THE ORCHID THIEF
Susan Orlean

Definitely one of my favorite books of 2000. The author begins with a description of the trial of John Laroche (referred to as "Crazy White May" by the local Seminoles) for stealing rare ghost orchids from the Fakahatchee swamp. The book closes with her own quest to see a ghost orchid. Along the way the reader is treated to botanical information about orchids, the history of the orchid passion (including juicy tidbits such as that Victorian ladies were not allowed to own them because of their overtly sexual appearance), tales of land development and real estate fraud in Florida, a vibrant description of a Seminole pow wow, and of course, anecdote after anecdote about h eccentric Laroche.

Orlean never over-describes anything; she can describe Laroche as nursery manager for the Seminoles and the describe his successor, leaving it to the reader to realize that one doesn't understand the fanatical passion of the other, while another doesn't comprehend the rather more practical commonsense approach to nursery management. She gives interesting details of the daily life of almost all the main characters, although I think she made a slight slip-up in describing a Bingo game (or perhaps the Seminoles use different cards than I've seenŠ.)

And best of all, at the end we realize that, in her quest to understand the orchid compulsion, she has become as fanatical in her pursuit of all aspects of this story as any crazed orchid enthusiast is to acquire the newest Paphiopedilum