Reddit reviews The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

Want to hear something really meta?

In 1995, journalist Susan Orlean wrote a brilliant article in the New Yorker called "Orchid Fever," about Florida man who poaches endangered orchids from protected forests. You might think orchids sound lame, but this guy and his story are fascinating. Read the article here:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1995/01/23/orchid-fever/amp

This guy and his dealings in the underground orchid business were so intriguing, that in 1998, Susan Orlean wrote a nonfiction book called The Orchid Theif that gave further details on him and his obsession.

https://www.amazon.com/Orchid-Thief-Obsession-Ballantine-Readers/dp/044900371X

2002 was the release date for Charlie Kaufman's Adaptation. Here's where it gets meta. In the movie, Nicolas Cage plays the screenwriter Charlie Kaufman. He is tasked with writing the screenplay for the book The Orchid Thief, except he is having trouble creating a storyline because the book sort of meanders. So he gets to know Susan Orlean, played by Meryl Streep. He follows her, and soon discovers she also got caught up in the danger and sexiness of orchid poaching as well.

Cage also plays his twin brother, who is just as socially inept, but far more likeable. Cage's two characters get caught up in some adventures of their own. Cage is great in this movie. He's not so much the typecast National Treasure Nicolas Cage, but more the Raising Arizona Nicolas Cage.

So the book is about Kaufman figuring out how to write a screen adaptation of a nonfiction book that is based on a New Yorker article.

And as if that weren't meta enough, Adaptation includes a crossover scene with Being John Malkovich.

Edit: You don't have to read The Orchid Thief before watching, but do read the article. It paints a good picture of the Florida Man and the various intricacies of the orchid poaching business.