Book description
Susan Orlean's collection of profiles ranges from the well-known (Marky
Mark) to the unknown (Colin Duffy, a typical American man, aged ten) to
the formerly known (the cult sixties girl group the Shaggs). Orlean
meets with Cristina Sanchez, Spain's first fully-qualified female
matador, Silly Billy, New York's most successful children's clown, an
African king who is a New York taxi-driver, and a champion show dog
called Biff, who from a certain angle looks like President Clinton. As
in her remarkable bestseller The Orchid Thief, soon to be the basis of
Spike Being John Malkovich Jonze's new film, starring Meryl Streep and
Nicholas Cage, Orlean's eye for the fascinatingly bizarre and her
wonderfully witty way with language make her take on the world utterly
original and unique. Susan Orlean has been a staff writer for the New
Yorker since 1992 and has also written for
Esquire,
Vogue
and Rolling Stone.
She is the author of five books including the international bestseller
The Orchid Thief,
the inspiration for the film Adaptation directed by Spike Jonze and
starring Nicholas Cage and Meryl Streep. Susan Orlean lives in Boston.
