Luca Turin, we love him, we hate him. He is always somewhere in between being hilarious and obnoxious. One thing I can note in comparison to the original Guide - I tend to agree with Turin more and more. Not sure if that is a good sign.
I took away the star for the partial selection of houses: ignoring some great ones and including some really undeserving ones.
On a positive note, I laughed more reading this than any other book I can think of. ( )

This is mostly a review of fragrance products that were available at the time of the book's publication. But it also has some interesting bits of history and cultural information in the first few chapters, along with general recommendations in the appendices. This is a good book for someone who's new to fragrance buying and sampling, and who wants to find their "signature scent". It's also a good refresher even for seasoned (and delightfully scented) perfumistas. Keep in mind, though, that fashion and perfume houses introduce and discontinue fragrances almost constantly, and reformulations of one product can change your experience of it. This is another subject that Turin and Sanchez also cover. Oh, and... they're surprisingly funny! ( )

Well-written, opinionated, pointed, often unsparing and usually hilarious. It reminds me of Robert Christgau's record reviews. I'll just say right off that no one will agree with every review by these authors. I've even come across many who feel insulted or aggrieved. Put that aside; it's opinion, it's about perfume, and it's supposed to be fun. They know what they are talking about, though their tastes are their own, so to journey with them is to be entertained and educated even when you don't always agree.

Priceless. ( )

This is not a book you can read back-to-back since the bulk of it consists of perfume reviews in alphabetical order. Part of me would have liked for them to be sorted into brands as opposed to names but no matter. The writing style's exquisite and hilarious and well worth the price of the book on its own. I read the lengthy introduction and then hopped from review to review, looking for my favourites and some I'd heard about. Very good resource book. My copy is on my Kindle and I can see now for the first time one of the big drawbacks of the ebook format - it's meant for fiction, really, for the type of text that is linear. With non fiction books of this nature where you just want to flip through it quickly, read entries that are pages away from each other, you really need a physical copy. Very interesting read nonetheless and it certainly made me want to go out and purchase some new bottles. Their review of my current scent, Tom Ford's Black Orchid, which got three stars, is spot-on (cucumber dipped in chocolate). This will appeal to the perfume lover and to the casual reader alike, Luca Turin is one of those authors who'd get you interested in anything. ( )

Snarky, opinionated and fun but never reaches the levels of transcendence (transcentdence?) that Turin's The Secret of Scent did. Still, if you are interested in perfume and the obsessive description thereof, pick this one up. ( )