Rating: 
Summary: Kind of slow
Review: I purchased this book based on a TV interview with the author I watched. At the time I read the book I knew nothing about orchids or Florida land sales. The book educated me in those areas. In reading the story I was always waiting for something to happen. It never did, so I was a little disappointed. It wasn't a bad book, but it was very slow at times.
Rating: 
Summary: How can a flower become an obsession? Read on
Review: Susan Orlean's gift with this book is to bring the subject to us as it first appeared to her. What began with her as a magazine article became a novel-length tale of obsession and the pursuit of perfection. While some have criticized the author's lack of passion for orchids, it is precisely her position as an curious outsider seeking enlightenment that drives this tale. Orlean skillfully weaves around the tale of John Laroche's improbable scheme to plunder and eventually clone the ghost orchid from a Florida state nature preserve with stories about the history of orchid cultivation, the Seminoles, and the peculiar nature of the greenhouse culture in Florida. All the while, she seeks to see the elusive ghost orchid for herself. The pursuit of this goal, which is never successful, leads to several hilarious excursions into the swamps of Central Florida with the reluctant author and various guides, including at one time a park ranger and several members of a local prison's work release crew. Throughout Orlean displays a dry wit, an endearing curiousity, and a brilliantly personal writing style as she seeks to understand what drives some of us to pursue an object with obsessive passion and devotion.
Rating: 
Summary: Why was this book written?
Review: Sorry I have to leave such a bad review, but please, where's the story? All I can say is that the message could have been a beautiful short story (2-3 pages), but a book, no way. Don't waste your time here.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting...
Review: Susan Orlean is an amazing writer; she has taken a subject for which she has professed no interest, (she gave orchids away to avoid their ultimate never-ending appeal!) and yet she has managed to write a gripping account of her time spent persuing the accounts of an orchid-thief/lunatic/self-proclaimed genius. I quickly read through this well written book through 2 flu-ridden afternoons. Susan's swamp predicaments, ability to make a magazine-style story enfold into an entire book, and dead-pan humor, made me follow through to the end. I couldn't help but relate to the tales of Orchid afficianados: as I was reading, I was snatching glimpses at my own multiple rows of double, triple and quadruple leafed but currently flowerless white phaleonopsis. I am looking forward to a novel from this writer - she is truly talented!
Rating:
Summary: Riveting book. Almost 5 starts. Beautifully told.
Review: Orchids and characters, both beautiful and rare. They would make a good read even if they were fiction--but they are real. Real and exotic and beautiful.
Rating: 
Summary: Exotic Plants and People
Review: Susan Orlean has written an astonishing non-fiction work that has it all: An enjoyable and entertaining narrator, our author; an idiosyncratic anti-hero - John Laroche; an unfathomable body of craft and knowledge - orchid gathering, cloning and propagation; a sultry setting - the Fakahatchee Swamp in Florida; a strapping supporting cast - Florida's Seminole Indians; and finally the foolish, outrageous world of orchid enthusiasts. Susan reveals to us that the combination of: orchids, plant cloning, Seminole Indians, endangered plant species, an eccentric Orchid Thief and a crime of theft in a Florida swamp were irresistible subjects for a story. You will find her book compelling too! I read it through twice, not wanting to lose contact with these exotic characters.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging read
Review: I was completely absorbed by this book. Much of it had to do with Susan Orlean's wonderful writing style. It seems Ms. Orlean could take any subject and make it engaging. The characterizations were wonderful and I learned a great deal about the state of Florida and the Seminoles, as well as the whole crazy world of orchids. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Good for a documentary
Review: Well, I must admit, Susan Orlean is a very good writer. The Orchid Theif, however, is not the best book if you're looking for some high quality prose. Its basically a long magazine article, but hey- if you're interested in orchids and the Southern Florida Orchid Community, that might not be a problem. Its not exactly captivating, but worth a read.
Rating:
Summary: Amateur Orchid growers will learn a lot...
Review: IF, they don't yawn themselves to sleep before finishing this. I learned a lot about orchids (whether I wanted to or not) and wish I had read the reviews before purchasing it! It seems some of the info in the book was a little off, and annoyingly so! My hubby, (aware of my penchant for growing things; since I killed my last two sweet darling orchids, and I have a love of reading) thought this was the perfect book for me... Unfortunately, once started, I must finish... but this was tough. READ THE REVIEWS FIRST. They're generally pretty close.
Rating:
Summary: wondeful characters, good description conquered by boring...
Review: This book has to be one of the best described books i've ever read. What makes the description even better is the characters, so greatly defined you could mistake them for your best friend. However, there is a little problem...boredom. This book is extremely boring and difficult to get through at parts, this will make you skip pages of the book and eventually skip to the end, where you will say 'i could have wrote that in two pages, easy';. Then you will realize you actually only read two pages. I loved the beginning of the book, i really did, but by the time it got to the end i was so bored i fell asleep and barely remembered any of it. I give Susan Orlean an around of applause for taking a challenge like this, i give Susan Orlean a stick of dynamite and tell her to stick it in her head to clear it for taking on a challenge like this. NO author could save this book from the enemy of boredom. My grade: B-
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