from the NYT:

Even hotter than the previous exchange, "sticky and heavy with
desire," with "a thick tongue-flap of tissue separating the mass from
the moist female organs below," is . . . what? The vanilla orchid,
that's what. Tim Ecott describes it so lovingly and elaborately that
his "Vanilla: Travels in Search of the Ice Cream Orchid" joins the
ranks of fashionably myopic scientific histories. The format's success
relies on both the author's doggedness and the reader's curiosity.
Salt, quinine, the color magenta: each has had its in-depth studies,
and now the vanilla bean is ready to be in vogue. At least one other
vanilla-ography will be published later this year.



hmm, the reviews on amazon look pretty good....

--j_a