A modern classic of personal journalism, is Susan Orleans wickedly funny, elegant, and captivating tale of an amazing obsession. Determined to clone an endangered flowerthe rare ghost orchid a deeply eccentric and oddly attractive man named John Laroche leads Orlean on an unforgettable tour of Americas strange flower-selling subculture, through Floridas swamps and beyond, along with the Seminoles who help him and the forces of justice who fight him. In the end, Orleanand the readerwill 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 in a new retrospective essay.

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Praise for

Stylishly written, whimsical yet sophisticated, quirkily detailed and full of empathy . . . shows [Orleans] gifts in full bloom.

Fascinating . . . an engrossing journey [full] of theft, hatred, greed, jealousy, madness, and backstabbing.

Orleans snapshot-vivid, pitch-perfect prose . . . is fast becoming one of our national treasures.

Orleans gifts [are] her ear for the self-skewing dialogue, her eye for the incongruous, convincing detail, and her Didion-like deftness in description.

A swashbuckling piece of reporting that celebrates some virtues that made America great.