Scent and Short Stories: John Updike’s “In Football Season” + Friday Night Lights Draw

 

  John Up dike is considered one of the greatest American authors of his generation. His character Rabbit Angstrom, a former high school basketball star was named one of the hundred most memorable characters in fiction since 1900 by Book Magazine (you may be familar with his book the Witches of Eastwick that later became a movie starring Jack Nicholson). While he is best known for themes of sex, infidelity and religion usually involving the Protestant Middle Class, Updike's multi sensorial writing is often compared to Marcel Proust,  the French writer we often associate with memory and scent. 

 In his 1962 short story, "In Football Season," published in The Early Stories, short stories  which were written between the years 1954-1961,    a pensive John Updike takes the reader on a sensory journey to an idyllic time in his past, a "paradise lost," as he deftly describes the sights, sounds and smells of a Friday night high school football game. Grab a wool blanket, take a seat on the bleachers and enjoy Mr. Updike's words, photographed for the ages across a darkening sky. He writes: 
 

      "Do you remember a fragrance girls acquire in autumn? As you walk beside them after school, they tighten their arms about their books and bend their heads forward to give a more flattering attention to your words, and in the little intimate area thus formed, carved into the clear air by an implicit crescent, there is a complex fragrance woven of tobacco, powder, lipstick, rinsed hair, and that perhaps imaginary and certainly elusive scent that wool, whether in the lapels of a jacket or the nap of a sweater, seems to yield when the cloudless fall sky, like the blue bell of a vacuum, lifts toward itself the glad exhalations of all things. This fragrance, so faint and flirtatious on those afternoon walks through the dry leaves, would be banked a thousandfold on the dark slop of the stadium when, Friday nights, we played football in the city."

What fragrance does this bring to mind? I am reminded of one of Liz Zorn's stunning Soivohle Absolutes, "Tobacco and Tulle." The ostensible innocence of tuberose hiding a rich, raw tobacco note, like a cheerleader hiding a cigarette. With its musky animalic undertones, one must also wonder what this girl was doing behind the bleachers. As Updike writes of those afternoon walks through the dry leaves, I think of the rich honey hue of the tobacco absolute which colors Ms. Zorn's fragrance, producing the colors, along with the smells, of autumn. Having the vestiges of this scent "in the lapels of a jacket or the nap of a sweater" would warm any soul on a chilly fall night. 

Updike's passage also calls to mind Chanel No. 19, with its iris notes suggesting not just the tobacco, but the lipstick and powder he so eloquently describes. No. 19 is crisp and sharp and beautiful; this cheerleader walks to the field without a smile, breaking hearts along the way. Her scent floats to the boys on the bench and their heads turn in unison. Its greenness echoes the torn grass on the field and perhaps the last green leaves of summer. Soft but with a bite; cold, but with a trace of summer's warmth. 

 

The story continues:

      "The stadium each Friday night when we played was filled. Not only students and parents came but spectators unconnected with either school, and the money left over when the stadium rent was paid supported our entire athletic program. I remember the smell of the grass crushed by footsteps behind the end zones. The smell was more vivid than that of a meadow, and in the blue electric glare the green vibrated as if excited, like a child, by being allowed up late… And of course I remember the way we, the students, with all of our jealousies and antipathies and deformities, would be—beauty and boob, sexpot and grind—crushed together like flowers pressed to yield to the black sky a concentrated homage, an incense, of cosmetics, cigarette smoke, warmed wool, hot dogs, and the tang, both animal and metallic, of clean hair." 

 

What fragrances embody the sport of football? The ball, the field, the crowd, the excitement… I think of the classic game, when helmets were made of leather, when men smoked cigars in the locker room and spectators sipped whiskey on wooden bleachers. With its notes of fresh dirt, burning peat, cigars, leather and scotch, "2nd Cumming" from CB/ I Hate Perfume embodies this classic game. Who knew dirt could smell so sexy? Created in collaboration with actor Alan Cumming (the original release, equally captivating, was simply called "Cumming"), Christopher Brosius composed a scent that is as photorealistic as it is wearable. The comparisons extend beyond the chosen notes and parallel the note structure as well. Like football, it's a display of quick bursts of movement followed by moments of recovery, thought and control. In theory, these notes should clash like opposing teams and at times, in fact, they do, but each conflict is followed by moments of calm and purpose, as Brosius has masterfully planned each collision and progresses closer and closer to the goal. 

Le Labo's Oud 27 leaves the dirt on the field and takes us into the locker room. This is pigskin with an emphasis on the pig. It's leather and lust, sex and celebration. According to Le Labo, Oud 27's notes include Atlas cedar, incense, patchouli, saffron and gaiac wood. When I first tried Oud 27 last year, I detected a faint odor of stale beer in the opening. I thought I was alone in this until a friend recently told me he detected the same note. One might find this unnerving, but I find it exciting, especially as the fragrance melds with the skin unlike any other. Where does the perfume stop and the person begin? It's the scent of someone who played the game hard and as the Friday night lights are turned off, is ready to play even harder. 

Juxtaposing my own words among John Updike's is like trying to play a game of catch while sharing the field with the New York Giants. Nevertheless, Michelyn and I wanted to share the beauty this story and Mr. Updike's memories of  his own teen age years  when the world around him was filled with sight and sound, but also unforgettable scents.

     "In a hoarse olfactory shout, these odors ascended. A dense haze gathered along the ceiling of brightness at the upper limit of the arc lights, whose glare blotted out the stars and made the sky seem romantically void and intimately near, like the death that now and then stooped and plucked one of us out of a crumpled automobile. If we went to the back row and stood on the bench there, we could look over the stone lip of the stadium down into the houses of the city, and feel the cold November air like the black presence of the ocean beyond the rail of a ship…"

Michael Devine, Contributor

Art direction-Michelyn Camen, Editor in Chief (I chose black and white photography to evoke the era)

Thanks to Liz Zorn of Soivohle, (whose husband is an avid Updike reader we have 2ml of all natural Soivohle Absolutes Tobacco andTulle to giveaway. To be eligible please leave a comment with your favorite Soivohle fragrance, your favorite olfactive quote or  what fragrance you would associate by reading In FootBall Season by October 21, 2012.

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.

 TA

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35 comments

  • This is a lovely review. I am the No. 1 Liz Zorn fangirl and love Tobacco and Tulle (so you don’t have to enter me in the draw. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading this!

    xoA

    and hey, the math is HARD on this one. I really have to ramp up my basic arithmetic skills! LOL!

  • “I remember the smell of grass crushed by footprints behind the end zone the smell was more vivid than that of a meadow”
    This is a beautifully written post , so rich and filled with the passages of the short story interwoven with the different perfumes Michael Devine chose to illuminate Updikes words
    The photos were perfect too.
    I remember going to high school football games and I guess the experience is timeless
    I think the fragrances he chose were perfect. I love Liz Zorn perfumes and my favorite might be Soivohle violets and rainwater
    I would love to try tobacco and Tulle. I never knew it was all natural !

  • Such an evocative and enjoyable read. My discovery of Updike was in high school, not so long after the setting of this story. This makes me recall a Friday night game, sitting the bleachers wrapped in my boyfriend’s red wool letter sweater. Trite but true. Thanks for the memory.

  • I love Leather Krem and would definitely like to try more Siovohle scents. Tobacco and Tule sounds wonderful. Thanks for the draw!

  • Beiing a huge John Updike fan, I enjoyed this essay very much.

    This fragrance sounds terrific. I have not tried many Siovohle scents, but one that I love is Violets and Rainwater.

  • This is the first time I read about Soivohle. Tobacco and Tule. It sounds very nice. Anniebelles Rose also sounds perfect.

  • I have had my eye on Oud Laquer for a while now. Tobacco and tulle sounds lovely as well though. Honestly, I’d be happy to try any all natural perfume, as I have wondered what they are like.

  • Sign of intelligent life in the blogosphere …thank you. I really don’t care about someone’s scent of the day or news of the latest flanker when posts like this exist.
    No need to enter me in the draw because I am going to buy a sample of tobacco and tulle and re read In Football Season in its entirety as I “remember a fragrance girls acquire in autumn”

  • I loved this piece. My favourite was the first Updike quote describing the smell of the girls, walking along clutching their books to their breasts. He’s got all the smells, but there’s an additional ozonic component that comes in the Fall and he missed it. Maybe it’s only up here in Canada in the cold. The Soivohle site was amazing. Thanks for the pointer. I think I would love the Meerschaum but would be super happy to win this draw.

  • “What fragrance does this bring to mind? I am reminded of one of Liz Zorn’s stunning Soivohle Absolutes, “Tobacco and Tulle.” The ostensible innocence of tuberose hiding a rich, raw tobacco note, like a cheerleader hiding a cigarette. With its musky animalic undertones, one must also wonder what this girl was doing behind the bleachers” Wow! I feel the fragrance…Thanks

  • Thank you for the lovely article. I did not have the fortune of trying many fragrances from this house. To be more precise – I only tried one and that was Underworld. And it’s so gorgeous! I wouldn’t mind getting myself a bottle at all.
    This new creation sounds awesome as well.
    Such a creative line!

  • I love this, LOVE Updike’s way with words. Though I do enjoy Soivohle Peche et Vert in the summer, Tobacco and Tulle is very interesting to me, especially in the cooler weather. I’ve wanted to try this one for a while. Thanks for the opportunity!

  • As an Australian, I’m not too familiar with American style football. We play AFL, but the dirt, sweat and grass is very much the same. I agree that Oud 27 is a good example of a dirty locker room. I love the smell of Oud 27, partly because its so raw, sexy and animalistic.

    My favourite Soivohle scent is Blood Orange and Vetiver.

    Thanks for the draw!

  • Unfortunately, I haven’t had the pleasure of smelling any Soivohle scents. I always loved going to high school games to hang out with friends. I remember smells of wet leaves, bonfires, popcorn being sold, and sharing each others Dr. Pepper lip gloss.l

  • My favorite quote from this fascinating piece:

    “A dense haze gathered along the ceiling of brightness at the upper limit of the arc lights, whose glare blotted out the stars and made the sky seem romantically void and intimately near, like the death that now and then stooped and plucked one of us out of a crumpled automobile.”

    My favorite olfactive quote:

    “I remember the smell of the grass crushed by footsteps behind the end zones. The smell was more vivid than that of a meadow, and in the blue electric glare the green vibrated as if excited, like a child, by being allowed up late”

  • Purple Love Smoke would be my fave, though Tobacco and Tulle sounds gorgeous.

    I thought he wrote a wonderful essay on marriage, but I can’t find it in Google. I haven’t read Updike since high school, and I think it’s time to go back!

    Thanks for the draw.

  • Favorite Soivohle is Nightjar with osmanthus,frangipani and tonka bean but I would love to try this one! When I read this outstanding article the scent that came to my mind was Tabac Aurea by SSS which I think would be a good association for FootBall Season.
    thanks for the draw!

  • Favourite scent-related quotation (sorry, this one’s really obvious): ‘What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / by any other name would smell as sweet’ (Romeo and Juliet, somewhere in Act 2)

    Thanks for the draw.

  • It’s so difficult to choose just one evocative passage, but I’ll go with the following: “…there is a complex fragrance woven of tobacco, powder, lipstick, rinsed hair, and that perhaps imaginary and certainly elusive scent that wool, whether in the lapels of a jacket or the nap of a sweater, seems to yield when the cloudless fall sky, like the blue bell of a vacuum, lifts toward itself the glad exhalations of all things.” Updike is an amazing writer. Michael’s piece is just wonderful and inspired. In fact, I didn’t even know that Mr. Devine is a contributor here – where have I been? I really enjoyed the article.

    I love many Soivohle fragrances, perhaps Meerschaum is my favorite? Well, one of them anyway. I haven’t tried Tobacco & Tulle yet and it sounds like something I would love.

  • My favorite Soivohle is probably Underworld. I haven’t tried Tobacco and Tulle but it sounds good as well!

    I don’t know that I have a favorite fragrance quote… Must get one!

  • Orris ochre and figgy plum actually that I had the chance to try thanks to a friend are my favorite!

  • Meerschaum is a favorite of mine. What a wonderful article. Would love to try the Tobacco and Tulle. Thanks to all, for the great read and for the opportunity to try this scent ,#

  • What a great read Mike!! Thanks for the draw, I have not had a chance to smell any Soivohle scents.

  • What gorgeous pictures; I plan to read In Football Season as soon as I can get hold of a copy.

    My favorite Soivohle is Wild Ginger Chai, but now I’m interested in Tobacco and Tulle, too.

  • football leaves me cold.
    the only thing i associate with it is bad traffic during the season (when games are played in my hometown.)
    the smell of annoyance, perhaps?
    hmm.
    gotta think on that 🙂

    as for soivohle — my fave (so far) is one of the very early ones (under the liz zorn name still): jhango bay (i think that’s how it’s written?)
    a truly wonderful, rich, earthy, yet also liqueur-like bay-fragrance (if you can imagine that.)
    i wear it and think of hiking in the damp woods (with california bay abundant.)

  • Borko Boris says:

    Read many things about Oudh Lacquer on different forums, but I have not got the chance to test any Soivohle perfumes yet. I hope I will do that soon. Therefore, Oudh Lacquer appears to be my favourite. Many thanks for the draw!

  • I never had the oportunity of try any Soivohle perfumes, but Underworld sounds like my favorite, spices, vetiver, cocoa, leather…and Meerschaum is a close follower.
    Thank you for the draw!

  • Enjoyed this piece so much … I’m a huge football fan! I have season tickets to my favorite college team (go Jayhawks!) and never miss a Chiefs game on TV. I like to wear Bandit to games … it melds so well with the smells of a Fall afternoon spent watching football. I will definitely look for the book!

    Thank you for the draw … Tobacco and Tulle sounds amazing!

  • Tobacco & Tulle sounds like it would be my favorite. I would love a scent that would take me back to the days of Friday Night Games. Thanks for the draw.

  • I can’t name a favorite Soivohle as I have tried none… yet. One of my favorite books of all time and the one that awakened my perfume sensibilities is “Perfume” by Suskind. One of the reasons it is so memorable is this quote “Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions, or will. The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it.”

  • Oh gosh – football fragrances? The last fragrance I wore to a football game was Chloe (new perfume). Have to keep fresh, right? My high school football fragrance would have been Oscar de la Renta. 🙂

  • I associate Friday Night Lights not just with cigarettes, but with cigar smoke, too. When I was growing up, there’d always be someone in the stands with a stogie. To this day cigars still remind me of high school football games and marching band. I think Meerschaum and Tobacco and Tulle would be perfect scents for me.