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Object Lessons
Perfume
Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.
Our sense of smell is crucial to our survival. We can smell fear, disease, food. Fragrance is also entertainment. We can smell an expensive bottle of perfume at a high-end department store. Perhaps it reminds us of our favorite aunt. A memory in a bottle is a powerful thing.
Megan Volpert's Perfume carefully balances the artistry with the science of perfume. The science takes us into the neurology of scent receptors, how taste is mostly smell, the biology of illnesses that impact scent sense, and the chemistry of making and copying perfume. The artistry of perfume involves the five scent families and symbolism, subjectivity in perfume preference, perfume marketing strategies, iconic scents and perfumers, why the industry is so secretive, and Volpert's own experiments with making perfume.
Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic .
Our sense of smell is crucial to our survival. We can smell fear, disease, food. Fragrance is also entertainment. We can smell an expensive bottle of perfume at a high-end department store. Perhaps it reminds us of our favorite aunt. A memory in a bottle is a powerful thing.
Megan Volpert's Perfume carefully balances the artistry with the science of perfume. The science takes us into the neurology of scent receptors, how taste is mostly smell, the biology of illnesses that impact scent sense, and the chemistry of making and copying perfume. The artistry of perfume involves the five scent families and symbolism, subjectivity in perfume preference, perfume marketing strategies, iconic scents and perfumers, why the industry is so secretive, and Volpert's own experiments with making perfume.
Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic .
- GenresNonfiction
160 pages, Paperback
Published March 24, 2022
6 people are currently reading
121 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 15, 2022
This ever-varying series, uniformly delving into looks at routine, everyday subjects through the medium of ever-varying levels of autobiography, pretentiousness and woke academic nonsense, hits the titular subject with certainly some awkward diversions, but can manage to stick on topic at times. At least the autobiography is tempered down, partly through the use of Nietzsche instead – and when it comes, in a look at what the author and her wife's combined marriage anniversary scent would be, it hits the right notes topic-wise. So there is some pretentiousness, but also fine looks at the gender balance of fragrances and their marketing messages. (Even if nothing explains why all those perfume TV ads we're bludgeoned with every December are exceedingly pretentious tripe.)
As interesting as this got, it didn't really feel I had gained an 'in' to the territory of smelly stuffs. No, like the terroir of wine and coffees, and olives, I will quite assuredly die knowing what I like and dislike, and not the why or anything else. It will not be me who does as this book suggests, and spend an hour to know and select the perfume you're trying to gift someone – the minutiae of both liquid and recipient are key, apparently. I will "listen" to a perfume, as the Japanese apparently do, in very small soundbites only. And I don't know if I really when it comes down to it expected this slender volume to change any of that, but it should be on record that such an expectation is a bit ridiculous. This meditation fully fits in the series, mind – a look at what one academic thinks passes as a scan of her topic, in a most un-definitive way.
As interesting as this got, it didn't really feel I had gained an 'in' to the territory of smelly stuffs. No, like the terroir of wine and coffees, and olives, I will quite assuredly die knowing what I like and dislike, and not the why or anything else. It will not be me who does as this book suggests, and spend an hour to know and select the perfume you're trying to gift someone – the minutiae of both liquid and recipient are key, apparently. I will "listen" to a perfume, as the Japanese apparently do, in very small soundbites only. And I don't know if I really when it comes down to it expected this slender volume to change any of that, but it should be on record that such an expectation is a bit ridiculous. This meditation fully fits in the series, mind – a look at what one academic thinks passes as a scan of her topic, in a most un-definitive way.
January 18, 2022
*Thank you to the author, publisher, and netgalley for a free arc in return for an honest review*
I went into this expecting a quick guide on perfumes, scents and tips for my newfound love of smells- but I won something far more profound and heart-warming that made me laugh or brought me to tears at near every turn.
Spoilers and quotes inbound, because I truly cannot express what this book made me feel without them.
"All women who love perfume learn to embrace the facets of their identity that are for better and for worse characterised as witchy." About 4 years ago now, on the dawn of my journey down a spiritual path I started to take a specialised interest in scents. Gone was the child-like curled nose at peppercorns and spice on a woman, and the teen-riddles insecurities about smelling like anything other than fresh linen. I realised very quickly that being confident in both ones dress, beliefs and aroma were all something unknown to my peers. I was the outsider, who wore black and burnt incense. And somewhere along the way being unapologetic about taking up space with my body and layers of perfume, I realised people tended to categorise it all together, regardless of meaning. Strange. Eccentric. Witch. Something within me reading this stuck me so soundly, and I was surprised about how my interest in scents also aligned with the time I stopped fitting into what others expected from me.
Mere pages later, I was thrust further back in time, 6 years ago at the height of my teen-drama and right into a mindset and person I have long outgrown. "Already by age fifteen, I was a profoundly wounded person- cut down by poverty, by the failures of my parents [...] by a world that wants to take everything from a girl, by social isolation and the consequence-laden oppression of my fledging queerness. The things that steadied me were banned books, punk rock, [...] and the unnerving conviction that someday my giftedness would set me free. My pen mouth was a knife edge, my attitude oozed out from every pore. And on top of this all, I swam in a cloud of Warm Vanilla sugar." // "It centred, warmed and comforted me so that I could focus on staying alive." // "It lingered in a room long after I departed, catching everyone in my wide blast radius. It announced me. It was persistent" // It was my business card, my trademark."" // "the irony seems clear: during all my youthful perseverance, Warm Vanilla Sugar was an anchor to humanity I could not otherwise afford to show." ...
I didn't expect to cry, didn't even realise what was making me feel so emotional and restless about memories of my own struggling adolescence until I looked up to my windowsill and saw the bottle of vanilla body mist. I had been fond of it in my youth, dousing it on morning noon and night. Always a bottle with me, so much so it lingered even after a shower. I had bought a bottle recently, after growing out of it some years ago because I had seen it sitting on a shelf, harkening to some bygone era. Tears sliding down my face and turning my kindle's screen into a swimming pool, I realised that was my Warm Vanilla Sugar.
I felt watched, emotional, and called out. My childhood and adolescence was not a happy one. No memories escaped without some dark cloud or lingering wound that tears anew every time it is uncovered. I didn't expect to have such a profound experience, one I didn't even realise it until I read it, summed up so blatantly.
For everything I was in my youth, unattractive, unhappy, queer, desperate for a life raft in the unending tsunami that was and is my life, I saw myself in Volpert. I don't know if she meant to connect with the reader, how she could have known. But I cried so hard I had to put my kindle down. I cried for the grief I felt everyday in that time, and for the safety blanket that basic vanilla perfume had been. Tears ran for who I was, and who I have become. I didn't realise that perfume has such a place in my heart and life. Didn't know it was still so deeply rooted in the sparse memories I have. I wish I could say thank you, envelop the author into a bear hug I wish I could have given my child-self and ask her for scent recommendations. I have never felt so seen by someone I have never met, and who was never met me before either.
Although I didn't cry again, I cherished the time it took me to finish the book. Closer to the end I stumbled across another gem, which stuck a chord within me so deep I had to stand up, cross my room and spray myself with the knock-off pomegranate noir and baccarat rouge perfumes I bought on my own, new-born quest into scent, "To hunt for a grail fragrance is to go on a spiritual expedition in search of an enigmatic object of healing that may be more mythical than real."
What this line made me feel, I may not ever be able to describe, just like the two sampler replications also evoke within me.
Perhaps I don't know why I am searching so hard for something I cannot perceive- but I know what it will be when I find it. Something that embodies me, and everything I wish to be, everything I fear and may become.
Perfume is more than just an accessory, it holds great meaning of memory and personal accomplishment. I like to think I am something more than that girl who wore vanilla body mist like battle armour, but even if I am not- I'm simply grateful that my collection holds a greater selection now.
This book hit me where I didn't know I hurt, but I'm grateful for it, and the introspection it has given.
I went into this expecting a quick guide on perfumes, scents and tips for my newfound love of smells- but I won something far more profound and heart-warming that made me laugh or brought me to tears at near every turn.
Spoilers and quotes inbound, because I truly cannot express what this book made me feel without them.
"All women who love perfume learn to embrace the facets of their identity that are for better and for worse characterised as witchy." About 4 years ago now, on the dawn of my journey down a spiritual path I started to take a specialised interest in scents. Gone was the child-like curled nose at peppercorns and spice on a woman, and the teen-riddles insecurities about smelling like anything other than fresh linen. I realised very quickly that being confident in both ones dress, beliefs and aroma were all something unknown to my peers. I was the outsider, who wore black and burnt incense. And somewhere along the way being unapologetic about taking up space with my body and layers of perfume, I realised people tended to categorise it all together, regardless of meaning. Strange. Eccentric. Witch. Something within me reading this stuck me so soundly, and I was surprised about how my interest in scents also aligned with the time I stopped fitting into what others expected from me.
Mere pages later, I was thrust further back in time, 6 years ago at the height of my teen-drama and right into a mindset and person I have long outgrown. "Already by age fifteen, I was a profoundly wounded person- cut down by poverty, by the failures of my parents [...] by a world that wants to take everything from a girl, by social isolation and the consequence-laden oppression of my fledging queerness. The things that steadied me were banned books, punk rock, [...] and the unnerving conviction that someday my giftedness would set me free. My pen mouth was a knife edge, my attitude oozed out from every pore. And on top of this all, I swam in a cloud of Warm Vanilla sugar." // "It centred, warmed and comforted me so that I could focus on staying alive." // "It lingered in a room long after I departed, catching everyone in my wide blast radius. It announced me. It was persistent" // It was my business card, my trademark."" // "the irony seems clear: during all my youthful perseverance, Warm Vanilla Sugar was an anchor to humanity I could not otherwise afford to show." ...
I didn't expect to cry, didn't even realise what was making me feel so emotional and restless about memories of my own struggling adolescence until I looked up to my windowsill and saw the bottle of vanilla body mist. I had been fond of it in my youth, dousing it on morning noon and night. Always a bottle with me, so much so it lingered even after a shower. I had bought a bottle recently, after growing out of it some years ago because I had seen it sitting on a shelf, harkening to some bygone era. Tears sliding down my face and turning my kindle's screen into a swimming pool, I realised that was my Warm Vanilla Sugar.
I felt watched, emotional, and called out. My childhood and adolescence was not a happy one. No memories escaped without some dark cloud or lingering wound that tears anew every time it is uncovered. I didn't expect to have such a profound experience, one I didn't even realise it until I read it, summed up so blatantly.
For everything I was in my youth, unattractive, unhappy, queer, desperate for a life raft in the unending tsunami that was and is my life, I saw myself in Volpert. I don't know if she meant to connect with the reader, how she could have known. But I cried so hard I had to put my kindle down. I cried for the grief I felt everyday in that time, and for the safety blanket that basic vanilla perfume had been. Tears ran for who I was, and who I have become. I didn't realise that perfume has such a place in my heart and life. Didn't know it was still so deeply rooted in the sparse memories I have. I wish I could say thank you, envelop the author into a bear hug I wish I could have given my child-self and ask her for scent recommendations. I have never felt so seen by someone I have never met, and who was never met me before either.
Although I didn't cry again, I cherished the time it took me to finish the book. Closer to the end I stumbled across another gem, which stuck a chord within me so deep I had to stand up, cross my room and spray myself with the knock-off pomegranate noir and baccarat rouge perfumes I bought on my own, new-born quest into scent, "To hunt for a grail fragrance is to go on a spiritual expedition in search of an enigmatic object of healing that may be more mythical than real."
What this line made me feel, I may not ever be able to describe, just like the two sampler replications also evoke within me.
Perhaps I don't know why I am searching so hard for something I cannot perceive- but I know what it will be when I find it. Something that embodies me, and everything I wish to be, everything I fear and may become.
Perfume is more than just an accessory, it holds great meaning of memory and personal accomplishment. I like to think I am something more than that girl who wore vanilla body mist like battle armour, but even if I am not- I'm simply grateful that my collection holds a greater selection now.
This book hit me where I didn't know I hurt, but I'm grateful for it, and the introspection it has given.
February 6, 2022
Digital ARC provided by Netgalley
Not exactly what I expected when I first started to read the book. Even if it describes some interesting facts about personalities from the perfume industry and some actualities of what the odor of perfume can symbolize for different persons, the book is also a memoir of the author. I enjoyed seeing how the entire author’s life was intertwined with the story of fragrances.
It was a nice read, however I was a little disappointed since I went blindly reading the book without a previous research.
Not exactly what I expected when I first started to read the book. Even if it describes some interesting facts about personalities from the perfume industry and some actualities of what the odor of perfume can symbolize for different persons, the book is also a memoir of the author. I enjoyed seeing how the entire author’s life was intertwined with the story of fragrances.
It was a nice read, however I was a little disappointed since I went blindly reading the book without a previous research.
January 13, 2022
I’ve read a couple of previous books in the “Object Lessons” series - the bizarre “Spacecraft” and the excellent “Football” - so any new titles always pique my interest. These are short but intelligent books on various subjects and they are almost always extremely interesting and thought-provoking.
In this respect, the latest “Object Lessons” book by Megan Volpert certainly succeeds; this concise study of the history and science of perfume is both deep and accessible.
Volpert manages to take a deep dive into the science of perfume whilst maintaining its sense of mystery, exploring how it works and, most importantly, how it works on humans and animals, and our undying fascination with it.
In this respect, the latest “Object Lessons” book by Megan Volpert certainly succeeds; this concise study of the history and science of perfume is both deep and accessible.
Volpert manages to take a deep dive into the science of perfume whilst maintaining its sense of mystery, exploring how it works and, most importantly, how it works on humans and animals, and our undying fascination with it.
August 25, 2022
I received this book from the publisher, Bloomsbury, at no cost. It's out now, RRP $19.99.
I adore the Object Lessons series. It's such a magic idea: take ordinary objects and explore them from as wide-ranging a set of perspectives as possible, and suddenly you show (what we all sort of know) that the ordinary hides an enormous amount of the un-ordinary.
They're teeny little books - not even as tall as my handspan, and I don't have huge hands. The cover is delightful, the overall design is lovely, and as an object I just love it. And the contents match that delight.
Volpert has written eight chapters: Science, Literature, Space, Time, Technology, Performance, Self and Other. They include a lot of research - into individual fragrances, the science of smelling (and not), the history of perfume production, the place of scent in narratives, and philosophy as well - plus a lot of the personal. (There's an interesting moment where Volpert talks about the 'loud' fragrances she wore as a teacher, during the height of Covid while students and teachers were masked up... and then someone pointed out to me that if people could smell her perfume, they were probably wearing their masks wrong, and I was a bit dismayed.) Volpert talks about her own experiences with scent, and attitudes, and how her use and understanding of perfume have reflected her understanding of herself.
As well as being intrigued by the subject, I really enjoyed Volpert's writing. The nose as "a helmet covering the outermost portion of one's brain" is an image that's likely to hang around as long as a 15 year old boy's overdosing on Brut.
I have been ambivalent towards perfume all my life. I was gifted a perfume in my late teens, and that one scent has remained the one I've used for... an awful long time, partly because I like it and partly because I was both too lazy and too scared to go exploring other options. This book has challenged my thinking around what perfume means, and what it is for.
Off the back of reading half this book, I am going to a perfume masterclass from a local perfumery, and I'm pretty intrigued. I may not become an everyday-perfume-wearer, but I'm open to the idea.
I adore the Object Lessons series. It's such a magic idea: take ordinary objects and explore them from as wide-ranging a set of perspectives as possible, and suddenly you show (what we all sort of know) that the ordinary hides an enormous amount of the un-ordinary.
They're teeny little books - not even as tall as my handspan, and I don't have huge hands. The cover is delightful, the overall design is lovely, and as an object I just love it. And the contents match that delight.
Volpert has written eight chapters: Science, Literature, Space, Time, Technology, Performance, Self and Other. They include a lot of research - into individual fragrances, the science of smelling (and not), the history of perfume production, the place of scent in narratives, and philosophy as well - plus a lot of the personal. (There's an interesting moment where Volpert talks about the 'loud' fragrances she wore as a teacher, during the height of Covid while students and teachers were masked up... and then someone pointed out to me that if people could smell her perfume, they were probably wearing their masks wrong, and I was a bit dismayed.) Volpert talks about her own experiences with scent, and attitudes, and how her use and understanding of perfume have reflected her understanding of herself.
As well as being intrigued by the subject, I really enjoyed Volpert's writing. The nose as "a helmet covering the outermost portion of one's brain" is an image that's likely to hang around as long as a 15 year old boy's overdosing on Brut.
I have been ambivalent towards perfume all my life. I was gifted a perfume in my late teens, and that one scent has remained the one I've used for... an awful long time, partly because I like it and partly because I was both too lazy and too scared to go exploring other options. This book has challenged my thinking around what perfume means, and what it is for.
Off the back of reading half this book, I am going to a perfume masterclass from a local perfumery, and I'm pretty intrigued. I may not become an everyday-perfume-wearer, but I'm open to the idea.
July 4, 2024
I am clearly not at the same level in my perfume journey as Volpert is, so a lot of this went above my head. I feel like she assumes that her audience is coming from a place of more experience than they might actually have and her writing in this reflects that assumption. Beyond that, I just don’t think I quite mesh with Volpert’s writing style or authorial voice, but this was still an interesting read. I wasn’t expecting the more philosophical approach to perfume that she took and the section that emphasized that (Literature) was the least successful for me. The most engaging sections for me (Space, Performance, and Self) were ones that blended science and history interwoven with Volpert’s personal life. I’m interested to read other books in this series to see if other authors take the same approach to their topics that she did to perfume.
April 24, 2022
One of the more successful volumes in the wonderful Object Lessons series, and one that I really enjoyed. In this wide-ranging and digressive essay, Megan Volpert explores perfume, fragrances and the sense of smell in all their varied manifestations – the science, the art, the chemistry, business and marketing, industry secrets and individual response. Volpert herself has experimented with making perfume so can speak knowledgeably and intelligently about the subject and successfully weaves in her own feelings and experience into the more objective aspects of her examination, making this an entertaining and engaging read, as well as an informative one.
April 5, 2022
An interesting book about perfume, and this is one that I felt was quite in-depth for a short book.
Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.
Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.
March 23, 2022
An interesting personal essay. It is written like a stream of consciousness, sometimes not so easy to follow, but rewarding if you focus. There are so many fascinating facts here, about the process of making the perfume, about human senses and sources of famous scents - in many ways it is almost a popular science book. Worth reading.
The book is a part of an interesting series, Object Lessons, about the hidden lives of ordinary things.
Thanks to the publisher, Bloomsbury Academic, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.
The book is a part of an interesting series, Object Lessons, about the hidden lives of ordinary things.
Thanks to the publisher, Bloomsbury Academic, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.
March 14, 2022
Perfume by Megan Volpert is an engaging look at fragrance and smell through the "object" of perfume. Like the other books in this series it is not a textbook but rather a personal look and understanding of something we all know and have some impression of.
By the way, if you see theeimbecilic spewing "woke" as if it describes a book or an entire series, ignore it, simple minds have a limited vocabulary. Just imagine constantly criticizing books for being academic when they are published by a publishing house with the word academic in their name. So we are talking about a poor soul who knows little but likes to attack books for taking a personal approach. Well, leave him be, he isn't very bright.
Anyway, to the book. Like most of the books in the series you learn quite a bit about perfume and fragrance, the science, the marketing, and the social/cultural meanings. But rather than be a dry textbook approach it is told through a personal lens. If humans interfering with your science bothers you, you might find vacuous words to make the book sound less appealing. If, on the other hand, science with humanity front and center sounds good to you, you will enjoy this volume.
Yes, it is a little memoirish. It is that quality which allows a reader to relate parts of the book to their own life. There will likely be several such moments and some may even be in opposition to Volpert's ideas, which is fine. I, for instance, don't like to have a fragrance precede a person into a room or linger for a long time after. I don't feel that they have that right to do that to me, especially since they don't know what kind of reaction, physical or emotional, that fragrance may have on me. Volpert feels she has every right to force her fragrance on people who may simply be within a couple dozen feet and regardless of the affect it may have on them. We differ on that point and I remembered a friend of mine who had respiratory distress because of someone heavily perfumed just walking into the room, so I sympathize with that side of the equation rather than the other.
There were other moments in the book that made me remember less negative events or habits. That is the strength of this series, objects are examined, the science or social impacts are looked at, and it is all done through a very personal lens. I like reading about how and why objects I may pay little attention to play a larger role in someone else's life.
Highly recommended for those who enjoy personal looks at everyday objects and also those readers who simply enjoy memoirish books that aren't entire life stories. Those who use "woke" and "academic" as negative terms to describe a book may find less here to like, but there are plenty of picture books being published for them.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
By the way, if you see theeimbecilic spewing "woke" as if it describes a book or an entire series, ignore it, simple minds have a limited vocabulary. Just imagine constantly criticizing books for being academic when they are published by a publishing house with the word academic in their name. So we are talking about a poor soul who knows little but likes to attack books for taking a personal approach. Well, leave him be, he isn't very bright.
Anyway, to the book. Like most of the books in the series you learn quite a bit about perfume and fragrance, the science, the marketing, and the social/cultural meanings. But rather than be a dry textbook approach it is told through a personal lens. If humans interfering with your science bothers you, you might find vacuous words to make the book sound less appealing. If, on the other hand, science with humanity front and center sounds good to you, you will enjoy this volume.
Yes, it is a little memoirish. It is that quality which allows a reader to relate parts of the book to their own life. There will likely be several such moments and some may even be in opposition to Volpert's ideas, which is fine. I, for instance, don't like to have a fragrance precede a person into a room or linger for a long time after. I don't feel that they have that right to do that to me, especially since they don't know what kind of reaction, physical or emotional, that fragrance may have on me. Volpert feels she has every right to force her fragrance on people who may simply be within a couple dozen feet and regardless of the affect it may have on them. We differ on that point and I remembered a friend of mine who had respiratory distress because of someone heavily perfumed just walking into the room, so I sympathize with that side of the equation rather than the other.
There were other moments in the book that made me remember less negative events or habits. That is the strength of this series, objects are examined, the science or social impacts are looked at, and it is all done through a very personal lens. I like reading about how and why objects I may pay little attention to play a larger role in someone else's life.
Highly recommended for those who enjoy personal looks at everyday objects and also those readers who simply enjoy memoirish books that aren't entire life stories. Those who use "woke" and "academic" as negative terms to describe a book may find less here to like, but there are plenty of picture books being published for them.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
March 19, 2022
There are 2 ways:
- you can be disappointed because this book is not what you believe a perfume book should be about
- you can enjoy the journey it presents.
Having read the description and other reviews and feeling seen at times in the authors experience - and let's face it - gorging every perfume name to search it on fragrantica and taking notes of every piece of precious info, I chose the second way.
This is a small book revolving around pefume.
But a very modern take on it. And a very personal one.
It is not the history of perfume, it doesn't feature only information about ingredients and sourcing, great perfumers, etc.
To understand this book you must know where its author comes from.
So, naturally, you will find a lot of information regarding the many facets of perfume, how it connects with philosophy, how it's a big part of the queer territory and how it reflects in the pop culture of our recent years.
This is the modern take that I loved, so rich in findings of olfactive artists and olfactive happenings, ways in which artists and readers and perfumers (so happy to find Laudamiel's ideas mentioned here) take on perfume and its many, many aspects.
Among snippets about ingredients, provenience and molecules, it touches a lot of the questions a lot of perfume aficionados have asked themselves - from synthetique ingredients, to flankers, bottles, etc.
And then there is the personal touch. I loved how the author took us through her perfume stages, her relationship covered in perfume details. And the gift! If anything, I recommend reading the last chapter just to see how deep the meaning of a perfume can run, how its components and their meaning relate to us and how much "humaness" is in this magical liquid. And how thoughtful the act of offering a perfume can be when done right.
My 5th stars is missing because at times I felt the book was stitched for the sake of connecting ideas. But in all its facets I liked it for the trove of information it gave me, for the queer vision of it that I wouldn't have had access to otherwise, and for the feeling that I, somebody who spends way too much money on samples, dreams too much on her excell shopping list full of perfumes and wastes too much time on fragrantica, have gotten it right about perfume. Because it's an integral part of our life and it's enriching greatly our human experience.
I received a copy of this in order to offer my honest view on it.
- you can be disappointed because this book is not what you believe a perfume book should be about
- you can enjoy the journey it presents.
Having read the description and other reviews and feeling seen at times in the authors experience - and let's face it - gorging every perfume name to search it on fragrantica and taking notes of every piece of precious info, I chose the second way.
This is a small book revolving around pefume.
But a very modern take on it. And a very personal one.
It is not the history of perfume, it doesn't feature only information about ingredients and sourcing, great perfumers, etc.
To understand this book you must know where its author comes from.
So, naturally, you will find a lot of information regarding the many facets of perfume, how it connects with philosophy, how it's a big part of the queer territory and how it reflects in the pop culture of our recent years.
This is the modern take that I loved, so rich in findings of olfactive artists and olfactive happenings, ways in which artists and readers and perfumers (so happy to find Laudamiel's ideas mentioned here) take on perfume and its many, many aspects.
Among snippets about ingredients, provenience and molecules, it touches a lot of the questions a lot of perfume aficionados have asked themselves - from synthetique ingredients, to flankers, bottles, etc.
And then there is the personal touch. I loved how the author took us through her perfume stages, her relationship covered in perfume details. And the gift! If anything, I recommend reading the last chapter just to see how deep the meaning of a perfume can run, how its components and their meaning relate to us and how much "humaness" is in this magical liquid. And how thoughtful the act of offering a perfume can be when done right.
My 5th stars is missing because at times I felt the book was stitched for the sake of connecting ideas. But in all its facets I liked it for the trove of information it gave me, for the queer vision of it that I wouldn't have had access to otherwise, and for the feeling that I, somebody who spends way too much money on samples, dreams too much on her excell shopping list full of perfumes and wastes too much time on fragrantica, have gotten it right about perfume. Because it's an integral part of our life and it's enriching greatly our human experience.
I received a copy of this in order to offer my honest view on it.
March 5, 2022
This title was not what I expected but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Perfume by Megan Volpert is an essay about perfume, both as a sentimental object for the author and as a product in a multi-billion dollar industry.
This essay is incredibly well researched, covering the history of perfume, its cultural impact and its environmental impact. The essay is also very personal, the author talks about the emotional effect of perfume and the significance of giving certain perfumes as a gift.
The author successfully paints a complex picture of this often overlooked cosmetic, as complex as the scents they described.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This essay is incredibly well researched, covering the history of perfume, its cultural impact and its environmental impact. The essay is also very personal, the author talks about the emotional effect of perfume and the significance of giving certain perfumes as a gift.
The author successfully paints a complex picture of this often overlooked cosmetic, as complex as the scents they described.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
November 4, 2024
Not my fave from the series. Didn’t dive into the depths of historical perfume history that it claimed it would. The thoughts were slightly disjointed as it also claimed they would be. I learned something. But I didn’t get a real sense of a common thread between the personal narrative and the researched portion.
It felt forced… and surface level because of it. Like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole…. When they needed to try the triangle in the triangle.
It felt forced… and surface level because of it. Like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole…. When they needed to try the triangle in the triangle.
April 25, 2022
I have never read any of the Object Lessons books, and I was curious to see what PERFUME held for me. Volpert is a good writer, but she jumps around from subject to subject and it is a bit disconcerting. However, she knows her stuff and each chapter is part autobiographical, part science of smell. There are 8 chapters, with titles such as Time, Science, Technology, and Performance. I ended up ignoring the titles, since each chapter contained a multitude of information, not necessarily matching up with the name the chapter was given.
As I constantly mention, each book that spurs me to Google something I’ve read is always satisfying. I looked up vetiver, Giorgio Beverly Hills (which I subsequently bought), Germaine Cellier, Bang by Marc Jacobs, the Monell Center in Philadelphia, and the ship of Theseus. Each search entertained and educated, and I grew more satisfied with each Google.
If you are looking for a book with detailed descriptions on how to create a scent, you may not be entirely happy with this book. But you will learn a bit about creation, top and bottom notes, names of ingredients that go into a scent, and the gestalt of 80’s perfume (I felt so nostalgic as I read and recalled that decade, my favorite).
One of the scientific paragraphs that grabbed my attention was the following, taken from the chapter Time, discussing perfume formulas:
Perhaps a formula has 50 elements and the lab tech not only doles out all 50 with exactitude, but also the variations the master perfumer has requested to contemplate, such as a set of 10 options where one molecule is increased by a quarter of a percent each time and a second set of five options for each of those ten where the ratio of two other molecules is reduced proportionally alongside the quarter-percent increase of the other. And all the results may smell like garbage.
I had no idea of the depth of work required to create a fragrance, much less the tweaking that is sometimes done, such as CK One evolving into the variation of other CK perfumes. CK One was truly the scent of a generation, and the author handles this little tidbit with aplomb.
Overall, I was happy with this little book. As I read it, I absorbed its contents without knowing that I would think of this book again and again. After a few days separation I realized that I enjoyed it more than I originally thought. Once you get into the flow of the author’s quirky prose, the contents flow smoothly until you reach the end and are left wanting more. I do recommend PERFUME as a quick, enjoyable read. Volpert manages to bring literature, philosophy, and science together, culminating in a compact masterpiece.
As I constantly mention, each book that spurs me to Google something I’ve read is always satisfying. I looked up vetiver, Giorgio Beverly Hills (which I subsequently bought), Germaine Cellier, Bang by Marc Jacobs, the Monell Center in Philadelphia, and the ship of Theseus. Each search entertained and educated, and I grew more satisfied with each Google.
If you are looking for a book with detailed descriptions on how to create a scent, you may not be entirely happy with this book. But you will learn a bit about creation, top and bottom notes, names of ingredients that go into a scent, and the gestalt of 80’s perfume (I felt so nostalgic as I read and recalled that decade, my favorite).
One of the scientific paragraphs that grabbed my attention was the following, taken from the chapter Time, discussing perfume formulas:
Perhaps a formula has 50 elements and the lab tech not only doles out all 50 with exactitude, but also the variations the master perfumer has requested to contemplate, such as a set of 10 options where one molecule is increased by a quarter of a percent each time and a second set of five options for each of those ten where the ratio of two other molecules is reduced proportionally alongside the quarter-percent increase of the other. And all the results may smell like garbage.
I had no idea of the depth of work required to create a fragrance, much less the tweaking that is sometimes done, such as CK One evolving into the variation of other CK perfumes. CK One was truly the scent of a generation, and the author handles this little tidbit with aplomb.
Overall, I was happy with this little book. As I read it, I absorbed its contents without knowing that I would think of this book again and again. After a few days separation I realized that I enjoyed it more than I originally thought. Once you get into the flow of the author’s quirky prose, the contents flow smoothly until you reach the end and are left wanting more. I do recommend PERFUME as a quick, enjoyable read. Volpert manages to bring literature, philosophy, and science together, culminating in a compact masterpiece.
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