{"product_id":"the-orchid-thief-paperback","title":"The Orchid Thief - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eSusan Orlean\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES \u003c\/i\u003eBESTSELLER - A \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e NOTABLE BOOK\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A modern classic of personal journalism, \u003ci\u003eThe Orchid Thief\u003c\/i\u003e is Susan Orlean's wickedly funny, elegant, and captivating tale of an amazing obsession. Determined to clone an endangered flower--the rare ghost orchid \u003ci\u003ePolyrrhiza lindenii--\u003c\/i\u003ea deeply eccentric and oddly attractive man named John Laroche leads Orlean on an unforgettable tour of America's strange flower-selling subculture, through Florida's swamps and beyond, along with the Seminoles who help him and the forces of justice who fight him. In the end, Orlean--and the reader--will have more respect for underdog determination and a powerful new definition of passion. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In this new edition, coming fifteen years after its initial publication and twenty years after she first met the \"orchid thief,\" Orlean revisits this unforgettable world, and the route by which it was brought to the screen in the film \u003ci\u003eAdaptation, \u003c\/i\u003e in a new retrospective essay. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eLook for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader's Circle for author chats and more.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eThe Orchid Thief\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Stylishly written, whimsical yet sophisticated, quirkily detailed and full of empathy . . . \u003ci\u003eThe Orchid Thief\u003c\/i\u003e shows  Orlean's] gifts in full bloom.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Fascinating . . . an engrossing journey  full] of theft, hatred, greed, jealousy, madness, and backstabbing.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Orlean's snapshot-vivid, pitch-perfect prose . . . is fast becoming one of our national treasures.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post Book World\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Orlean's gifts  are] her ear for the self-skewing dialogue, her eye for the incongruous, convincing detail, and her Didion-like deftness in description.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eBoston Sunday Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"A swashbuckling piece of reporting that celebrates some virtues that made America great.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn Susan Orlean's mesmerizing true story of beauty and obsession is John Laroche, a renegade plant dealer and sharply handsome guy, in spite of the fact that he is missing his front teeth and has the posture of al dente spaghetti. In 1994, Laroche and three Seminole Indians were arrested with rare orchids they had stolen from a wild swamp in south Florida that is filled with some of the world's most extraordinary plants and trees. Laroche had planned to clone the orchids and then sell them for a small fortune to impassioned collectors. After he was caught in the act, Laroche set off one of the oddest legal controversies in recent memory, which brought together environmentalists, Native Amer-ican activists, and devoted orchid collectors. The result is a tale that is strange, compelling, and hilarious. \u003cbr\u003e\"New Yorker writer Susan Orlean followed Laroche through swamps and into the eccentric world of Florida's orchid collectors, a subculture of aristocrats, fanatics, and smugglers whose obsession with plants is all-consuming. Along the way, Orlean learned the history of orchid collecting, discovered an odd pattern of plant crimes in Florida, and spent time with Laroche's partners, a tribe of Seminole Indians who are still at war with the United States. \u003cbr\u003eThere is something fascinating or funny or truly bizarre on every page of The Orchid Thief: the story of how the head of a famous Seminole chief came to be displayed in the front window of a local pharmacy; or how seven hundred iguanas were smuggled into Florida; or the case of the only known extraterrestrial plant crime. Ultimately, however, Susan Orlean's book is about passion itself, and the amazing lengths to which peoplewill go to gratify it. That passion is captured with singular vision in The Orchid Thief, a once-in-a-lifetime story by one of our most original journalists. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"From the Hardcover edition.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSusan Orlean\u003c\/b\u003e has been a staff writer for \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e since 1992 and has also written for \u003ci\u003eOutside, Esquire, Rolling Stone, \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e Vogue\u003c\/i\u003e. She graduated from the University of Michigan and was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. She now lives in Los Angeles and upstate New York with her husband and son.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 320\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.7 x 8.16 x 5.46 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 04, 2000\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAward:\u003c\/strong\u003e Book Sense Book of the Year Award (2001)\u003c\/div\u003e\n                ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47178337026297,"sku":"9780449003718","price":21.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0789\/2782\/3097\/files\/MG1YK3U2YTVvc3lmRm1ob1kyWU9iUT09.webp?v=1767723021","url":"https:\/\/bookscloud.io\/products\/the-orchid-thief-paperback","provider":"BooksCloud Book Dropshipping","version":"1.0","type":"link"}