The Secret of Chanel No. 5: The Intimate History of the World's Most Famous Perfume [Hardcover]

Tilar J. Mazzeo (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 9, 2010

“Who knew that such a tiny bottle housed so many secrets?” —Michael Tonello, author of Bringing Home the Birkin

Tilar J. Mazzeo, author of the New York Times bestseller The Widow Clicquot (an Amazon Best of the Month book in October 2008) returns with a captivating history of the world’s most famous, seductive, and popular perfume: Chanel No. 5. Mazzeo’s sweeping story of the iconic scent (known as “le monstre” in the fragrance industry) stretches from Coco Chanel’s early success to the rise of the seminal fragrance during the 1950s to the confirmation of its bestseller status in today’s crowded perfume market.

“Here is the life of one of the 20th century’s most interesting and deeply complicated women, a fascinating cultural history, and the story of an extraordinary perfume.” —Chandler Burr, New York Times scent critic and author of The Perfect Scent

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Mazzeo's (The Widow Cliquot) cloying and repetitive history of Chanel No. 5 finds the perfume's phenomenal success to have occurred in spite of its creator's efforts. Mazzeo reveals that the now instantly recognizable scent of heavy jasmine, rose, and musk combined with a good dose of "unblemished whiteness" produced by synthetic aldehydes was not actually invented by Coco Chanel in 1920, at the height of her fashion fame. In fact, she and her lover at the time, dispossessed Russian aristocrat Dmitri Pavlovich, recreated the scent from a perfume that had originally been fashioned for a Romanov dynasty celebration in 1914, le Bouquet de Catherine. According to Mazzeo, the newly fashioned Chanel No. 5 (Coco's lucky number) embodied the saintly mysteries of her childhood orphanage at Aubazine, the heady sensuality of her early career as a demimondaine, and the bracing clean lines of her modern design. A woman "should smell like a woman and not like a flower," she famously declared. In this fascinating story, Mazzeo depicts painstakingly how signing away her rights to the industrialist Wertheimer brothers in 1924 prompted perfume sales to soar worldwide, especially when the brothers were able to remove production to New Jersey during WWII. (Nov.) (c)
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From Booklist

In this “biography of a scent,” Mazzeo (The Widow Clicquot, 2008), painstakingly follows the scattered breadcrumb trail left by the illustrious Chanel No. 5 (somewhere in the world, a bottle is sold every 30 seconds). So doing, she takes readers all over France, to the U.S,, Germany, and Imperial Russia, to explain the far-flung origins and unprecedented success of the perfume the author calls a “cultural monument.” In something akin to revealing the man behind the curtain in Oz, Mazzeo carefully uncovers the revered designer Coco Chanel’s complicated relationship with her creation, at once very personal yet belonging to women the world over, and exposes the tenuous (and, during WW II, downright scandalous) business partnership she maintained with her colleagues at Les Parfums Chanel. Readers may find themselves wishing the volume came accompanied by the endlessly described fragrance in its enigmatic art-deco bottle, but this is one case where historical fact eclipses the legend and lore of the object itself—there’s much, much more than meets the nose to discover in these pages. --Annie Bostrom

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Harper; Stated 1st Edition edition (November 9, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061791016
• ISBN-13: 978-0061791017
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,761 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #98 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Beauty, Grooming, & Style > Style & Clothing

More About the Author

Tilar J. Mazzeo is the author of Back Lane Wineries of Sonoma (The Little Bookroom),The New York Times best-selling 'oenobiography 'The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It (Harper), and the forthcoming Back Lane Wineries of Napa (The Little Bookroom, Spring 2010). The Widow Clicquot has been recognized by Gourmand as the Best Work of Wine Literature in the United States for 2008. A member of the International Food, Wine, and Travel Writers Association, her work has appeared in Food and Wine magazine. She divides her time between the California wine country and the East Coast, where she is a professor of English at Colby College.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Kept Secret: Tilar Mazzeo's New Book November 9, 2010

By Sterling Price

Format:Hardcover

Anyone who has ever read Tilar Mazzeo's books knows how brilliantly she spins a tale. Who needs fiction when her truth has such sizzle? The Secret of Chanel No. 5 is another terrific read - as much fun as a trip to Paris (probably more fun because Ms. Mazzeo has the inside scoop on a French icon). Anyone who is a fan of the fragrance will love the background - and those who are fascinated by Coco Chanel herself will find truth separated from fiction (the truth is much more fascinating, by far!). Ms. Mazzeo's diplomacy and charm have given her unparralleled access to the secret and seductive world of high fashion. It is great fun to be on intimate terms with it - thanks to Tilar Mazzeo. This should be on every Christmas list!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Alluring story of a perfume. November 23, 2010

By Jeremie Fant

Format:Kindle Edition

I must say that I found this book very entertaining, which somewhat took me by surprise. Naively I felt I had heard all the interesting stories behind No5, particularly those associated with its infamous creator, and more importantly did not think that it was that exciting. Ms Mazzeo proved me wrong. The secret of Chanel No5 is much more intriguing than I could have imagined and kept me entertained to the end. The book weaves you from from the familiar, to the unfamiliar and back and the narrative sits comfortably between story-telling and informative. A great read.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Detailed but not intriguing April 11, 2011

By K. Cooper

Format:Kindle Edition

I haven't read any other work by Mazzeo, so maybe I didn't know what I was getting into, but I simply didn't find this book as enthralling as other reviewers. For all Mazzeo's effort, the history of Chanel No. 5 is a small story, and no amount of fluffing keeps the book from feeling repetitious. The story also suffers from the lack of historical evidence--while I do not doubt the amount of research done by Mazzeo, it feels like a lot of evidence is missing, or there is no personal accounts, and much of what happens seems to happen 'one way or another.' The story is heavily weighted during Coco Chanel's life, and the history of the modern-day section feels rushed, as though the audience is assumed to know the current history. Perhaps in the modern era there is less intrigue and drama, but within a matter of years, this era might not be so easily recalled.

For Kindle-specific comments, I would note that the story ended 62% of the way through the page count. On the one hand, thank goodness, because I didn't what else there was left to say, but on the other hand, it wasn't accurate. Also, as someone who works in marketing and copy writing, the incorrect use of the short "n-dash" throughout the book was irritating. These are obviously not major complaints, but overall left it feeling poorly constructed.