A beautiful book about beautiful things, with a fascinating narrative told by an author who loves her subject.
The world of perfumes is a universe all its own, and Aftel’s book is a colorful, authoritative guide.
There are some authors who know everything there is to know about their field. Aftel, author of Fragrant and Essence and Alchemy, is one of them, and the result is this sumptuous book. She is a creator of bespoke perfumes and has an impressive client list. In 2017, she opened a small museum at her home in Berkeley, California, called the Aftel Archive of Curious Scents, to educate people about the history and culture of perfumes. Her latest book is another step in this project, cataloguing her collection of essences and oils, as well as prints, photographs, and maps. She disdains the trend toward artificial scents, arguing that only natural perfumes can provide true aromatic beauty. Her exploration of the origin of each ingredient features an exquisite drawing, with categories of flowers, woods, leaves and grasses, and resins, and an account of the painstaking distilling processes. Aftel explains how a perfume is created through the careful balancing of three “chords” that might require dozens of components, measured at the molecular level. Her museum also houses collections of antique perfume bottles and evocative recipe books. “It’s not that the world of scent contains these objects so much as they contain the world,” writes the author. “This world kindles a sense of shared humanity that transcends the boundaries of culture and travels down through the eras. It shakes us out of our usual way of responding to the modern world, as a lifeless place; the universe of aromatics has the power to vivify our very being.” This is an inspiring view, founded in nature and enhanced by artistry. This book could be read straight through or dipped into randomly. Many readers will want to sample the fragrances that Aftel describes.
A beautiful book about beautiful things, with a fascinating narrative told by an author who loves her subject.Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2023
ISBN: 9780789214713
Page Count: 252
Publisher: Abbeville Press
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.
The chef, rapper, and TV host serves up a blustery memoir with lashings of self-help.
“I’ve always had a sick confidence,” writes Bronson, ne Ariyan Arslani. The confidence, he adds, comes from numerous sources: being a New Yorker, and more specifically a New Yorker from Queens; being “short and fucking husky” and still game for a standoff on the basketball court; having strength, stamina, and seemingly no fear. All these things serve him well in the rough-and-tumble youth he describes, all stickball and steroids. Yet another confidence-builder: In the big city, you’ve got to sink or swim. “No one is just accepted—you have to fucking show that you’re able to roll,” he writes. In a narrative steeped in language that would make Lenny Bruce blush, Bronson recounts his sentimental education, schooled by immigrant Italian and Albanian family members and the mean streets, building habits good and bad. The virtue of those habits will depend on your take on modern mores. Bronson writes, for example, of “getting my dick pierced” down in the West Village, then grabbing a pizza and smoking weed. “I always smoke weed freely, always have and always will,” he writes. “I’ll just light a blunt anywhere.” Though he’s gone through the classic experiences of the latter-day stoner, flunking out and getting arrested numerous times, Bronson is a hard charger who’s not afraid to face nearly any challenge—especially, given his physique and genes, the necessity of losing weight: “If you’re husky, you’re always dieting in your mind,” he writes. Though vulgar and boastful, Bronson serves up a model that has plenty of good points, including his growing interest in nature, creativity, and the desire to “leave a legacy for everybody.”
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4478-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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