In Remembering Smell, Bonnie Blodgett interlaces her own frightening story of smell loss with a primer on the olfactory system and olfactory disorders of all kinds, from phantosmia to anosmia. Her title foreshadows the many connections between smell and memory explored in the book. Part personal memoir, part investigation of the relationship between smell and brain function, the book also offers an elegy or memorial to the lost sense of smell.
Instead of posting a review this month, I invite you to join in an on-line book club.
To get you started, I’ll begin with a few topics and questions that came to mind as I was reading. Feel free to ask your own questions and to open up new topics…