| The Orchid Thief | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Susan Orlean |
| Publication date | 1998 |
| Pages | pp. 284 |
| ISBN | 9780679447399 |
The Orchid Thief is a 1998 non-fiction book by American journalist and author Susan Orlean, based on her investigation of the 1994 arrest of John Laroche and a group of Seminoles in south Florida for poaching rare orchids in the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve.
The book is based on an article that Orlean wrote for The New Yorker, published in the January 23, 1995 issue. Plant dealer Laroche was determined to find and clone the rare Ghost Orchid for profit. Along the way, Orlean met people in the plant business. In their and Laroche's struggles and oddities, she glimpsed true passion for the first time in her life.
The book was later adapted by Charlie Kaufman for Spike Jonze's film Adaptation (2002), with Meryl Streep as Orlean, Chris Cooper as Laroche and Nicolas Cage as Charlie and Donald Kaufman.