The Perfume Burned His Eyes

by Michael Imperioli

An outer-borough boy moves to the foreign land of Manhattan and befriends Lou Reed, in a novel by the Emmy-winning actor and “A winner.”—Library Journal

Matthew is a sixteen-year-old living in Jackson Heights, Queens, in 1976. After he loses his two most important male role models, his father and grandfather, his mother uses her inheritance to uproot Matthew and herself to a posh apartment building in Manhattan. Although only three miles from his boyhood home, “the city” is a completely new and strange world. Soon, he befriends (and becomes a quasi-assistant to) Lou Reed, who lives with his transgender girlfriend in the same building. And the drug-addled, artistic/shamanic musician will eventually become an unorthodox father figure to Matthew, as he moves toward adulthood, adjusts to a new life, and falls head over heels for a girl wise beyond her years.

“Imperioli can definitely write, and he gets high marks for the verisimilitude and empathy that he evokes.”—Booklist (starred review)

“A coming-of-age tale dashed with relatable angst and humor.”—Entertainment Weekly

“Some fictional trips into 1970s New York abound with nostalgia; this novel memorably opts for grit and heartbreak.”—Kirkus Reviews

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Audiobook, Music, Novels, Coming Of Age, LGBT

204 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 3, 2018

About the author

Michael Imperioli is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Christopher Moltisanti in the HBO crime drama series The Sopranos (1999–2007), which earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2004, and as Dominic Di Grasso in the HBO comedy drama series The White Lotus in 2022.

In the early part of his career, he played the role of Spider in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas (1990). He went on to play many supporting roles in films such as Jungle Fever (1991), Bad Boys (1995), The Basketball Diaries (1995), Shark Tale (2004), The Lovely Bones (2009), and One Night in Miami (2020). Imperioli co-wrote the screenplay for Summer of Sam (1999) with Spike Lee, and wrote five episodes of The Sopranos. He made his directorial feature film debut with The Hungry Ghosts (2008), which he also wrote.

For his role as Dominic Di Grasso in the second season of HBO series The White Lotus (2022) he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. On stage, he made his Broadway debut in the revival of the Henrik Ibsen play An Enemy of the People (2024).

Reviews

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the past year I've read a memoir, a novel and two books of short stories written by celebrities and, not to mince words, they were vanity works and they each sucked to varying degrees. Accordingly, I wasn't expecting much from this book but I like the author's work as an actor so I gave it a try and I was very pleasantly surprised.

In this amusing, charming, perceptive and touching coming of age novel, Matthew is telling the story of when he was 16 in approximately 1975 from the perspective of his 19 year old self. His mother has just inherited some money from her father and moves them from Queens, New York to a posh apartment building in Manhattan. Matthew is enrolled in a private school where he falls for Veronica, a classmate/witch/prostitute. He also meets the author's interpretation of Lou Reed who lives in Matthew's building and is a drug addled musician and songwriter who's girlfriend Rachel has an Adam's apple and stubble. Matthew is mesmerized by Lou and wants to please him, even if it involves driving a van across Manhattan with no drivers license or even experience driving. Things do not go well. He is also led into troubling experiences by Veronica. He concludes that Lou and Veronica shared "an acute sensitivity to human fragility", but some intense relationships have an expiration date.

The experiences in this book felt so real that it really could have been a memoir. Sometimes the author did get a little carried away with teenaged hyperbole. "[the pita] was the most logical, delicious, and perfect food one could consume. Each component synchronized and synthesized into a complete, unified, and seamless thingness .... The sandwich was a microcosm of me and Veronica together in the macrocosm of New York City and all the universe beyond." However, for the most part Matthew sounded like a mature, intelligent, articulate and empathetic person. His memories were so specific. "Last week I was sitting by the window and a bus drove by. It's exhaust blended with the smell of the rain on asphalt and I was instantly transported to the very first time I stood outside your building. Waiting outside the door for you to come down after your voice, breathless and hurried, came through the intercom and said: 'One minute'."

The author generally has a light touch and parts of the book made me laugh out loud (on a bus which was embarrassing). I'd like to read more by him.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[George Ilsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

250 pages, but read in an evening. This novel could be considered Young Adult, because the protagonist is 16 years old, coming of age, etc., but the book is apparently aimed at the adult market... this might be because of the darker aspects of the content.

The front cover flap refers to Lou Reed as the person who the text only refers to as Lou ____. Did this actor/author have a personal connection with Lou Reed, or is it all fiction?

Who knows. Smoke and mirrors and marketing.

There was one scene in the book, involving a van, that disturbed me greatly because we never do find out how it ended. Later, it clicked — the same thing happened to the author as a boy in his encounters with Lou; Lou would start stories and get interrupted and then the stories are never completed. The reader feels lost and suspended, just like it must have felt to hang out with the elusive Lou, who always left you wanting more.

3.5 to 4 stars. There are Buddhist elements which seem anomalous, out of place and out of time, but are explained by the teacher credit in the acknowledgments. Rounded down because—I don’t need a reason.

[Erica]

I have no idea what this is about, I haven't read it.
I only wanted to tell everyone how much I enjoy this cover, from the title to the guy yelling because there's perfume burning his eyes. Everything about this delights me.

I like to imagine it's a story about some jerky creeper who won't stop pestering a person and that person reaches into a purse to pull out a bottle of Red Door and sprays it in the creeper's eyes and gets away safely.

Whatever the contents, though, the cover brings me great joy.

[ErinJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t have anything nice to say about this book. No. Not true. The cover is great for a coming of age book. And there are some nice descriptive words inside. But the characters felt like they were “supposed to be” well thought out and profound. And they weren’t. It felt pretentious and like it wasn’t going anywhere. Which it didn’t.

Very unimaginative relationships for this kid except the two that weren’t even mutual relationships. It’s like he was on something when plotting the course of this book.

[Stacey D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cristofuhh!! I love your writing! Please bring us anotha soon :)

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a terrific coming-of-age tale that has echoes of the movie Almost Famous with a young impressionable teenager meeting and becoming sort of pals with a rock star. One of the interesting things about this book is that as you read it you start wondering if it's an autobiography or what it is. But, in the fine print at the front of the book the reader is firmly assured by the publisher that it is indeed a work of fiction despite the fact that a real person -Lou Reed- is reimagined as one of the characters. In that sense, it is sort of like Max Collins' Nathan Heller getting planted in history with actual people.

But this book doesn't dwell on historical events. Rather, it is a well-drawn portrait of a young man drawn to a drug-addled rock star in his apartment building who seems to live in his own reality and a gorgeous schoolmate who he falls for and is mesmerized by even as she descends into darkness and takes him along for the ride. The writing immediately grabs you from the first page and gets right into the main character's head and emotions. And, as mentioned, it feels so vivid and realistic, you think it's fact not fiction. A really great job of capturing the awkwardness and unease of teenage years including talking to a girl at school, ordering his first drink in a bar, and dealing with all sorts of shocking things.

Thanks to Akashic Books for providing a copy for review.

[Sage · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rated two stars because I never found out what happened to the van because honestly I would be so pissed if I was driving in NYC and some kid just abandoned his car in the middle of the street in rush hour. Did he ever get in trouble? Did his mom have to pay for it? What happened to the van? Who moved the van? Who removed the van?

Regardless of the infuriating van, this story was well written but it was missing something from it. The ending was too abrupt. What happened to him? When did he get out of the mental hospital? Did writing down his summer ever help him? Why was he in California in the epilogue? What was the point of the epilogue? Did his mom ever get better? It just ended. And maybe there is some sort of beauty in the utter meaningless of life within that and perhaps that's what Imperioli was trying to convey that sometimes we just will never find out things and that some things just never matter.

It honestly felt like Imperioli just decided one day he was sick and tired of this writing thing so he said "Alright, I'm done. Let's publish this!" And then moved on with his life, even though he never actually finished his book. There certainly was a nostalgic feel to the writing of this but I'm not convinced. I finished the book and was annoyed by the entire thing. At least it had a lovely cover, so everyone who saw me reading must have thought, "Oh wow, she's reading something really lovely I bet," when really I was annoyed because I can't believe the kid just left the van. I mean, I totally understand panicking and fleeing the scene, but like--dude, you left a VAN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET IN MANHATTAN DURING RUSH HOUR.

Ugh. Two stars. Read if you're bored and there's no other book around, but honestly, I don't think it's worth your time.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Perfume Burned His Eyes by Michael Imperioli

Starting out with a last will & testament, abbreviated and how the departure of his father on the tail end of his sophomore year left him ambivalent and his mother self-sedated.

The death of his grandfather made it financially viable for them to move out of Queens and into a posh apartment on East 52nd Street in NYC and his schooling at Hobart.

He takes on a part time job as a delivery boy for a local eatery, from which, inevitably, he takes an order to his own building. Thus becomes his introduction to Lou Reed and Rachel, a duo he had seen stumble through the lobby on several occasions and first thought to be homeless.

Along with hanging with Lou, Matthew has formed a somewhat friendship with Veronica, a self proclaimed witch of extensive lineage and prostitute he goes to school with.

And they alternate. Lou takes him into his manic creativity while Veronica swallows him in the dark art of her psyche. He is just to weak to stand alone, for himself, against them, and the negatives just keep piling up. His mother, eating downers, never seems to notice her son is never there.

When he gets the news, it’s almost expected...and you will await it too. Life shatters like a dropped bottle of gin. But the base, the thickest part of the bottle, holds solid.

There is a shared pathos between us all.. the characters within and us, the reader. Imperioli has accomplished more in 253 pages than too many others try in volumes. Destined to be, p’raps already, yes.

[Lemar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book hits home. The truth hurts. And it heals. Rock n’ roll can do that. I have read many books in which an author paints an idyllic picture of a vanished world in which their childhood unfolded. It usually just bugs me. Michael Imperioli takes you into the 1970s NYC. He conjures a time and place. I’m guessing that is rarely accomplished. He and David Foster Wallace write about a moment I can attest to.
Imperioli does it with poetry, Muhammad Ali floating like a butterfly in the ring the demolishing his opponent, that can still be poetry. It’s life. I could hear the soundtrack, my shoes felt the sticky floors of a bar. I’m moved, I’m really fucking happy I picked this up at City Lights, a cool guy at the register smiling when I brought it up, telling me he got to meet him at a bar across Columbus, a little aggravated when he checked to see if there was another one in stock. He’ll get one. It’s worth it.
“It all comes down to a particular and special quality...I call it an acute sensitivity to human fragility.”

[Jack Wolfe · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s called goodreads, T. real review soon

[bella · Rating 5 out of 5]

michael imperioli i love you

[KC · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Perfume Burned his Eyes is a small book that packs quite a substantial punch. This debut novel from actor, screenwriter, and now author Michael Imperioli, tells the story of Matt, a 17 year old Queens boy living with his widowed mother. Although there is little to what happens within the pages itself, this novel does leave the reader with much to digest giving way to Imperioli's lyrical prose.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

rtc

[Andie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Imperioli is not only a good actor, but he can also write. His first effort is a coming of age story of a young man who moves from Queens to Manhattan with his mother after she receives an unexpected inheritance from his grandfather.

His mother is largely an absent character and the young man, Matthew is mostly left to his own devices. He gets a job as a delivery boy for a local cafe and in that capacity makes a delivery to the apartment of Lou Reed who lives in a penthouse in his building. The two become friends and Matthew starts serving as Reed's quasi-assistant.

Matthew also finds himself falling in love with proto-goth Veronica, one of his schoolmates. Between Lou Reed and Veronica, Matthew finds himself growing up very soon and very fast. until it all comes crashing down around him. This is an entertaining look into New York at a certain time that has now disappeared as well watching an awkward boy become a man.

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

You get the idea that Imperioli wants to write in the style of Lou Reed, or how Lou Reed would write poetry. So he writes some poems in beat argot. Then he decides he should wrap a story around these poems, and comes up with this one – about a teen that lives in the same building as Reed and gets hired to help him out on occasion. Imperioli has an ear for dialog. I found the dialog driving this, the most interesting component of the story. Perhaps that is from the author’s acting and screenwriting experience. I found the story somewhat interesting, though I was glad it was not long. This felt excessively New York. Imperioli read the audiobook, and unsurprisingly he handled it well. The key question when you read fiction written by an actor, I believe, is whether you would read another one by him or not. In the case of Imperioli, I would read another one. He can tell an odd story with interesting characters and interaction.

[Marco Bermudez · Rating 4 out of 5]

After finishing The Sopranos, I was very interested in reading Michael Imperioli’s book after watching episodes that he’d written (The Sopranos in my opinion is one of the best written shows of all time) and learning that he’d co-written movies directed by Spike Lee.

When actors come out with books, there’s a good chance that it’s better to just steer clear of them but Imperioli surprised me on a lot of levels.

Most impressively, he was able to communicate a painfully human coming of age story that I felt deeply and there’s only a select few writers with the talent to do so and he’s able to do it with his debut novel.

It was a quick and easy read (Imperioli’s distinct voice is ingrained in the prose) but it packed a devastating punch.

[J Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Perfume Burned His Eyes by Michael Imperioli is most noticeably a coming-of-age story and succeeds quite well as such. Yet it is also so much more, or at least can be so much more to many readers. For me, this was also about that time period and about the different masks we all wear for different people or different situations.

I was close to the age of the protagonist at the same time so this speaks clearly to me about growing up at that time. If you were mid-teens in the mid 70s this will likely speak similarly to you. While most of us did not experience the same events (I know, that is stating the obvious) we probably experienced or saw friends experience similar events. Loss of a loved one, friendship with an older person, first wonderings about love with someone. And the questions these all generate: why, what does this or that mean, how should I respond? We learn to wear different masks as we navigate these relationships and, maybe more importantly, we begin to understand that the people we know also wear different masks. We become aware of how difficult it can be, regardless of who you are, to be one consistent person in every situation. Is that a positive or a negative? I don't know but I do know that we all do it and the sooner we realize it the sooner we can show empathy for others.

It had been a long time since I had thought about Lou Reed and Rachel and this fictionalized look at that phase of Reed's life was fascinating for me and made me look up more.

I don't really care for the idea of liking or disliking characters as a basis for judging a book since many unlikable characters have made for wonderful reading and likable characters have put me to sleep. I am more interested in whether the characters are believable in relation to their actions. So if something I think of as unlikely to happen in my world makes sense from the perspective of a character then I am happy. Imperioli gives these characters life and enough background to make the story plausible and enjoyable to read.

I would recommend this to those who enjoy coming-of-age stories as well as readers who like immersive period pieces with famous real people as a character in the fictionalized world.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit, I got this because I'm a huge fan of Michael Imperioli's AND this is one of the best book covers ever, but I wasn't sure what to expect. It did sound interesting - somewhat autobiographical, maybe? That's never clear and I suppose it's not supposed to be. I just wanted the book to be a little longer. His relationship with Lou is both humorous and frustrating - a fatherless sixteen year old and a junkie rock-star make for an interesting pairing. Both are irresponsible and a little clueless and both seem to dislike being alone. Matthew's mother is lost in her own misery and loneliness, so - as was the case during this period of time (70s-80s?) - he's left to his own devices a lot, which makes for some crazy things happening to him. All this, I enjoyed. Then there is is relationship with Veronica, a troubled girl at his new private school that he falls for. While I did enjoy this, it does take you on a little side journey that is hard to read. I actually wanted more of her, but I think this was intentional. She's as enigmatic to the reader as she is to Matthew so you don't get much. It gets pretty heavy at the end, but I felt it ended on a hopeful note, even though much isn't said about Matthew when he reappears as an adult. I wish I knew more of who he became. Unless what he became is Michael? It kept me thinking and that's always a good thing. Well-written and enjoyable.

[Geoff Scales]

I love Michael Imperioli. One of my personal heroes. A brilliant actor. Accomplished screenwriter. And an imaginative novelist to boot.

This story moved me to tears. A story of the transformative pain of loss. An account of really, really special people coming into a young man’s life and changing it forever before they leave his life just as quickly as they entered it. The kind of people that change our lives even if we don’t know them for very long. Those types of people that come crashing into our lives and they become the center of our universe for a little while. Maybe a teacher. A crush. A family member. Then wham. Out of view. Out of sight completely. Maybe even dead. It fucking sucks, but it’s beautiful that some people are like firecrackers in the sky for us. They flash through the sky in all their color and beauty and they are gone just as quickly as they enter. But they go out with a bang every time. The light of their glow leaves an indelible impression on our souls.

Yeah. I don’t even really use this app. I don’t really read much even. But “The Perfume Burned His Eyes” was a beautiful portrait of a New York I’ll never know through the eyes of a young man who was experiencing all-too-familiar feelings. It was a cathartic read. A journey through time.

I’m a Lou Reed fan now.

[WriteVibeMagazine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Perfume Burned His Eyes is the debut novel by Michael Imperioli. The story is a coming of age story about main character, Matthew a sixteen-year-old teen from Queens in late 70's.
After the death of his father and grandfather, he moves to Manhattan where he befriends Lou Reed who lives with his transgender girlfriend. The sex, drugs and rock and roll, Lou somehow feels the apparent father figure that Matthew so desperately needs/wants. This would not be a coming of age story if there was not the mention of a slight romance that comes in the form of Veronica.

The Perfume Burned His Eyes was a pleasure to read and took you on a journey through time as you the reader are being told a story narrated by Matthew from teen to middle-aged man. Kudos to actor turned author Michael Imperioli for this body of work. I rate this 4 and a half stars.

Reviewed by Kisha Green for Literary Jewels
Format: Hardcover
Review Copy Supplied By Publisher

[Dorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Perfume Burned His Eyes🍒🍒🍒🍒
By Michael Imperioli
2018
Akashic / NYC

***I'm waiting for my man***

Growing up in Jackson Heights, Queens then abruptly moved to a high rise on E. 52nd St would definitely change a person's life, in many ways.
Especially when you become friends with your new neighbor, Lou Reed, living with his cross dressing friend.
Raw, sharp and illuminating coming of age story, that is an emotional and and wild carnival ride. The highs will make you w as not to raise your arms and scream; the lows you will feel in the pit of your stomach.
Michael Imperioli is known previously for his work with Spike Lee's Summer of Sam, and has written episodes for the TV series 'The Sopranos'.
Recommended...its a very short book.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I want to give this a 3.5 but we will settle for a 4.)

Imperioli has at his command such easy yet lyrical prose that could very well be read in one enjoyable sitting. My issues with this book are all structural. I don't understand the choice to, for the middle of the book, cross-cut between the stories of the encounter with Smitty and Matt selling the amp for Lou. Ultimately I just ended up confused about the timeline (how far apart did these events happen?), and then further puzzled about the purpose of this juxtaposition. I also don't know that we need the very thin "last will and testament..." framing. Yes, this feels allusive to Catcher in the Rye blah blah blah (and in a way is not Lou Reed like the J.D. Salinger in Shoeless Joe?). I could have qualms with Veronica as manic pixie dead girl, but I was fine with it. Mostly I am excited about the prospect of Michael Imperioli writing another novel that has as impactful a structure as it does prose.

[Israel Vento · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hm. Some really incredible moments but ultimately nothing worth chewing on for longer than the next page. Wanted to love it. I did enjoy a couple moments and I think it’s extremely creative and vivd and Matthew certainly comes of age but my issue is a lot of things are mentioned or hinted and never come back fully. The imagined conversation from the start doesn’t matter, the mothers struggles are lost and forgotten quickly. And some of it felt like it was “deep” by saying “it is what it it is”. The jumping in time from chapter to chapter irked me too. There’s clearly a good voice here and to focus on a figure like Lou Reed was interesting but idk this wasn’t it for me

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not sure what to make of this book, except to say that I loved it, and I hope that Michael Imperioli — yes, that Michael Imperioli — has another book or two left in him. Some books leave you completely satisfied, and some leave you with an itch you can’t quite scratch, and those may be the best of all. This is a great coming of age novel, a love letter to Lou Reed, and a reminder of one of life’s simultaneous blessings and tragedies: that we often feel nothing so intense as that which we felt when we were 17 years old.

[Bonnie Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

i wish i could give it a 3.5 - it was a really sweet story and reminded me of stories like sandlot and stand by me. I think where it falls a little short is in the actual substance of the story, as in there isn’t very much too it:3 Really It reads like a writer’s first novel - which i’m pretty sure it was so you know no big! Still glad I read as I do love wild coming of age stories - i think i was wishing for even more wild of a story actually but again still good.

[Dd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Odd story, confusing at times, and hilarious at other times. But also raw and quite dark.

I found it ended rather abruptly which I didn’t like and there were some gaps in the story, things happen and we never learn what the outcome was.

I do think the author did an incredible job of capturing the essence of being an impressionable teenager.

I really liked the narrator and main character Matthew - really well developed character - at times the story was so vivid it was hard to believe Matthew was a fictional character.

I think it’s worth a read for anyone who’s curious.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Library Thing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Perfume Burned His Eyes by Michael Imperioli is a fast-paced coming of age story that I'm not really sure how to feel about. On one hand, it was entertaining to read and kept my interest but on the other hand, I'm not really sure where it was going. The book starts out with Matthew explaining a recent change to his life: his father and grandfather die, his mother becomes depressed and overly medicated and she also decides to move them from Queens to Manhattan. In turn, he starts school at a posh private school and falls in love with a girl who captivates him with her originality. He also gets a job as a delivery guy that introduces him to Lou Reed, a musician from The Velvet Underground, and exposes him to a whole new world.
While an intriguing read, this book didn't capture me fully and wasn't for me.

[Marion Whyte · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short novel written by the actor who played Christopher on The Sopranos. It's about a teenage boy who moves from Queens to Manhattan with his mother, a "single mom" who inherited some money after her father died. Turns out Lou Reed lives in the apartment building they move into, and Lou becomes a mentor to the lad. His mother enrolls him in a private school, where he connects with an offbeat girl. Things happen, some bad.

[India · Rating 4 out of 5]

hmmmmm ok. odd story but well written i do think. interestingly written? it was strangely compelling. i don't really have any coherent thoughts but i do think i liked this overall. maybe 3 stars but 4 right now

[sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the most passionate, beautiful, heartfelt novel I have read in a long long time. Certainly not the BEST in terms of technical writing skill, but it is so clear that Michael Imperioli put his entire heart and soul into this book. A serious page-turner. Such a pleasure to read.