(D) CBQ BooknotesCondensed Reviews

Abstract

49:23 Reading Smell in Eighteenth-Century Fiction by Emily C. Friedman (Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press, 2016—$85.00 [hardcover] ISBN: 978-1-61148-752-7, [e-book available], 208 pp., introduction, conclusion, four chapters, bibliography, and index) explores scent in 18th century, primarily British, literature. In conjunctionwith an extensive historical study of scent, Friedman discusses the physiological, psychological, and cultural ways in which smell contributed to key imaginative works published duringa specific timeperiod.Friedmanexplores theseolfactoryconcepts from three perspectives: the science of smell, primary topics of discussion connected to smell, and scent as it broadly connects to genre and subgenre. As the title suggests, this book’s goal is to explore olfactory language used in eighteenth-centuryworks of fiction in order to better understand thehistory of the era. Each chapter examines a different purveyor of smell, including tobacco, perfumeand/or smelling-bottles, bodies (i.e., discussions on corpses andbodyodor), and sulfur.Thework also includes colorful and graphic language that vividly describes various impactful scents from such contexts as death, everyday life, and historical events. Friedman is an associate professor of English at Auburn University in Auburn, AL. Reviewed by Margarita Tapia