But the long manifesto from Nike Wagner suggested that she scents blood.
No wonder she became feisty, doughty when she scented a good battle, and there were plenty: Hannah Arendt's book on Eichmann; communism (McCarthy was a fellow-traveller); Vietnam; and, best of all, a terrific assault on the alarming Lillian Hellman ("Every word she writes is a lie, including 'and' and 'the'") which McCarthy handed out on the Dick Cavett show.
To enhance the experience, she scents the practice space with one of her own essential oils in aerosol mists.
It ran easily, lightly, over the stone flags, and it was the lady who drew my attention; what lay on the chair seemed just a dark, shrouded shape, and it was her crisp flowered frock that took my eye, the tight permed shape of her head; we were not near enough to smell her, but I imagined that she wore scent, eau de cologne.
If a female is getting ready to go into heat, she leaves scent marks to alert any males who happen to be passing by.
But she chooses scents that are "woody or green," she said, "instead of sweet or floral" ones that can feel overpowering.
Aromas no longer elude her, but occasionally she's stopped by a scent she can't name.
She said, "Scents are one of the basic building blocks of wine tasting.
She suggests scenting my yoga practice space with "chill," a rainforest blend of copaiba, ocotea, lavender, cedar wood and hint of vanilla, creating an ambiance designed to coax students into surrender to enjoy the moment.
She made up in scent what she had lost in her deafness.
