The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession

<b><i>NEW YORK TIMES </i>BESTSELLER * A <i>NEW YORK TIMES</i> NOTABLE BOOK</b><br> <br> A modern classic of personal journalism, <i>The Orchid Thief</i> is Susan Orlean's wickedly funny, elegant, and captivating tale of an amazing obsession. Determined to clone an endangered flower - the rare ghost orchid <i>Polyrrhiza lindenii - </i>a deeply eccentric and oddly attractive man named John Laroche leads Orlean on an unforgettable tour of America's strange flower-selling subculture, through Florida's swamps and beyond, along with the Seminoles who help him and the forces of justice who fight him. In the end, Orlean - and the reader - will have more respect for underdog determination and a powerful new definition of passion.<br> <br> In this new edition, coming fifteen years after its initial publication and twenty years after she first met the &quot;orchid thief,&quot; Orlean revisits this unforgettable world, and the route by which it was brought to the screen in the film <i>Adaptation,</i> in a new retrospective essay.<br><br><b>Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader's Circle for author chats and more.</b><br> <br> <b>Praise for <i>The Orchid Thief</i></b><br> <b><i> </i></b><br> &quot;Stylishly written, whimsical yet sophisticated, quirkily detailed and full of empathy . . . <i>The Orchid Thief</i> shows [Orlean's] gifts in full bloom.&quot;<b> - <i>The New York Times Book Review </i></b><br> <br> &quot;Fascinating . . . an engrossing journey [full] of theft, hatred, greed, jealousy, madness, and backstabbing.&quot;<b> - <i>Los Angeles Times</i></b><br> <b> </b><br> &quot;Orlean's snapshot-vivid, pitch-perfect prose . . . is fast becoming one of our national treasures.&quot;<b> - <i>The Washington Post Book World</i></b><br> <i> </i><br> &quot;Orlean's gifts [are] her ear for the self-skewing dialogue, her eye for the incongruous, convincing detail, and her Didion-like deftness in description.&quot;<b> - <i>Boston Sunday Globe</i></b><br> <br> &quot;A swashbuckling piece of reporting that celebrates some virtues that made America great.&quot;<b> - <i>The Wall Street Journal</i></b><br><br><br><i>From the Trade Paperback edition.</i>