This Guy Smells

Reading THE HUCKSTERS very slowly because not all the Doomed Book Club members have their copies yet. So far the hero goes around smelling everybody. First he smells the "rich smell" of New York City women: "the most beautiful, desirable women in the world." "Rich smell" made me think of gumbo! My secret Hollywood friend said it reminded him of Mitt Romney. I wonder whether those desirable women smelled more like gumbo or Mitt Romney. It doesn't matter. By the next page, he has moved on to smelling the guy who sells him a thirty-five dollar tie. The tie salesman smells too good and the book pauses for a dash of homophobia as the narrator reflects upon the implications of a good smelling man. By page 11 our protagonist is smelling the smell of his cushy new job: "He sniffed. 'What's that perfume smell? It's the same in all the offices.'" If my math is correct, this book should work out to be 25% smells! And with his rapid rise in the business world, I feel certain our man Vic Norman will soon be smelling potentates and kings! Ironically, Kelly Hogan's copy of THE HUCKSTERS smells like mildew. Is that irony? I never know.