The Nose : A Profile of Sex, Beauty, and Survival

Rating:
Summary: Worth the Softcover Price
Review: As many reviewers mentioned, I heard the author or book discussed on multiple NPR programs. It seemed fairly fascinating. ...and it's ok, but the radio discussions were better.

The book is part history text (including biblical), medical text, marketing text, etc. G-d has a favorite smell; odors through history, reactions we have to aromas, nasal surgery and treatments. Overall, it's not difficult to imagine this being compiled from a newspaper article series.

It is interesting information and things we never think about (i.e. how can someone w/no sense of smell know when something spoils). Some of the descriptions of what the period during the bubonic plague was told very effectively. It's the details Glaser puts in here that are so interesting (yet disturbing). The descriptions of some of the surgeries are vague - and had they been as graphic as the plague years, most would suffer w/out surgery (as I have).

Slightly over 200 pages - and fairly big print. It's probably worth the softbound price, but $25 for the hardcover isn't necessary.

Rating:
Summary: Worth the Softcover Price
Review: As many reviewers mentioned, I heard the author or book discussed on multiple NPR programs. It seemed fairly fascinating. ...and it's ok, but the radio discussions were better.

The book is part history text (including biblical), medical text, marketing text, etc. G-d has a favorite smell; odors through history, reactions we have to aromas, nasal surgery and treatments. Overall, it's not difficult to imagine this being compiled from a newspaper article series.

It is interesting information and things we never think about (i.e. how can someone w/no sense of smell know when something spoils). Some of the descriptions of what the period during the bubonic plague was told very effectively. It's the details Glaser puts in here that are so interesting (yet disturbing). The descriptions of some of the surgeries are vague - and had they been as graphic as the plague years, most would suffer w/out surgery (as I have).

Slightly over 200 pages - and fairly big print. It's probably worth the softbound price, but $25 for the hardcover isn't necessary.

Rating:
Summary: The Nose Knows the Nose
Review: I had heard about this book in a variety of places - a review here, a radio show there. Like the reader from Waltham, I was curious (and dubious). But I picked up the book the other day, and read. And read, and read. Like Glaser, smells have affected my life powerfully -- I recall an occasion at a friend's house where I caught of whiff of the soap my grandmother used. I became so overwhelmed with longing for her (she died years ago), that tears filled my eyes even before I knew what was happening. In "The Nose," Glaser describes precisely the power that odors have on our lives, but so very much more. As someone committed to alternative health, I, too, have often been puzzled by the abundance of drugs and surgery geared toward "curing" chronic sinus problems (which I have suffered in the past). Glaser's chapter on doctors at Mayo who have researched this poorly understood disease makes for riveting reading. So, frankly, does the entire book. (I was a bit puzzled by the inclusion of a chapter on snorted drugs, however. It was interesting, but felt a bit out of place.) At any rate, this is a deeply intelligent, beautifully written book on a fascinating subject. Glaser mined history, pop culture, medicine and science for a wondrous narrative. This is an impressive and important book.

Rating:
Summary: Saline Nasal Irrigation (Jala Neti)
Review: If you have chronic sinusitis like I do, you might want to try a technique from India called Saline Nasal Irrigation (or Jala Neti). It is the only thing that helped me.

The book talks a lot about sinusitus, but I don't think it mentions Jala Neti. I heard the author interviewed on NPR by Terry Gross. She was explaining how irritants get into the nose, and the nose tries to flush them out with extra mucus, then went on to say that you then take antihistamines to dry up the mucus. This seems illogical, rather, go the other direction by flushing the nose deliberately by pouring salt water through it. Search Google for the phrase "jala neti" if you want to try it. If you are really ambitious, look up "sutra neti".

I hope we can learn something from the people in India. Perhaps we could have learned someting from the people of Afghanistan or Iraq or Palestine but instead we bombed them and then whitewashed the media.