Customer Rating: 
Summary: Misleading
Comment: When I purchased this book; that it would have more details to the perfumes that are out there.
Customer Rating: Summary: Very entertaining
Comment: I am a wine writer and interested in sensory perception. So I not only learned a lot, but the reviews of the many perfumes on the market were very well written and in some cases wildly funny. Ed Schwartz
Customer Rating: Summary: a convert
Comment: I never really liked perfume very much, I always associated it with department store headaches. But I have always been fascinated with scent and WANTED to like perfume. The manufacturer's descriptions always sound so lovely and then they smell terrible, so its impossible to know what to look for.
I loved reading the Emperor of Scent, and after reading that book and now the Perfume guide I was able to find a couple of perfumes that are perfect for me, based on Luca and Tania's recommendations. The descriptions are so detailed it made it really easy for me to figure out which ones I'd like. Thats not to say I totally agree with all of their choices, because perfumes are still a very personal choice, but I will continue to use the book as a gift giving guide to find scents that I can afford, that fit different personalities. I appreciate that it saves me the headache of testing out all the overly marketed and expensive "duds". And reading their descriptions of the duds is just as entertaining as reading about the good ones.
Customer Rating: Summary: God, I love this book!
Comment: If you love perfume, and I mean REALLY love perfume, then this book is for you.
It gives you details on every perfume on the market (and many that aren't but can still be acquired on the internet) and not just the facts but the EXPERIENCE of what it's like to sniff each one. I may not always agree with their opinion, but this is irrelevant: they have given me an idea; something to work with.
I am a person who will literally follow someone down the street if they are wearing a perfume I like. In recent years I had not fallen in love with any scent. This book fixed that. By buying samples of scents they recommended, I now have two signature scents.
Truly, for the perfume lover, a sumptuous feast!
Customer Rating: Summary: Fantastic read
Comment: After reading an outstanding review in the New Yorker for this book, I went out and bought it, and have loved it. As that review says, it is a model for anyone who is interested in aesthetics, particularly talking about food and wine. It is a fantastic combination of art (whimsical, evocative, and funny descriptions) and science (describing the chemical families and compounds that make up perfumes). The authors provide a five star rating system for lots of perfumes, which makes for amusing reading (a friend who had just spent $100 on a perfume was shocked to hear it called "reminiscent of ham"), and has interested me in seeking out some of the five-star perfumes. This book also makes a great gift.
