num_pages: 348
description: John Laroche is a sharply handsome guy, in spite of the fact that he has the posture of al dente spaghetti. He is also an orchid thief, arrested for stealing rare orchids from a wild swamp and nature reserve in southern Florida. Intrigued and fascinated by Laroche, Susan Orlean followed him through the swamps and into the eccentric world of the obsessive orchid collectors of Florida, a subculture of aristocrats, enthusiasts, and smugglers whose passion for plants is all-consuming. Along the way, Orlean explores the history of orchid-collecting, discovers the extent of plant crime in Florida, and spends time with Laroche's employers and partners in crime, a tribe of Seminole Indians who are still at war with the United States.
language: English
title: The Orchid Thief
titlecomplete: The Orchid Thief
genres: Science, Memoir, Crime, Audiobook, Biography, True Crime, History, Nature, Journalism, Nonfiction
ratings_count: 19015
places: Florida, Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve, Florida
publisher: William Heinemann: London