{"product_id":"orchid-fever","title":"Orchid Fever","description":"The acclaimed author of \u003cb\u003eMotoring with Mohammed\u003c\/b\u003e brings us a compelling adventure into the remarkable world of the orchid and the impossibly bizarre array of international characters who dedicte their lives to it. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe orchid is used for everything from medicine for elephants to an aphrodisiac ice cream. A Malaysian species can grow to weigh half a ton while a South American species fires miniature pollen darts at nectar-sucking bees. But the orchid is also the center of an illicit international business: one grower in Santa Barbara tends his plants while toting an Uzi, and a former collector has been in hiding for seven years after serving a jail sentence for smuggling thirty dollars worth of orchids into Britain. Deftly written and captivatingly researched, Orchid Fever is an endlessly enchanting and entertaining tour of an exotic world. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A wonderful book, I've been up all night reading it, laughing and crying out in horror and clucking at the vivid images of bureaucracy with the bit in its teeth.\" --Annie Proulx \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"An extraordinary, well-told tale of botany, obsession and plant politics. Hansen's vivid descriptions of the complex techniques some orchids use to pollinate themselves will raise your eyebrows at nature's sexual ingenuity.\" --\u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48833723728077,"sku":"9780679771838","price":21.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0557\/1529\/9533\/files\/imageloader_f554bae8-43af-4863-a08c-1d00c04a7d75.jpg?v=1790894469","url":"https:\/\/booksatmidnight.com\/products\/orchid-fever","provider":"Books At Midnight","version":"1.0","type":"link"}