The famous Susan Orlean story goes under the microscope in this Nieman Storyboard post by Andrea Pitzer. Orchid thief John Laroche may be the central character, Pitzer writes, but it's Orlean's reactions to him that propel the story. "Orlean is not holding Laroche up as a figure of sympathy or someone to pity, because Laroche has done something most of us never will, at least on a grand scale: He has surrendered his life to obsession."
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