only Laroche, but anyone could be so overly obsessive in anything one did. Of course the book is a bit self indulgent, Susan writes of what she had to do, and what she thought as she tried to understand and really get to know Laroche and his ways. She touches on Orchids as Laroche leads her around his other Orchid obsessive friends, and around a few of South Florida's Orchid shows. One does not learn in depth about Orchids. As a novice being interested in Orchids you read enough of the history, and then feel a current of the excitement which surrounds owning, collecting, and raising Orchids. If you love to learn little bits and pieces of facts, you will love the in-between of the just Laroche happenings. Besides the jaw dropping description of the past history of the Orchid, Susan also tells you more facts and history of the places, and the land of South Florida. Some say this was boring, but this is South Florida history being made now. I have lived in South Florida since 1956 and have driven by the lands of the elusive Ghost Orchid. I remember passing place after place of plant sales, and not understanding why there were so many. I have recorded thousands upon thousands of Deeds of the South Florida lots, which never will be built on. I've searched for Indian artifacts on the Seminole reservation, but I didn't know then how colorful Billy Bowlegs was. But as I traveled the back roads and through the fields, I was in a vehicle caravan with many others and radios, and not walking with snakes and gators. Susan may want to learn of Laroche's obsessivness, but what made her walk through three feet of water for hours in the middle of nowhere, to find the item of his dreams? I am thinking happiness is found in our own backyards, and the Everglades sure was not Susan's. But I now know I want to visit an Orchid show, especially down in South Florida, and I will wonder if those behind the booths are living this passionate Orchid life. Of course I would look for Laroche. A very colorful and vibrant intellectual with no front teeth.
Rating:
Summary: who knew a book about flowers would be so interesting?
Review: I absolutely loved the orchid theif, especially reading the style and point of view from Orlean. I have actually decided to get some orchids myself, and would recommend seeing "Adaptation" once you've finished reading
Rating:
Summary: A Fantastic Book About An Obsession
Review: This is one of the finest books I have read in many years. I was introduced to it through the enjoyable movie "Adaptation", but I did not realize that the book actually existed until I saw it in a local bookstore. The author, Susan Orlean, gives a good forward to the book (a self-interview) in which she explains how the unusual movie got made from the book -- and how the movie is not to be taken seriously (her character in the movie did not really kill a screenwriter in real life). That being said, the book is wonderful -- Susan follows the legal difficulties of John Laroche, an orchid poacher and amateur botanist, as he embarks on his quest to find, clone, and mass produce the rare "ghost" orchid. Laroche is something of an oddball, although as the book progresses, you begin to realize that Laroche is not much different from many of the more "respectable" orchid collectors in the book, and in fact is very much like the great orchid hunters of the Victorian era. Laroche is colorful and entertaining, and Susan's adventures in exploring the Florida swamps and the strange world of orchid enthusiasts is engaging, superbly written, and meticulously researched. The book is really not just about orchids, but includes a rather interesting analysis of the state of Florida, a brief history of the Seminole Indians, a look at how hobbies become obsessions, and a good explanation of how organisms like orchids pursue evolutionary strategies to ensure their survival. I enjoyed the book immensely. It is beautifully written, easy to read, and contains a wealth of information along with its memorable characters.
Rating: 
Summary: Passionate Obsessions
Review: John Laroche's all-consuming passion for orchids has led him into Florida's Fakahatchee swamp and into other such unlikely environments to locate new varieties of this elusive flower. Laroche hoped utilize a laboratory to clone these orchids and develop hybrids that could be mass marketed and make him very wealthy. To carry out his scheme, Laroche becomes an employee of the Seminole Indian tribe, then engages a bunch of them to assist him in his efforts. Laroche believes that because the Seminoles (and he as their employee) live on a reservation they were exempt from state and federal poaching laws. Instead, Laroche and his Seminole employers became targets of various criminal investigations. Laroche earns the name "Crazy White Man" from the Seminoles; this is meant as no compliment. When Laroche develops an avocation he becomes passionately involved in it to the exclusion of all other interests. After major disappointments and heartaches, Laroche immediately drops this interest, develops a new one and refuses ever to look back. This non-fiction account of John Laroche's eccentricities and of others who shared his passion, is told by Susan Orlean, a writer for The New Yorker magazine, who often accompanied Laroche on his adventures through the Florida swamps. Orlean, while enjoying an extremely valuable bird's eye view, never becomes personally involved in Laroche's passions. She never becomes a collector of orchids. Orlean is merely our guide (a very competent one at that) and Laroche's eyes and ears, so to speak. Orlean is wonderfully descriptive of the swamps' many varieties of plants and creatures--some quite deadly; as she mentions in the book, the swamp lands are full of life which she endures, if not quite appreciates, every step of the way. Orleans' narrative is overflowing with wit and irony, especially regarding the contradictions in state, federal, and park laws and regulations regarding poaching of indigenous animals and plants. Orleans' research into the history of the Seminole Indians (including some of their past illustrious leaders) and into the world of botony (not exclusively orchids) is thorough, impeccable, and truly amazing. We learn something about the characteristics of the thousands of varieties of orchids. Her occasional lapses into extraneous, and sometimes tedious, historical details may be forgiven. Orlean has written a breezy and very readable book of those passionate and brilliant oddballs who reside on the edges of society.
Rating:
Summary: More than Orchids
Review: Orchids and John Laroche are both subjects worthy of exploration. Susan Orlean has done a masterful job in writing about both. The various also reviews focus on these two subjects and her treatment of them. Overlooked are Orlean's observations on Southern Florida. The book details the lives of the people in Southern Florida. The upper class orchid fanciers, the orchid growers, the Seminole Indians and the compliment of locals, drug dealer and the like are observed. Though dealing with a different milieu, I cannot but recall Joan Didion's Miami (Vintage Books Oct. 1998, ISBN 0679781803), a very close look at the city and its relation to the Latin American world. As a Californian I find Southern Florida fascinating. Like California, it is an interesting mixture of old time pioneers, upper and middle class seasonal visitors, foreign immigrant groups and a home for a multitude of homegrown and imported nutters. The events and people documented in this book are unique to Southern Florida and are fascinating. Similar to California, Florida is a state with a geography and history differing significantly from those found in the original 13 colonies and, indeed, the other continental states. Orlean does a fine job in describing Southern Florida's geology, geography, flora and fauna. Orchids are neatly described. The area's history is covered. What more could you want from a book? She goes over the complete cast, the environment in which it takes place and tells a kind of story. This is done in crisp narrative and is never dryly academic or Michener travelogue. I liked it.
Rating: 
Summary: scattershot, scatterbrained
Review: I had high hopes for this book and it actually has a strong central character in John Laroche. But the author meanders like an orchid vine along unrelated and tedious tributaries of her story line, and the result is dismal by the (anticlimactic) ending. The author seems to have a high opinion of her writing and of herself -- and thus gets in the way of the narrative like a dog underfoot in the kitchen. A good editor would have pressed her to focus on Laroche, who represents a great American archetypal character in how he misuses his brilliance and drive in pursuit of a quick but illicit buck. The failure of this book is the failure of postmodern American writing in general -- authors of little interest who insist on making themselves central to stories that with a little work would transcend on their own. Unless you're Orwell or London you should be peripheral or invisible so the characters can carry the day. A very disappointing botch.
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