** spoiler alert ** 'The Orchid Thief' is a journal/travelogue of Susan Orlean’s experience with horticulturalists in Florida. The genesis of the story was the author reading an article about an eccentric man named John Larouche who was caught stealing Orchids from the Fakahatchee Strand State Park. Technically, he supervised Seminole Indians who removed the plants, thinking that they would be legally protected by their Native American status. His scheme was to remove the plants, replicate them and sell them. The author portrays Larouche as a misguided genius, though his plans and actions are fairly harebrained.

There is a good amount of unfulfilled sexual tension in the book; the author describes flowers in human terms (pouty lips, etc.), the characters are passionate and every significant character seems to be male. And Orlean was often in fairly intimate settings with these men and described them in a favorable manner. At the very least, there was mutual companionship. Her relationship with Larouche, in particular, seemed to be building toward something, at least in my mind, and yet the book ends with her angry at and feeling sorry for him.

While Larouche is ostensibly the main character, the author weaves several different characters and sub-stories into the narrative. While orchid thieves are discussed, other topics include other types of smugglers, plant lovers in general, the history of this region of Florida, and the history of Seminole Indians. I felt that the narrative meandered somewhat, often at length, though most of the inclusions were fascinating in their own right. The author displays some aspects of her personality (though I wouldn’t really consider this to be a memoir) and interestingly portrays the orchid obsessors that I did not know existed.