bringing home the birkin by michael tonello

The prose is vivid, the tone lighthearted. A witty and engaging retrospective on long career traipsing the globe as a purveyor of the Birkin bag.

The perfect, fluffy and fun beach read. details the comical lengths to which he's gone to snag hundreds of Birkins that he then sells (with a steep mark-up) on eBay. Boston Herald In his peppy, addictive memoir. Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post reveals the key to scoring that Holy Grail of handbags in a clever memoir.

Huffington Post The one-step, one-stop shop guide to buying a Birkin. Publishers Weekly (starred review) The one-step, one-stop shop guide to buying a Birkin. Fashion die-hards, and many others, will be delighted from beginning to end. Both a hilarious raid on fashion's strongholds and a memoir that satisfies like a novel. The result is a memoir that is distinctive, fun, page-turning, and as addictive as its namesake.įunny, whip-smart. Whether he's relating his wining and dining, buying and selling, dodging and weaving, laughing and crying, or schmoozing and stammering, Michael is a master raconteur who weaves together tales of hunting Birkins in the world's most posh locales, memories of meals that would make any gastronome salivate, anecdotes of obsessed collectors with insatiable desires, and sweetly intimate stories about his family, friends, and finding true love. Flirting with danger, Michael recounts the heady rush of hand delivering his first big score to famed songwriter Carole Bayer Sager in Paris how he had to hire thugs to rescue a bag that one of his 'shoppers' held for ransom and, the story of the Oscar-worthy performances that allowed him to snag 'reserved' bags from other, less dogged Birkin seekers. With down-to-earth wit, Michael chronicles the unusual ventures that took him to nearly every continent, from eBay to Paris auction house and into the lives of celebrities and poseurs. But soon the resourceful Michael discovered the truth about the waiting list and figured out the secret to getting Hermes to part with one of these precious bags. Michael's newfound career started with an impulsive move to Barcelona, a vanished job assignment, no work visa, and an Hermes scarf sold on eBay to generate some quick cash.

Bringing home the birkin by michael tonello