by Susan Orlean
First published 1998
Susan Orlean's "The Orchid Thief" blossoms with the bizarre, true story of John Laroche: a renegade plant dealer who hatches a scheme to clone and sell rare orchids. When Laroche and three Seminole Indians are caught stealing from a protected swamp, they set off an odd legal controversy pitting environmentalists, Native activists, and orchid fanatics against each other. Beneath the absurd hijinks lies a poignant meditation on the lengths people will go to pursue their deepest passions.
Genres: biography, 20th-century, non-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: pursuit-of-passion, true-story
Setting: Florida, Hollywood, Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve
320 pages · Paperback · Ballantine Books