Just heard Eric Hansen talk about his efforts at creating an orchid business
for the local tribesmen. Very interesting stuff. If you ever get a chance
hear him talk... I'll break your heart.

K Barrett

"J Fortuna" wrote in message
news:XQXHd.17792$c%6.4283@trnddc03...
Garland,
I agree about "Orchid Fever" by Eric Hansen. I read it a while ago, and it
was great! Reading about what people do for the sake of orchids, made me
feel so much more "normal" in my orchid addiction by comparison. :-)
Joanna

"GARLAND HANSON" wrote in message
news:eMQHd.4995$J6.4221@trnddc02...
The two that I have enjoyed are "Orchid Fever" by Eric Hansen and "The
Orchid Thief" by Susan Orlean. I got both books secondhand through
Amazon.
Each was under $3.00 when I got mine! Shipping was more than the books!
I
see they are both available now for around $10.00.
Garland


"J Fortuna" wrote in message
news:gsFHd.5527$CI6.4612@trnddc06...
I would emphatically recommend the book "The Orchid in Lore and Legend"
by
Luigi Berliocchi (translated from Italian by Lenore Rosenberg and
Anita
Weston). I acquired this book in the bookstore of the Orchid Express
exhibit
in the Natural History Museum in Washington, DC. The orchid exhibit
was
fun,
and so is this book. It contains a lot of intriguing stories ranging
from
orchids in Greek mythology, exploration of the Americas and use of
orchids
in Catholicism there, Chinese art and orchid symbology, the use of
vanilla
in Aztec culture, the stories of the orchid explorers and hunters who
gave
their lives for orchids, beliefs in magical qualities of orchids,
etc..
The
book is well written and highly enjoyable, in my opinion.

Before reading this book I read "Phalaenopsis: A Monograph" by Eric A.
Christenson. Also enjoyed it, though it was somewhat drier (though not
nearly as dry as might be expected from a taxonomist), and there were
parts
of this book that I had to skip because the terms were too technical
for
me,
and I had not realized before I bought it that this book deals almost
exclusively with Phal species with hybrids mentioned only a bit. I was
glad
to find out more about the different Phal species, their
classification,
origin, etymology, and such though. Definitely worth reading if Phals
are
your genus of choice (Claude, have you read this one yet? If not, I am
sure
you would enjoy it.)

Joanna