The mesmerizing, often hilarious New York Times bestseller about passion, larceny, and horticulture set in the south Florida swamps.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." He's also a rare plant dealer, poacher, and charismatic schemer. New Yorker writer Susan Orlean follows him through swamps and into the eccentric world of Florida's orchid collectors, a subculture of aristocrats, socialites, and smugglers whose obsession with plants is all-consuming. Along the way, she learns the history of orchid collecting, discovers an odd pattern of plant crimes in Florida, and spends time with Laroche's partners, a tribe of Seminole Indians who are still at war with the United States.
A horticultural page-turner? That's how fans and critics have described The Orchid Thief, one of the most unique and fascinating works of nonfiction published in recent years. Orlean is renowned for writing true tales of ordinary lives and noticing, as she says, "the stuff people usually miss"--the quirky, bizarre, touching, and laugh-out-loud funny details. Packed with facts, stories, acute observations, and delicious prose, The Orchid Thief is a rare flower.