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The Orchid ThiefNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK A modern classic of personal journalism, The Orchid Thief is Susan Orlean's wickedly funny, elegant, and captivating tale of an amazing obsession. Determined to clone an endangered flower the rare ghost orchid Polyrrhiza lindenii 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
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK A modern classic of personal journalism, The Orchid Thief is Susan Orlean's wickedly funny, elegant, and captivating tale of an amazing obsession. Determined to clone an endangered flower--the rare ghost orchid Polyrrhiza lindenii--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. In this new edition, coming fifteen years after its initial publication and twenty years after she first met the "orchid thief," Orlean revisits this unforgettable world, and the route by which it was brought to the screen in the film Adaptation, in a new retrospective essay. Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader's Circle for author chats and more. Praise for The Orchid Thief"Stylishly written, whimsical yet sophisticated, quirkily detailed and full of empathy . . . The Orchid Thief shows Orlean's] gifts in full bloom."--The New York Times Book Review "Fascinating . . . an engrossing journey full] of theft, hatred, greed, jealousy, madness, and backstabbing."--Los Angeles Times
"Orlean's snapshot-vivid, pitch-perfect prose . . . is fast becoming one of our national treasures."--The Washington Post Book World
"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."--Boston Sunday Globe "A swashbuckling piece of reporting that celebrates some virtues that made America great."--The Wall Street Journal
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 01/04/2000
ISBN: 9780449003718
Pages: 320
Weight: 0.63lbs
Size: 8.16h x 5.46w x 0.70d
Award: Book Sense Book of the Year Award - Nominee
Review Citations: Entertainment Weekly 02/04/2000 pg. 65
New York Times 01/23/2000 pg. 32
BookPage 12/01/2002 pg. 31
Entertainment Weekly 03/21/2003 pg. 116
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4.4 ★★★★★
Based on 691 reviews
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Product Reviews
★★★★★ 1
Not what I was hoping for
Format: Paperback
I've been interested in the topic of religious appropriation ever since I saw my non-Tibetan neighbor hang Tibetan prayer flags on his front porch. And when I lived in Japan, I saw that non-Christian Japanese appropriated all of the trappings of Western Christian wedding ceremonies. So I had high hopes for this book. But it reads like a very looooong, and also very academic sermon on the evils of capitalism, western hegemony, and other such terms. There is not an ounce of humor in any of this book.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2026
★★★★★ 5
Fascinating and well written
Format: Hardcover
This is one of those books that makes you re-see everyday things with new awareness and a more critical eye. Well-researched, organized and written. Highly recommend!
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Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2022
★★★★★ 1
Pop culture: yoga, croases, costumes, tattoos of sacred symbols …is not religious appropiation.
Format: Hardcover
Neither are Christmas trees, a pagan tradition, except to religious fundamentalists. Religion, all religions … which are all patriarchal by origin and definition is to be challenged for hypocrisy … see Madonna for in your face pop blasphemy. This is not scholarship.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2023
★★★★★ 5
An Invitation to Better Dialogue
Format: Paperback
Perry Schmidt-Leukel has tackled one of the most difficult intellectual minefields of all - religious pluralism. I admire his attempt, desire and intentions. This work is based off of a 2015 Gifford lecture in Glasgow.
Religious Pluralism is one of the three possible stances that address the Problem of Religious Diversity. The other two stances are significantly more common and also close sisters - Exclusivism and Inclusivism. Pluralism is the most radical stance but also one most needed in a globally-connected world with seemingly ineradicable conflict and violence.
One can safely ignore, by the way, the stance that all religions are nothing but projections of immature minds (Naturalism); this is a gaslighting position which tries to throw the baby out with the bathwater and does not really address the issue of religious diversity. Religion should be treated with the seriousness it is due and humans are inherently homo religiosus as history and culture attest.
There are several reasons why Pluralism should be considered the superior stance. First, it is the most pragmatic as alluded to in my above statement on conflict. Second, if one understands Truth as something that no human or group of humans can ever have a monopoly on then Pluralism makes more sense than the other two. I should add that we should approach understanding of Truth more as a peregrination than as some fixed or static destination.
Third, much of religious diversity is due to historical, cultural and especially linguistic differences but if we spend time in interreligious dialogue, we can begin to see that the religions are often saying the same things but using different jargon. The jargon should not be confused with Reality or Truth. As humans, we must continually be humbled by our lowly ability to understand reality as it is in itself and our immense limitations of language. Language too often creates division and can also circumscribe our ability to understand. Yet, it is all we really have to communicate with.
Perry spends some time first outlining what a program of sustained interreligious dialogue would look like and some foundational principles. He then addresses some of the biggest elephants in the room - The Son, The Prophet and The Buddha - and how we can approach possible reconciliation, or at least how we can begin to frame the discussion. The other main issue is the problem of a Creator God in Buddhism.
If I were to offer a point of criticism to Perry's approach it is that he does not include in his discussion Philosophical Religions such as Platonism/Neoplatonism and Panentheism. However, I understand that would have really complicated things and he clearly wanted to only focus on the main traditional religions.
Perry then finishes up with a very fresh and thought-provoking discussion on a fractal interpretation of religion. That may be the most profound chapter of the book.
The book is full of insight but should be taken as only an overview (albeit a very good one) and a hopeful beginning to more in-depth analysis and discussion. I look forward to reading more from Schmidt-Leukel and I hope more people can move from their exclusivist and inherently conflict-bound view of the world to a more peaceful and uniting view of the very same one reality we are all experiencing and are all a small part of.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2026
★★★★★ 5
Pluralism as a positive good
Format: Paperback
Anyone iterested in how religions might think of their co-religionists should read this book. It pushes at the boundaries of settled views and points the way to a different future for interreligious relations. One of the best books on the fiedl for some time.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2017