As I said on Friday, Perfumes: The Guide by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez is due to ship from Amazon on 4/10 (list price: $27.95, today's Amazon price: $18.45). The hardcover version is 400 pages and includes introductory material plus reviews of over 1200 fragrances. According to Penguin, the book will "do for fragrance what Robert Parker’s books have done for wine".
Many of you have pre-ordered the book, or at least read about it (if you missed the review in the New Yorker, do take a peek), and all of you can skip to the second-to-last paragraph for instructions on how to add your questions to our group interview. Those of you who need some further introduction, read on.
Luca Turin is described at Wikipedia as "a biophysicist with a long-standing interest in the sense of smell, the art of perfume, and the fragrance industry". He became known to wider perfumanity first through his Parfums: Le guide, published in French in 1992 and 1994 (you can find a .pdf of the 1994 edition here), and later with the 2003 publication of Chandler Burr's book, The Emperor of Scent. For more background, see an interview with Luca Turin and a review of his last book, The Secret of Scent. Here is Luca Turin on New York by Parfums de Nicolaï (awarded 5 stars), from Perfumes: The Guide:
If Guerlain had any sense they would buy Parfums de Nicolaï, add her range to theirs, trash fifteen or so of their own laggard fragrances, a couple of de Nicolaï's, and install owner-creator Patricia in Orphin as in-house perfumer. She is, after all, a granddaughter of Pierre Guerlain and genetic analysis might usefully reveal the genes associated with her perfumery talent. As a control where the genes are known to be absent, use the DNA of whoever did Creed's Love in White. Smelling New York as I write this, eighteen years after its release, is like meeting an old high-school teacher that had a decisive influence on my life: I may have moved on, but everything it taught me is still there, still precious, and wonderful to revisit. New York's exquisite balance between resinous orange, powdery vanilla and salubrious woods shimmers from moment to moment, always comfortable but never slack, always present but never loud. It is one of the greatest masculines ever, and probably the one I would save if the house burned down. Reader, I wore it for a decade.
Tania Sanchez is a writer and editor with a "near pathological interest in perfume". Her story “Venus in the Musée de l’Homme” was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2006. She met Turin through his now defunct blog, Perfume Notes, and subsequently helped with the editing of The Secret of Scent. Some of you may know her as Brooklyntbone on the fragrance forum at MakeupAlley. Here is Tania Sanchez on L'Air du Désert Marocain by Tauer Perfumes (awarded 5 stars), from Perfumes: The Guide:
The sweet smell of amber, the foundation of the classic perfume oriental, has long been weighed down with vanilla and sandalwood, decorated with mulling spices, bolstered with musk, made come-hither, ready for its close-up, and we are quite used to it—but this is not amber's first life. Perfume meant first "through smoke," named for fragrant materials burned to clean the air and therefore the spirit. If, as Carlos Santana claimed in his Grammy acceptance speech, the angel Metatron delivers messages to the world via rock guitarists, it only makes sense that the as yet unnamed angel of perfume speaks through an unassuming Swiss chemist from Zurich with a mustache and a buttoned shirt. L'Air du Désert is talented amateur perfumer Andy Tauer's second fragrance, after the rich oriental rose of Maroc pour Elle. One hale breath of Désert's vast spaces clears the head of all the world's nonsense. There is something about the ancient smell of these resins (styrax, frankincense) that on first inhalation strikes even this suburban American Protestant with no memories of mass as entirely holy, beautiful, purifying, lit without shadow from all sides. Even without the fragrance's name to prompt me, I would still feel the same peace when smelling it that I've felt only once before, when driving across the southwestern desert one morning: all quiet, no human habitation for miles, the upturned bowl of the heavens infinitely high above, and the sage and occasional quail clutching close to the dun earth. Each solitary object stood supersaturated with itself, full to the brim, sure to spill over if subjected to the slightest nudge. Wear this fragrance and feel the cloudless sky rush far away above you.
So, Luca and Tania have agreed to answer our questions about perfume and their upcoming book. Please think of this as a group interview project — you can ask your questions in the comments below, and then I'll compile them and send them off and when I get the answers back I'll post them in a new article. I can't swear they'll answer all our questions (perhaps we'll have to see how many we get) but I'm sure they'll do their best. I'll leave the comments open until whatever time I get up (and remember) on Wednesday morning, then I'll shut off the commenting feature for this article.
Meanwhile, I'm sure many of you will have no problem dishing out the $18.45 for the hardcover. The real question is: what is the book really going to cost you? While you're thinking up your brilliant question for the Q & A, do tell us:
Note: image copyright Raewyn Turner.
Update: you can find part 2 (the answers!) here.
To both Mr. Turin and Ms. Sanchez:
What is your all-time favorite perfume, if you have one? If not one, can you name some that would be in your top 5?
Robin, if each person only gets one shot, I'm removing that last question and asking that you please submit this one instead. And I must register my extreme excitement at the opportunity to have my questions answered by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez!! Thank you so much for organizing this (to the whole team)!
Also to both Mr. Turin and Ms. Sanchez: As many perfume enthusiasts are, I'm on the hunt for the perfect rose fragrance. What, in your opinion, are the best roses?
I don't see why you need limit yourself to one shot — but might be easier if everyone puts their questions in separate comments rather than one comment w/ 5 questions. And may change my mind later if people start going crazy w/ multiple questions
Two respectfully submitted questions, which may be cleared up by up the guide – but I can't wait that long. (Actual cost to me: thousands…)
Luca, you once said 7 or so of the (then) 12 perfumes of Frederic Malle were going to be around in thirty years. Which seven did you mean?
My French is poor, so there may be some previous comment on this that I'm missing, but what is your assessment of the reformulation of Rochas' Femme?
Dr. Turin: It has always mystified me that you think Tommy is one of the greatest perfumes of all time. Why?
Dear authors, I like to spray the book I'm reading with a scent I can associate with that book. [Cade/leather scents like Dzing! and Chanel Cuir de Russie are nice.] Would you please nominate a few fragrances you would deem apropos for scenting the paper of your new guide? Thank you kindly.
The idea of perfumes rated on a 5-star scale bothers me for some reason. For example, I would never buy an art history book that purported to “rate” the great works of art on a numerical scale. However, I find your qualitative descriptions and criticisms wonderful. Why did you and your editors choose to go with a ratings system? It seems to perpetuate that idea of “Turin and Sanchez say it's 5-stars… what's wrong with me if I don't love it?”.
For Luca and Tania:
When you review a fragrance, how much do your own personal tastes influence you in how high you grade it? Suppose that you have before you two perfumes of equally good quality, but one is, say, a rose perfume, and you aren't really fond of roses in general, and the second is a vetiver perfume, and you are partial towards vetiver. Would the vetiver perfume receive more stars than the rose?
Dear Luca And Tania
Your book being presented as “Parker for Perfume”.
Dont you fear that your single point of view can be too strong in the small world of perfume fan ?
Good review and bad review can be really important for some niche house (mainstream house doesnt care and have ad) … how do you take it into account ?
Dear Mr. Turin and Ms. Sanchez:
Let's say, hypothetically, that one or both of you were vendor representatives for a major perfume company at a big national department store chain. Your boss for the perfume company wants you to sell a bunch of bottles of a one-star rated perfume, even though your company also makes a lot of four/five-star rated perfumes. But if you met or exceeded the sales goal for the one-star perfume, you could win a shiny new MacBook Air.
What would you do… would you try to sell the one-star perfume to your customers just to win the computer, or would you forgo the computer in favor of selling the four/five-star perfumes?
I was going to ask _exactly_ that question.
Robert Parker has a terrific palate and I've learned a ton from reading his books. But I also think that he has, at the end of the day, had a rather negative effect on the world of wine. His numerical ratings are so overwhelmingly important to the success of wines in the US that his particular preferences end up directing the market (compare the effect of a Parker with the entirely positive impact of a great, quirky importer like Kermit Lynch).
So let me ask Benoit's question in a more pointed way: how do you avoid being Robert Parker if your book does well?
I hope neither of you were offended by my use of the first name – my intention was not to be overly-familiar and I apologise if it was off-putting. Also, I believe the actual statement about the FM collection was “at least seven of which deserve to still be there in 2024”.
Dear Dr. Turin and Ms. Sanchez,
I am curious about the behind-the-scenes production of the book. I read that there are over 1200 reviews in the book, but were there any reviews that were “left on the cutting room floor” so to speak? Any amusing tales of the writing of a particular review? I suppose I’m asking if you could favor us with a few anecdotes.
Looking very much forward to reading the book!
One more question: Please name the most promising new male and female perfumers. Thank you!
A question for Dr. Turin:
Do you believe there is a physiological basis for any positive effects of aromatherapy, or do you think it is just placebo affect? (This makes me think of the perhaps related physical effect of some odors actually causing vomiting…)
Thank you–greatly looking forward to the book!
Great questions! I'd love to see the hypothetical 'win-a-macbook-if-you-sell-crap' question answered.
I'm stumped to add my own – will have to think on it.
Dear Luca and Tania
Given your joint love of perfume, this joint venture publication and given you are now matrimonially joined, how do you handle a perfumed life together? Do you try and coordinate what you wear? Does Tania say I feel like Shalimar today and Luca responds, OK hon I'll spritz some Habit Rouge? And do you make sure you are freshly scrubbed before retiring at night in case Luca retires with Joy and Tania with Jules and you both wake up with the weirdest dreams ever?
For either/both Dr Turin and Ms Sanchez:
We've had just over a century of the 'modern perfume era' (which most agree began with 1882's Fougere Royale). It seems like much of that has been dominated by the larger brands and houses, compared to the relatively recent growth of smaller 'boutique' brands.
Do you believe the big players can surprise and delight us any more with truly 'different' perfumes, or do you consider the sharp end of the business will increasingly belong to smaller players who may be willing to take more risks and think a little outside the 'safety zone'?
Folllowing up on Djsflynn's question, how do you feel about independent perfumers' ability to influence (or have their ideas co-opted/stolen) by mainstream commercial perfumery?
And on the business side–many independent perfumers depend heavily on word of mouth and direct internet sales. Do you have any hope that the mainstream sales model, in which the money is spent on ads and bottles instead of juice, will change in our lifetimes?
And a few more (greedy thing that I am):
What was your co-authoring process like?
What was the funniest/most outrageous bit of ad copy you came across?
When are you going to have a book release party so you can meet all your adoring fans?
Just a sub-question to the above: do you ever disagree on perfumes and how did this play out when you were writing the reviews?
No questions. Your review of Ormonde Woman left me basking in smuggity glee. That's all I need.
What direction do you see the perfume industry going in the future? How much influence will the banning of more and more natural frag ingredients have on future perfumes?
I have too many questions so I will ask the most silly ones – these are for both of you:
What perfume or perfumes have ever made you cry?
Have you ever dreamed of a perfume, and what did it smell like?
What perfume would go well with Satie (Trois Gymnopedies)? or Glenn Gould? how about Radiohead?
This last question may be too personal (I guess the other ones were, too), but if not, I am very curious: what was it like to write a book with each other? Gimme dirt.
Thank you – dying to get the book from Amazon. I plan to swallow it whole.
And thanks to Now Smell This for hosting this interview – you guys are awesome.
Hello Luca end Tania,
Can perfumes really smell feminine and masculine or is that merely dictated/decided by our culture and society?
kind regards,
Marianne Winia.
Dear Mr. Turin and Ms. Sanchez,
– Which reviews for your new book did you agree or disagree on the most?
– Was there any consideration for the (possibly perceived) cultural differences in the perception of perfumes? (E.g. Asian markets prefer lighter scents.)
Thank you!
Thanks to Robin for organising this – such fun!
I would like to ask the authors for confirmation (or otherwise) that E Flechier was responsible for the latest reformulation of Mitsouko and whether they think its any good? (Apologies if covered in the book.)
Also – what is your favourite scent molecule/which synthetic has made the biggest impact in modern perfumery? Thinking of Iso E super and Hedione just off the top off my head. Do you think there will be a good substitute for oakmoss?
Thanks.
I've been reading through Luca Turin's archived blog – directed thence from this great site.
It's absolutely bloody fantastic!
Oooh very excited about this book. Must add to my Amazon wish list!