Susan Orlean first met John Laroche when visiting Florida to write for the New Yorker about his arrest for stealing rare ghost orchids from a nature reserve. Fascinated both by Laroche & the world she uncovered of orchid collectors & growers, she stayed on, to write this magical exploration of obsession & the strange world both of the orchid obsessives & of Florida, that haunting & weird `debatable land` of swamps & condos, retirement communities & real-estate scams. The world of the orchid hunters, breeders & showmen, their rivalries, vendettas & crimes, smuggling, thefts & worse provide the backdrop to a fascinating exploration of one of the byways of human nature, the obsessive world of the collector, & the haunting beauty of the flowers themselves.