Perfume

If you didn't read Patrick Süskind's Perfume: The Story of a Murderer 21 years ago, you might think there's no real rush to read it now... but the movie comes out at the end of December, so get a move on. I include myself in that order, as I haven't read it either, but I'm definitely intrigued by a book that deals with one of the senses that is rather difficult to articulate.

Of course, I didn't really need Patrick Süskind to raise that issue, as I had a professor named Richard Stamelman at Williams and he's recently written a book, published by Rizzoli, about perfume, its history, and its representation in the media. It's called Perfume: Joy, Scandal, Sin - A Cultural History of Fragrance from 1750 to the Present. (Note that not only are the words "joy," "scandal," and "sin" evocative of heady emotions but they're all the names of perfumes...) It's a beautiful book and if perfume interests you, then I would highly recommend reading it. Stamelman has all kinds of delightful insights on the matter. What wasn't delightful (so much as it was jealousy-inducing) was being on the receiving end of his eloquent emails as he wrote to say that he'd just visited France to see a Chanel jasmine-picking field in the dewy morning. When I grow up, I, too, want to be a retired professor. I'd just have to skip that whole teaching bit in the middle.