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Loading... The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris and New…by Chandler Burr
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. The book was strangely captivating. It combined chemistry, a touch of celebrity following, and just plain good writing and perfume criticism in a way that even a novice like myself could enjoy. Burr is excellent at showing the personalities involved, and absolutely great at displaying that touch of mystique that has always surrounded the perfume industry without actually buying into it. The perfumers live in a slightly medieval world, organized almost like a secretive guild, and when that world collides with the super modern fashion industry, the results are unpredictable. The portion of the book set in France is much more interesting than the American sections, probably because I am an historian first, and am only casually interested in fashion. At times, it felt disconcerting to flit back and forth between the New York and Paris story lines. It does, however, make one appreciate the differences between French and American ideas of luxury and beauty. It was a good read and I was surprised at how much the narrative interested me--I finished it in a single sitting! (  ) Eumenides | Aug 11, 2009 |  Readers get a glimpse of the ins, outs, secrets, and egos of the perfume industry in a tale of two perfumes: Hermes' "Un jardin sur le Nil", and Coty's "Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely". (Unless it fascinates you, you can just skip the paragraphs that read like a chemistry class (don't worry, you'll know when you find one) and stick with the story and personalities involved!) g3orgia | Jun 16, 2009 | The Perfect Scent - Chandler Burr Tried to read this book on a long flight but the locations and characters jumped around so much it was very difficult to follow. Although parts were interesting and the potential was there, I kept waiting for the author to draw me in. Unfortunately that didn't happen and after reading a little over a third of the book, I finally gave up. Sadly, I had been rather looking forward to this book, hoping I might gain more insight into the world of perfume. peechuz | May 25, 2009 | I don't read a lot of non-fiction for pleasure, mostly because I read so much of it for work. Maybe I should change that, because I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Burr, who also wrote a book I have sitting in my unread stack from Midwinter, is a really engaging writer. The book tells the stories of the creation of two different perfumes: one is Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely, the other is a commission for Hermes. It was interesting to see the similarities and differences between a celebrity perfume that would be mass marketed and one for a luxury brand that would be sold in much more exclusive markets. He explains the intricacies of both the way perfume is created and the way the industry works without getting so detailed as to be technical and boring. The personalities of the people he met really come through in the story. Little details like what they wear and how they speak help flesh them out as real people, rather than caricatures. SJP seems like really smart and opinionated busineswoman, which isn't necessarily surprising, but it was a different side of her than we get to see when she acts. I also liked learning about peculularities of communication among the different groups of people--the French, PR people, perfumers, executives. Very human and funny stuff. (  ) haloolah | Apr 24, 2009 | This nonfiction book was rather disappointing on several levels. First, it wasn't exactly the right book for me - it seemed to be a lot more about celebrities, high-end fashion, and a view of perfume that felt sort of like all those weird wine-tasting jokes, you know, slightly robust with hints of cat fur or something. I have enjoyed nonfiction that wasn't personally relatable - like histories of sushi, which I don't eat, or the flower industry, when I almost never buy flowers. But I probably should have realized this wasn't the book for me when I had to look up who Sarah Jessica Parker was on the internet. Secondly, the two stories, the development of Sarah Jessica Parker's perfume and the perfumer Ellena, did not mesh at all. The alternating chapters jumped back and forth abruptly and the transitions felt forced. Thirdly, the entire book could have been encapsulated in a couple newspaper columns. It felt very repetitive - over and over again, in different ways, we get told how harsh/unique/risky the industry is, how no one understands perfume formula, blah, blah, blah. So, if you are interested in the perfume industry, high-end fashion & business, or looking at perfume in different ways, read the first couple chapters and you'll have pretty much read the book. 2  JeanLittleLibrary | Mar 10, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0805080376, Hardcover)From the New York Times perfume critic, a stylish, fascinating, unprecedented insider’s view of an industry and its charismatic characters No journalist has ever been allowed into the ultrasecretive, highly pressured process of originating a perfume. But Chandler Burr, the New York Times perfume critic, spent a year behind the scenes observing the creation of two major fragrances. Now, writing with wit and elegance, he juxtaposes the stories of the perfumes—one created by a Frenchman in Paris for an exclusive luxury-goods house, the other made in New York by actress Sarah Jessica Parker and Coty, Inc., a giant international corporation. We follow Coty’s mating of star power to the marketing of perfume, watching Sex and the City’s Parker heading a hugely expensive campaign to launch a scent into the overcrowded celebrity market. Will she match the success of Jennifer Lopez? Does she have the international fan base to drive worldwide sales? In Paris at the elegant Hermès, we see Jean Claude Ellena, his company’s new head perfumer, given a challenge: he must create a scent to resuscitate Hermès’s perfume business and challenge le monstre of the industry, bestselling Chanel No. 5. Will his pilgrimage to a garden on the Nile supply the inspiration he needs? The answer lies in Burr’s informative and mesmerizing portrait of some of the extraordinary personalities who envision, design, create, and launch the perfumes that drive their billion-dollar industry. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:09 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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