The Sweet-Scented Manuscript — Tito Perdue

Hilarious, brave, and tinged with the inescapable sorrow of death's inevitability, The Sweet-Scented Manuscript is a portrait of youth itself.

The 1950s are coming to a close, and young Leland Pefley is off to university. He knows only two things about his future: first, that he, like James Dean, will die young and gloriously; second, that in the meantime he was not destined to live like anyone else. Navigating the pitfalls of conformism and debauchery, overcome by the despair and rapture of youthful love, and menaced continually by the need for gainful employment, Lee boldly strives to defend his integrity and to conquer the heart of the love of his life, the ravishing Judy.

The Sweet-Scented Manuscript is a gorgeous recounting of the romance, the fatalism, the rebelliousness, and the tragicomedy of the springtide of life, sharpened by all the spices of an intelligent young man's lively revolt against the deadening mediocrity of his times.