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Average Customer Rating:	5.0
Release Date:	2000
Publisher:	METHUEN PUBLISHING LTD
Author	ERIC HANSEN
Number of pages:	240
ISBN:	0413747409
Format:	Import
Language:	Unknown: English; Original Language: English;

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Customer reviews

« Orchid Fever » I just loved this book, I have given it as gifts to many people. Even if they are not orchid collectors, it is so interesting to view the lifes of those who do collect orchids. They are a varied group. I think Eric Hansen is such a good writer, the way he sees things in a totally new light. He actually experience the adventures, as a result he is able to give an acurate discriptiong of events. Higly recommend this book. Rating: (5 out of 5) @ 2010-05-06

« READ THIS BOOK!!! » Well written and highly entertaining. Orchid Fever is not just a book for orchid lovers (like me) but anyone who is interested in conservation, horticulture, travel, international trade or just likes to find out how the real world operates. Overall a wonderful account of people passionate about plants and bureaucratic insanity. Rating: (5 out of 5) @ 2010-02-12

« orchids are addictive » This is a very interesting book for any plant lover especially those who try to grow orchids. Makes you think twice, maybe three times, about what government can do to the environment and people who really care. Don't trust any government to do the right thing. Rating: (5 out of 5) @ 2009-05-04

« Woulda been 5 but it was too short. » It has taken me 10 years, but I am now able to buy an orchid plant at Long's, care for it, repot it, and have it bloom more than once under my control and responsibility. I am that much an amateur orchid enthusiast, no foreign travel, no cloning, no $1000 species for me. Certainly no show winners. But orchids thrill me. I have 14 plants (I just bought another one: dayglo green with fuscia petals)all of which are in rather good health. Some have little nubs of flower stems on them. This wonderful book has inspired me. It has entertained me, and made me laugh too ("What's dog food?"). I have learned so much, and I now feel the depth and tradition and botanical (cellular, even) heritage that motivates and directs the DNA, hypothalamus, and higher-functioning regions of the brain of the orchid-lover. This book and its stories have added a romance and knowledge to my love and care of my plants. Rating: (4 out of 5) @ 2009-01-12

« Salacious and trivial » There's probably a good book about orchids and the recondite subject of international orchid policy in "Orchid Fever." In fact, I'm sure of it. Unfortunately, Eric Hansen spoils his effort with a lubricious, snarky brew of exaggerations, sneers, dubious anecdotes and invented suggestions. One example can stand for a multitude of sins. Hansen attends a three-day conference and trade show of orchid fanciers, trying to set up the idea that these people are wild, crazy, risk-taking guys and gals -- not far from sociopaths is the general view. His evidence: The conferees sang karaoke and after that, "What went on in the hotel rooms after dark between the orchid growers was anybody's guess." You could write the same thing about an Amway convention. So? The serious issue behind this unserious book is how (or if) to conserve orchids that may (or may not) be threatened by collectors, habitat destruction or whatever it is that threatens orchids. The antagonists are, on one side, amateurs, businessmen and independent scholars; and, on the other, academics and international bureaucrats, who are accused of self-aggrandizement and appropriation. It is not an issue just with orchids or even just about plants. It comes up concerning ancient artifacts, fossils, sunken treasure, even -- in a non-material sense -- myths and legends. See my review of "A Dinosaur Named Sue" for an example with fossils. A friend of mine who runs an orchid nursery confirms the difficulty. Under a treaty called CITES that purports to protect endangered species, he must prove that his commercial stock (450 species) does not derive from wild-collected plants. Of course, ultimately, any orchid derives from such stock, but CITES has rules. My friend got much of his stock from his teacher, now dead. How can he prove where the teacher obtained it? My friend could have his business shut down. In the worst instance, he could be shut up in a prison. It has happened to others. "Orchid Fever" has obtained wide publicity and wide sales. It was aimed at the thoughtless, the sensationalistic and the lascivious, and there are plenty of those people out there. It's sad that probably the most-read book about orchids turns out to be a piece of low-rent crap. Rating: (1 out of 5) @ 2007-09-28

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