Perfumes: The Guide
Luca Turin, Tania Sanchez
Perfumes: The Guide
In a witty, irreverent and innovative handbook two experts combine authority and experience to review nearly 1,500 fragrances - separating the divine from the good from the monumentally awful; from 'a towering masterpiece' to 'a secret not worth keeping'. Their stylish book will do for scent what Robert Parker's books have done for wine.It also features introductions to women's and men's fragrances, to trends and to history and chemistry; a glossary and many 'Top Ten' Lists; and an informative section on frequently asked questions. This is a truly unique and useful guide, one written with a passion for its subject, and a perfect gift.It includes: Chinatown (Bond. No. 9) - gourmand chypre (the endearingly plucky firm of Bond No. 9 has produced its first masterpiece - like a corner of a small French grocery in summer. A treasure in a beautiful bottle); Hugo (Hugo Boss) - unexciting lavender (dull but competent - suggestive of a day filled with strategy meetings); and, Gardenia (Chanel) - not gardenia (a thoroughly unpleasant, loud airport-toilet floral).
4.6 out of 5 based on 5 reviews
|
Omniscore:
|
| Classification |
Non-fiction |
| Genre |
Reference, Family & Lifestyle |
| Format |
Hardback |
| Pages |
400 |
| RRP |
£20.00 |
| Date of Publication |
September 2008 |
| ISBN |
978-1846681028 |
| Publisher |
Profile |
| |
In a witty, irreverent and innovative handbook two experts combine authority and experience to review nearly 1,500 fragrances - separating the divine from the good from the monumentally awful; from 'a towering masterpiece' to 'a secret not worth keeping'. Their stylish book will do for scent what Robert Parker's books have done for wine.It also features introductions to women's and men's fragrances, to trends and to history and chemistry; a glossary and many 'Top Ten' Lists; and an informative section on frequently asked questions. This is a truly unique and useful guide, one written with a passion for its subject, and a perfect gift.It includes: Chinatown (Bond. No. 9) - gourmand chypre (the endearingly plucky firm of Bond No. 9 has produced its first masterpiece - like a corner of a small French grocery in summer. A treasure in a beautiful bottle); Hugo (Hugo Boss) - unexciting lavender (dull but competent - suggestive of a day filled with strategy meetings); and, Gardenia (Chanel) - not gardenia (a thoroughly unpleasant, loud airport-toilet floral).
Reviews
The Guardian
Veronica Horwell
“If there is to be any hope of persuading people to make perfume as much a quotidian reward as wine and food have become these past 30 years, there has to be a way to write about it that excites us, makes us curious, makes us laugh. Turin has found it.”
20/09/2008
Read Full Review
The New Yorker
John Lancaster
“The joy of Turin and Sanchez’s book is their ability to write about smell in a way that manages to combine the science of the subject with the vocabulary of scent in witty, vivid descriptions of what these smells are like. Their work is, quite simply, ravishingly entertaining, and it passes the high test that their praise is even more compelling than their criticism.”
15/04/2009
Read Full Review
The Scotsman
Lee Randall
“It's a funny, evocative exploration of the art of perfume-making, one which, thanks to more than 1,500 reviews, will prove indispensable the next time you buy scent.”
13/09/2008
Read Full Review
The Evening Standard
David Sexton
“It's endlessly browsable, partly because the writing is funny, partly because it is so extraordinarily illuminating. Trying to convert scents into words is notoriously difficult — but their combination of scientific and industrial expertise with offbeat evocation hits the spot every time.”
19/09/2008
Read Full Review
The Observer
Lara Feigel
“Most readers will have to take Turin's descriptions on trust and to hope that he will train us to smell better. It is this enforced trust that makes Turin a potential charlatan but that also makes the book enticing. If we cannot smell the fragrance of the dawn or of a McCartney song we need to imagine them, and it takes a poet to enable us to do so. There is a great tradition of olfactory literature, and in Perfumes Turin confirms his right to be classed alongside Proust or Patrick Süskind as a poet of smell. He promises that a colourful and sonorous world will open up, if we will only follow where he leads.”
14/09/2008
Read Full Review