The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

I started my cymbidium orchid collection from buying orphan orchid plants from Lowe's and Home Depot. You know - the types of plants that nobody wants because they are past their bloom, but the plant is still green, fresh and alive. I wanted to learn more about the easier to grow orchid species. My mom had a gorgeous garden of cymbidium orchids in her backyard. It all started innocently enough - someone gave her a cymbidium orchid as a gift. She loved the huge, long-lasting sprays of orchids that the plant put out, and once it was past it's bloom, she didn't just chuck the plant into the garbage.She was patient. She put it out under a tree, atop an old wood stump. She watered it and fed it with the special hot-pink orchid food she found at the grocery store. She pretty much ignored it except to water it every day. When she was too tired after a long day at work, I would water it for her. Not expecting anything to happen at all. But then one day - the dormant orchid plant sprouted three or four long spikes, and within days, those spikes exploded into an amazing spray of about 20 yellow cymbidium flowers!!!It was a sight to see!Me and my maw enjoyed those blooms for about 6 months, and the plant went dormant again. But this time, the bulbs of the orchid plant filled the terra cotta pot, so she divided the plant very carefully into two halves. She was careful to use special orchid soil for the plant, which contained alot of bark in it. She watered it pretty much every day. Wouldn't you know it? By the next bloom cycle, the two orchid plants grew 12 or 13 stalks between them, each stalk supporting 12 to 15 orchid flowers! Her garden was abloom with these exotic blossoms, and she was the talk of the block.She sure had a green thumb!At the time of her passing, she had about 20 cymbidium orchid plants in the yard - and my older sister took them all to her place. I wonder whatever happened to them? Alas - they are gone from this beautiful Earth!Now I am raising my own brood of cymbidiums. I got bit by the gardening bug pretty bad a few years ago. At first it was with roses. I planted as many rose plants as I could find, mostly I bought them from the plant orphanages of Lowe's and Home Depot. It only takes about 2 months to get a plant turned around back to healthy. Then I went onto my new cymbidium orchid obsession.I read all that I could about orchids in general, and that's what led me to this book; (copyright 1998.)When I found this book, the Orchid Thief, I was amazed to learn it's a true story!Author Susan Orlean is quite the wordsmith; she can weave such an intricate and unique story out of the Florida Swamp; in a real place known as the Fakahatchee Strand. She heard stories about this master orchid whisperer - a shady man who poached orchids from the Fakahatchee Swamp to clone and sell to the masses, and to make himself richer beyond all imagination. She traveled down to Florida in order to meet this outrageous man, named John Laroche. She wanted to do her own investigation, and she was familiar with Florida herself, having been raised there as a little girl. Laroche was a colorful, but unethical type of person. He had a different set of morals and values than the rest of society. But on the other hand - she found him to be as refreshing as a tall glass of sarsaparilla. He deeply loved all orchids; the pretty ones, the ugly ones, the hard- to -grow- ones he loved the most. He was a walking encyclopedia when it came to orchids, and he knew every person in the business of raising and selling orchids. He went to all the orchid shows. He was once a rising star in the orchid world, but then he exploited native american laws and some Seminole Indians in one of his schemes. She became obsessed a bit herself during this journey of writing her book. Orchids have a weird draw on people. They are mesmerizing, and spellbinding in beauty and unexpected shapes and colors. She was driven to tramp around the hot swamps of Florida to witness for herself one of the rarest orchids on Earth; the Polyrrhiza Lindenii, otherwise known as the Ghost Orchid. This orchid plant is not a standard plant at all; having no leaves. It is all roots and it attaches itself to a particular swamp tree for nourishment. It is not a parasite: it is a hanger-oner sort. It is very white, pure white, with four petals and a large lower lip, that has lateral attachments to the lip that flutter in the weakest of swamp breezes. It blooms for a short while, and it opens at night. I hear it has a beautiful, intoxicating fragrance to it.People call it a ghost because it likes to grow in the darkest, shadiest parts of the swamp, and the stark white contrasting coloring of the orchid flower makes it stand out - ghost-like, in the middle of the fauna, moss and murky waters.People go crazy for the wilder, rarest flowers!Even this author went a bit crazy over orchids - she hiked into the deep and dangerous swamp to see a Ghost Orchid in bloom for herself, but alas - it was not to be.I read this book and it ignited more of an obsession with orchids for me. I am going to stick with raising cymbidiums for now, but I also want to try a phalaenopsis orchid, (moth orchid), a cattelaya orchid, (corsage orchid), and maybe I'll even stick my neck out and try to grow a Oncidium orchid. But the last thing that I want to do is kill any orchid for my own selfish enjoyment.I learned something valuable from this book, and that is never to waste anything that is precious from this earth. Orchids are mesmerizing; they are extremely diverse and very delicate flowers. None of them should be bought for ego, or for the sake of ownership.Orchids should be brought into one's home for nurturing and enjoyment, and if treated properly, orchid plants will outlive their human owners!I loved reading this book because I learned so much about shade houses, green houses and orchid collectors world-wide! It's easy to catch an orchid obsession, so reader beware!After you get close to these exotic and impossibly fragile orchid plants, you will want to have a few in your home or your yard.Start with the easy ones. See how you do with them.And be sure to have an orchid sitter watch over them and water them if you plan on leaving your home on vacation.I LOVED this book, and I want to keep learning more!!!!

In 1994, John Laroche and three Seminole Indian men, were caught leaving a Florida Wildlife Preserve with bags full of Ghost orchid (Polyrrhiza lindenii) specimens. They challenged the arrest on the basis of a law allowing Native tribes to violate the endangered species act. Susan Orleans, a columnist for The New Yorker went to Florida to get the story. She befriended the weirdly charismatic Laroche, gained entry to the bizarre world of orchid collectors, and ultimately expanded the article into a book (and subsequently a movie).Ms. Orlean is as much part of this story as anyone else: she's there, she's experiencing this, and her thoughts and curiosity take us through lessons in history, evolution, geology, botany, and current orchid mania - the characters, the controversies, and the competition. Her style includes much wit and humor which makes for somewhat light reading and a few laugh out loud lines.Front and center are orchids - "a jewel of a flower on a haystack of a plant" - so evolved and diversified they've become "the biggest flowering plant family on earth because each orchid species has made itself irresistible." Orchids are "ancient, intricate living things that have adapted to every environment on earth." There are tens of thousands of varieties, and more being created by natural as well as man-made hybridization virtually every day. Orchids often outlive human beings. In fact, orchids can theoretically live forever, since they have no natural enemies.Orlean describes some extreme personalities of orchid people as an amusing side story. Some orchid owners designate a person as an "orchid heir" in their wills since the owners expect that their precious orchids will outlive them. Another reviewer commented: “This book will make you feel like the very picture of placid normalcy when compared to orchid growers.”“Laroche loved orchids, but I came to believe he loved the difficulty and fatality of getting them almost as much as the flowers themselves.” Laroche is a kindred spirit of those fellow orchid hunters of the 19th century who rescued fragile flowers in the midst of an erupting volcano in the Phillipines and a revolution in Columbia. An orchid from Burma was auctioned off in London “still attached to the human skull on which it had been found.”Southern Florida is an underlying theme. Many of us remember the famous land-scams of the 1950s and 60s. “ Florida land is elastic: you can make more of it.” (pg 122) Any dank Florida cypress swamp can be drained and remade… to look like a Tuscan village or an English town. Interesting characters appear every few pages: Snake Boy, frog poachers, Miss Seminole, Lee More the Adventurer, the Ghost Grader, Lord Mansfield, etc.The Fakahatchee Swamp is home of many wild orchids, Orlean comments wryly when plunging into brackish water up to the waist, and having to toe around for submerged alligators on the squishy bottom, "I hate being in a swamp with machete-wielding convicts."Indian rights and the Florida Seminole tribe and business interests are another side story. The legal similarities between Chief Billie and the panther and Laroche and the ghost orchids have a fine distinction.But the orchids! My thoughts are like the authors: “It’s like an explosion in a paint factory…” The flowers are interesting but the plant looks dead. “These flowers are poetic.” They are all so different. This one is speckled. “Here’s a weird shape. Look at this long tube.” The variety is overwhelming.

Susan Orlean begins a journalistic investigation of an orchid thief, John Laroche. She ends up learning and reporting about a subculture passionate about orchids, one of the most diverse plants in existence.I was enlightened about the habit-forming, addictive nature of orchid collecting. Orchids are admired, often thought to resemble other creatures, and are used medicinally in some cultures. Some would say that they are seductive and highly evolved specimens. There is great rivalry among orchid hunters, and new varieties are patented and coveted by many. There are also many crimes related to “owning” the discovery or creating a new hybrid.I didn’t know before I read this book about the extent of organized crime related to plant poaching. I was also intrigued by the smuggling cases and claims of Native Americans, especially the Seminoles, about these precious flowers.

I first read "The Orchid Thief" about ten years ago in a book group, and I loved it. It was a total departure from my usual reading material, and I have carried it on my list of ten favorite books since then.I have just finished re-reading the book. While still a very interesting read, it has now gently slid from my top ten list.The book is an amazing study of orchids, the orchid business and orchid collecting. In fact, it is a great study of obsessive collectors of any kind. John LaRoche remains an intriguing and somewhat amusing focal character.The side stories are particularly fascinating. As a Florida native, I thought the author did a wonderful job of capturing the essence of the state. The vignettes on the Cypress logging business and the land development near Naples were terrific. The background on the Seminoles was excellent, and the story of Osceola and his head was classic. Finally, the descriptions of the Everglades and the Fakahatchee Strand were beyond words.This time around, though, I felt the author told me a bit more than I really wanted to know about orchids. Still, it is a fascinating book that reads very quickly. Despite no longer being at the very top of my list, it remains a most enjoyable book with a lot of great takeaways. Highly recommended.

"...most people in some way or another do strive for something exceptional, something to pursue, even at their peril, rather than abide an ordinary life." (pg. 273)Because I love the film Adaptation so much, I wanted to read the original source material- Susan Orlean's book "The Orchid Thief". I enjoyed it... mainly because of the movie, but its still an interesting read."...I think the real reason is that life has no meaning. I mean no obvious meaning. You wake up, you go to work, you do stuff. I think everybodys always looking for something a little unusual that can preoccupy them and help them pass the time." (pg. 38)Adaptation is one of the most quotable movies intellectually speaking (to me), and the book carries gems of the same strain of thoughfulness. Also, since orchids happen to be my favorite flowers, I found the practical information about them interesting as well."I... looked ahead and behind at the empty road and up at the empty sky; the sheer bigness of the world made me feel lonely to the bone. The world is so huge that people are always getting lost in it. There are too many ideas and things and people, too many directions to go. I was starting to believe that the reason it matters to care passionately about something is that it whittles the world down to a more manageable size. It makes the world seem not huge and empty but full of possibility." (pg. 109)Susan Orlean has a way of capturing the thoughts deep inside me and writing them the way I wish I could make them sound. I will leave you with one last excerpt and then we'll move on..."It was a relief to have no hope because then I had no fear; looking for something you want is a comfort in the clutter of the universe, but knowing you don't have to look means you can't be dissapointed." (pg. 258)The outline of a story meanders across pages populated with latin names for orchids and collector history. I thought it would be slow-moving and bogged down, but Orlean's perceptions and mental sides kept my interest piqued and tugged at my heart like the everglades did to her. There is definitely another story going on underneath what she reveals in print, and the hints you catch give a depth the book might otherwise be lacking. Its not a style for everyone, but for some, its tender and observing eye will be welcome and appreciated.

A well-written and meticulously researched examination of the passion for new and unusual species of orchids, The Orchid Thief illuminates the power of obsession. Susan Orlean not only deals with the sometimes bizarre obsession with the beauty and money-making potential of orchids over the centuries, but recounts her own efforts to document and explain that obsession. As the book drives towards its somehow inevitably fruitless conclusion, it becomes clear that the writing of the book has become Orlean's own obsession. She spends months in research, plunges into trackless swamps and deals with dangerous obsessives in her own obsession to create a fascinating experience for the reader. She adroitly weaves her historical research together with contemporary events that are enlivened by a cast of bizarre characters willing to fight, cheat, steal even kill for the exhilaration of finding and possessing a new orchid. Lead vocalist in this opera bizarro is the orchid thief of the title, John Laroche. Laroche is an enigmatic and disreputable character who is a serial obsessive. Nicknamed "Troublemaker" and "Crazy White Man" by his Seminole Indian employers Laroche seeks to make a fortune (while supposedly preserving Florida's endangered environment) by stealing and propagating rare wild orchids from a state park. Orchids are only the latest in a series of passionate Laroche obsessions that have included turtles, Ice Age fossils, lapidary and computer software. Brilliant, egotistical and opinionated, Laroche stands in for the many orchid hunters who have been fascinated and obsessed by these delicate flowers. Ultimately, that comes to include Orleans herself. The book eludes easy characterization as it fascinates as accounts of history, botany, society, psychiatry and ecology. Seemingly different, yet essentially akin to the Spike Jonze movie Adaptation evoked by the book, both book and movie are well worth your time.

Just awesome! This book came onto my radar because of its starring role in Charlie Kaufman's 2002 film Adaptation. There are four main reasons this book is great:1. the primary subject John Laroche (to whom the book's title infamously but non-exclusively refers) is an extraordinarily interesting person2. the author's description of Laroche's personality as well as of her interactions/dialogue with him are amazingly written and 100% engrossing3. the secondary subject of the book is not orchids like you might expect, it is actually the state of Florida, and the author's descriptions/musings on Florida itself - its strangeness, contrasted nature, and uniqueness in particular - are wonderful4. there is an underlying theme that ties the whole book together and arises naturally from Laroche, the other orchid collectors/thieves the author meets, as well as from the author herself: it is the nature of passion; and as a result the book is brimming with psychological insights and flashes of wisdomCharlie Kaufman realized that this was more than just a book about flowers when he read it, and you will realize it too when you read it. Personally I could care less about flowers, but the flower that John Laroche was so passionate about - the ghost orchid - plays such an interesting and mysterious role in the book and is so elusive and sought after by even the author herself that by the end of the book I wanted to see one too!I highly recommend you read the book and/or watch the movie (in either order), as this is a book wholly deserving of its starring movie role. Unlike any book/movie experience I've ever had.

Somehow I was apprehensive about reading this book, I started to read it more than once but it did not captured my attention. When I finally read it, it gave an insightful behind the scenes of what truly goes on in the orchid world. Although I have personally met several of the orchid masters that are referenced in the book I knew nothing of their background, dislike for each other, or half of the stories written in the book.The book itself was not what I expected. If it wasn't that I too I'm an orchid lover and collector I would had stopped reading but a few pages into the book.

Arrived on time. Printing is a little off at the top.

A book that slowly draws you into the obsessive world of the orchid and those who will go to great lengths to own the perfect specimen. An enjoyable read.

No me atrapó, solamente el incio es interesante cuando cuenta sobre la historia de las orquídeas, cómo las descubrieron los occidentales y cómo casi se las acaban. La parte del cuidado de las orquídeas también es muy interesante, el resto del libro muy pesado y aburrido.

Makes an interesting and wonderful reading

Excellent and most interesting story