Customer Rating:  
Summary: Rubbish
Comment: I'm compelled to write a review for this book because I find it unbelievable that it hasn't received anything less than 4 stars. The book completely lacks focus, it's rambling becomes so tiresome I found it difficult to finish. I found John Laroche extremely interesting, I wanted to understand him and his compulsive obsessions, but since there are only about 1 and a half chapters dedicated to him, there wasn't a chance. Instead the book dedicated 150 pages to repetitive (and dull and chronologically jumbled) descriptions of orchid hunters from the past and the extremes they'd go to obtain them, which made nothing more than one obvious point. Oh not to mention Orleans preoccupation with herself. I've seen it written a few times that the failure lies in the fact that the subject couldn't carry a 200 page book, however I fail to agree. In more experienced hands I'm sure this could have been a fantastic book. Next time Orlean turns her hand to writing a novel maybe she could call Donald Kaufman for some tips.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Flowers for the lady
Comment: The Dutch once endured a consuming mania for tulips. Intense competition for bulbs led to bankruptcies resulting from wild speculations, families were disrupted, and fortunes were won and lost. While "tulipmania" subsided, a new mania has arisen. More sedate yet more widespread, orchid collecting is a multimillion dollar business. Orlean portrays the passions involved in orchid collection and breeding in this fascinating work. Unlike tulips, which are limited in species, orchids encompass thousands, with the number of natural species likely doubled by breeder hybridization. Orlean's account depicts the history and business of orchid collecting, identifying and commercialisation. Orchidmania today is only slightly less intense than that of the 17th Century Dutch Republic. Orlean shows that collectors and breeders are highly competitive, aggressive, personalities, ready to engage in whatever is deemed necessary to achieve their goals.Orlean's fascination with orchids began with the arrest and trial of John Laroche, collector, blackmarketeer and general eccentric. Laroche becomes her pivot point for relating the history of orchid growing and collecting in Florida. She takes us along on her visits to breeders and collectors. She pursues them into Florida swamps and to orchid shows. Everywhere she explores and everyone she meets evokes the same feelings - vigorous competition, unbridled ambition, deep suspicion and a continual skirting with the law. Through all her encounters, Laroche hovers like a malign spirit, sometimes guiding her, sometimes taunting her. She seems captivated by him, his eccentricities simultaneously attracting and repelling her. This highly personalised account is a compelling read, with Orlean's feelings candidly expressed. The persistence of Laroche becomes, finally, almost tedious. The fascinating history of the orchid industry and the other figures she encounters might easily have displaced him as the central character. His erratic life, with swift changes from one interest to another, might interest a psychologist. Here, LaRoche almost becomes a non sequitor. He might have been dispensed with in a chapter. Orlean, almost unwillingly, remains bound to follow his fate, to whatever end. Her attentions meet indifferent response. They're nearly unrequited. Still, he manages to lead her through the swamps in her new-found quest to locate a particular orchid in the wild. It's not a pleasant journey, but one which she recounts in vivid prose. Some readers will know this book was the subject of the film, "Adaptation". The film is the story of the story and, in many respects, is a better portrayal than Orlean achieves. There is far too much well-presented information here lacking in the film. That redeems whatever faults Orlean may exhibit in this account. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Customer Rating:
Summary: An absolute must read!!!
Comment: I decided to read this book after watching the film "Adaptation" on DVD and I am very glad I did. Orlean reports on a world of deception and obsession whilst shadowing one of Americas' most notorious Orchid collectors. Written in what is very much a reportage style this book I believe has widespread appeal and is well worth checking out.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very funny and surprisingly readable
Comment: Essentially a portrait of John Larouche, orchid hunter and thief extraordinaire, as well as (surprisingly) supporting the conservation movement, this laconically humorous tale takes us into the depths of the Everglades, the forests of the Far East and the hot-houses of the rich, famous and crooked.
There are some strange asides, that illustrate the type of enigmatic person who goes in for the underworld orchid trade; tales of frog poachers, happy in their slimy occupation; capsicum and bromeliad growers who dump the whole crop in a fit of pique; collectors who also spray-paint pigeons' tails.In all, this reads more like a novel than an investigation into the illegal orchid trade, but loses no credibility for that, rather, it lends a more accessible quality to the book than it would otherwise have.
A very funny, worthwhile read.*****.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Only read this if you can afford to buy an orchid afterwards
Comment: If you like plants then I think you will like this book..... Why the uncertainty? ..... I am a self confessed plant-nut and thought the book was great ..... but maybe the less botanically minded might be less keen? The author, a journalist by profession, takes you straight to Florida! You are there with her ..... whether wading waist-deep in the dark and dank Everglades or, freshly showered, visiting an over-blown floral show in suburban Miami. From greenhouse to alligator wrestling, from courthouse to swamp you accompany the author as she tries to understand the book's central character - a compulsive orchid collector. I have read it twice and I know I will return to it. I hope you enjoy it too! (P.S. It makes an excellent companion read to "Orchid Fever" by Eric Hansen) And don't say I didn't warn you when you find yourself buying an orchid ..... or two ..... or three .....
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