Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean, Anna Fields ISBN: 1-56511-689-5 Publisher: Penguin Audiobooks Pub. Date: 12 September, 2002 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 4 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.53 (127 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Flower powered.
Comment: I was inspired to read Susan Orlean's "true story of beauty and obsession" after seeing the movie "Adaptation" twice in one week. THE ORCHID THIEF is a fascinating love story: "When a man falls in love with orchids, he'll do anything to possess the one he wants. It's like chasing a green-eyed woman or taking cocaine . . . it's a sort of madness" (p. 78). And Orlean's book is as much about exotic orchids as the eccentric characters who collect them.
THE ORCHID THIEF evolved out of a article Orleans first published in "The New Yorker" magazine about John Laroche's 1994 trial for removing endangered orchids from Florida's Fakahatchee swamp. Thirty-six-year-old Laroche is a tall, skinny guy, "with the posture of al dente spaghetti," Orleans writes, "and sharply handsome, in spite of the fact that he is missing all his front teeth" (p. 4). Laroche's life has been a series of obsessions, from Ice Age fossils, turtles, and old mirrors, to orchids. In writing about Laroche's criminal lust for orchids, Orleans ultimately discovers her own "unembarrassing passion--I want to know what it feels like to care about something passionately" (p. 41). Laroche's oddball obsessions offer Orleans a meaningful lesson in "getting immersed in something, and learning about it, and having it become a part of your life" (p. 279).
With its lessons in living a passionate life, exotic flowers, quirky characters, muddy swamps filled with snapping turtles, rattlesnakes, bugs and critters--who could ask for anything more from a book?
G. Merritt
Rating: 5
Summary: Passion for orchids. And the writer's passion for the story
Comment: I love to learn new things. That's why this 1998 book by journalist Susan Orlean appealed to me. It's about orchids. And one particular eccentric man with a scheme to grow rich from Florida's endangered Ghost Orchid. But mostly, it's about the passion surrounding the special world of the orchid lover. And, also, it's about the writer's own passion for a good story.
On a visit to Florida, Ms. Orleans just happened to see a small article in the local newspaper about John Laroche, accused of stealing orchids from the Fakahatchee Swamp. On a whim, she went to the trial, became interested in the subject and, with a sense of humor and a great way with words, she takes the reader on her own journey of discovery. I love Ms. Orleans' writing. For example, she describes John Laroche as having "the posture of al dente spaghetti" and "the bulk and shape of a coat hanger".
I identified with the writer's experience completely. I was right with her as she explored the hot mucky swamps. And I listened with her ears as she interviewed collectors, business people and law enforcement agents. I learned about the Seminole Indians and their own particular story. I learned a lot of orchid history dating back hundreds of years which included a whole cast of European plunderers, smugglers and naturalists. And I learned about Florida, with all its beauty and land grabbing and swamps and personalities. A lot of research went into this book. It's full of facts and figures as well as the writer's personal observations. It certainly taught me a lot. It even drove me to the Internet to find out when the next orchid show will be in New York. I know I'll be there.
I loved this book and give it an extremely high recommendation. It certainly opened a whole new world for me.
Rating: 5
Summary: The Ghost Orchid Comes Alive!
Comment: Susan Orlean joins orchid collector and obsessor John Laroche, to find the amazing and rare, ghost orchid. Overtime she herself falls also in love with orchids. The book focuses not only on orchids but mainly on the Fakahatchee reserve where the ghost orchids are.If you have only heard of orchids or own one yourself or are just interested in the marvels of Florida and the Fakahatchee, then you should also fall into the wonderful rabbit hole of the Orchid Thief!
 |
Title: Orchid Fever : A Horticultural Tale of Love, Lust, and Lunacy by Eric Hansen ISBN: 0679771832 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 13 February, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
 |
Title:Adaptation (Superbit Collection) ASIN: B00005JLRE Publisher: Columbia Tri-Star Pub. Date: August, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $16.36 |
 |
Title: Adaptation: The Shooting Script (Newmarket Shooting Script Series) by Charlie Kaufman, Donald Kaufman ISBN: 1557045119 Publisher: Newmarket Press Pub. Date: January, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
 |
Title: The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup : My Encounters with Extraordinary People by Susan Orlean ISBN: 0375758631 Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks Pub. Date: 08 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
 |
Title: Ultimate Orchid by Smithsonian Institution, American Orchid Society, Thomas J. Sheehan, Smithsonian Institution, American Orchid Society ISBN: 0789480441 Publisher: DK Publishing Pub. Date: October, 2001 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
