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The Orchid Thief
- A True Story of Beauty and Obsession
- Narrated by: Jennifer Meyers
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
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The Orchid Thief
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Summary
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
In 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.
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.
There 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 people will 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.
Praise for The Orchid Thief
“Stylishly written, whimsical yet sophisticated, quirkily detailed and full of empathy . . . The Orchid Thief shows [Orlean’s] gifts in full bloom.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Fascinating . . . an engrossing journey [full] of theft, hatred, greed, jealousy, madness, and backstabbing.”—Los Angeles Times
Critic reviews
"Stylishly written, whimsical yet sophisticated, quirkily detached.... It shows Orlean's gifts in full bloom." (New York Times Book Review)
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What listeners say about The Orchid Thief
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Emily Valentine
- 29-03-18
Good narration for a book I don't like
The Orchid Thief, like many flowers I've stuck in a vase of water and left by the window sill, died on me. Susan Orleans's New York Times bestseller has a lot of threads to follow. The main one, as I understood it, was of her following the titular orchid thief, John Laroche, around the time he was put on trial for stealing orchids with two members of the Seminole tribe. In between this main story arc are several other sub-threads that explore the Victorian era "orchid fever" and the story of an "orchid hunter", the community of orchid growers and buyers and disputes between the local Seminole tribe and the Florida government, among others. It was this openness to going off on tangents that left me confused a few times and I often yearned to hear "Laroche" so I, at least, knew if the author had decided to go back to the actual main character of the book or go off on another tangent.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Clare Chettle
- 16-09-20
I didn't get it
I thought the book was completely bizarre. it jumped from topic to topic to place to person? I kept feeling like I had missed something? some plot point but no.
The narrator spoke like she was building up to something but I had no idea what? and I never got the point. There was no character building. No middle or end.
I did enjoy hearing about the history of orchid hunters. That's a fascinating subject that appeared to be well researched. I liked hearing about the Orchid shows in America and how crazy Americans are about their plants (us British are the same) the historical element was interesting but the narrator annoyed me.
I am glad it's over to be honest.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 02-01-18
good story, not best performance
A very interesting story and one I will pick up in hard copy. Unfortunately the audible version is strangely narrated. The narrator is inconsistent in tone and seems to rush through the book. The first quarter of the book the chapters do not merge well and end of sentences are lost.
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2 people found this helpful