I recently heard an interview with Bonnie Blodgett (shown above right), who wrote a memoir about the experience of losing and rediscovering the sense of smell. I am intrigued, and have placed this book at the top of my reading list.
If you, too, have read or are planning to read Remembering Smell, let’s chat about it. How about an October book club…
Bonnie Blodgett, author of Remembering Smell: A Memoir of Losing — and Discovering — the Primal Sense, talks to NPR about the smell hallucinations and anosmia that resulted from using Zicam nasal spray. You can listen here. Many thanks to Joe for the link!
U.S. health officials on Tuesday warned consumers to stop using Zicam nasal cold remedy products because they can cause the loss of a sense of smell.
The specific products contained in the warning include Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel, Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Swabs, and Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs Kids' Size.
— Read more at FDA Issues Warning for Over-the-Counter Cold Remedy at MSN. Many thanks to rusticdove for the link!
Without the aroma of car exhaust, hot dogs or coffee, the city was a blank slate. Nothing was unbearable and nothing was especially beguiling. Penn Station’s public restroom smelled the same as Jacques Torres’s chocolate shop on Hudson Street. I knew that New York possessed a further level of meaning, but I had no access to it, and I worked hard to ignore what I could not detect.
— From Finally, the Scent of the City, in which columnist Molly Birnbaum moves to New York City during a time when her sense of smell was impaired. Many thanks to Existentialist for the link!
Chicago has always been self-consciously aware of its aroma.
Blame it on the fact that the city takes its name from the "shikaakwa," a native, onion-scented wild leek. The odor of that particular skunk weed no longer permeates the area, but others have come to mark Chicago's intangible smellscape.
— From The city of big odors, an exploration of Chicago's "urban bouquet", with thanks to Allison for the link.
There was nothing remarkable about the cold I caught. But a few weeks after I was otherwise back to feeling normal, my sense of smell and taste hadn't returned. I went to my doctor, and he said I had a sinus infection, prescribed antibiotics, and told me not to worry. That was three years ago.
— Elizabeth Zierah in The miseries of losing one's sense of smell at Slate, with thanks to Ruth for the link.