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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “Michael Tonello never planned to start a business selling Hermès on eBay; he stumbled into it when he began offloading his own designer duds to raise cash after he found himself jobless in Barcelona. This memoir about how his personal closet-cleaning lead to a lucrative career procuring and...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“The subtitle of this book is “My life in hot pursuit of the world’s most coveted handbag.” Of course, I had no idea what a Birkin is. Thanks to Michael Tonello I now know a lot about them—the main thing being that I’ll never own one and probably never even see one in my lifetime. The writing was very light and breezy, easy and fun to read. ”
Julie S wrote this review Monday, October 5 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“good story but could have been told in half the number of pages. if you are interested in fashion, it is a quick easy read.”
californiameaghan wrote this review Monday, June 8 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Michael Tonello's "Brining Home the Birkin" is a fabulous memoir of Tonello's world tour of Birkin hunting. Michael's pursuit of one of the world's most elusive and coveted bags is fresh, witty, smart, enchanting, and lovable. You'll love the colourful characters, all with their own virtues, and Tonello's lessons in the face of excess and loss. With an incredibly creative Birkin bag cover, stylish illustrations, and incredible tales, this a perfect shelf addition whether you indulge in high fashion, admire from afar, or don't know the difference between haute and goat. An all around great book. The writing style is light and near conversational, and by the end you'll feel like Michael's confidant(e).
Sam V wrote this review Sunday, December 28 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Bravo Tonello! 10/10!”
“Extremely quick read. The guy is definitely a little full of himself, but he is amusing and interesting to see who he deals with in his search for the most ridiculously priced bag. For me its more of a look inside a world I will never understand.”
Fallon wrote this review Tuesday, December 23 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I stumbled across a review of this book and thought it might be fun. Not being in any way a fashionista I was completely surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It was absolutely fun, and endearing, and playful, and the author kept me interested in his successes both business and personal. Michael Tonello has a real knack for writing and I hope he may find something else to write about in the future.”
Baetrice wrote this review Friday, September 5 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This book was a very easy to read non-fiction. I had no idea what a Birkin was before this. I think it is ridiculous, but I loved the story. ”
Deeders wrote this review Thursday, August 7 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Fun, light, summer reading, a behind-the-scenes account of an ebay reseller and his adventures buying selling and great descriptions of all the fabulous places he visited along the way.”
coralreefer wrote this review Wednesday, August 6 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No1 of 1 members found this review helpful“Michael Tonello never planned to start a business selling Hermès on eBay; he stumbled into it when he began offloading his own designer duds to raise cash after he found himself jobless in Barcelona. This memoir about how his personal closet-cleaning lead to a lucrative career procuring and reselling Hermès' elusive Birkin bag is a highly entertaining, funny, and unexpectedly exciting read.
storydancer wrote this review Friday, June 20 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Though the book got off to something of a slow start for me, by the time he got to writing about sticker shock on his first visit to Hermès (on comparing a $4,770 leather jacket to his own "investment quality" Prada, he writes "…what more could this one do? Take out my f*ing trash for me? Shine my shoes? Maybe it doubled as a parachute…") Tonello had my attention and wouldn't let it go. Anybody who has ever gotten caught up in the thrill of an eBay auction will easily relate to Tonello's growing excitement as he discovers American Hermès collectors will pay big mark-ups for merchandise he can easily access from his new European location. He has a nice little business hunting down back stock scarves for his wish-list customers when he gets his first request for a Birkin, the ultimate designer handbag that has a waiting list of two years. Though it takes Tonello some time to crack the Hermès fortress, he eventually stumbles across "the formula" and soon finds himself the Birkin bag it-boy.
Though not written as a how-to manual, Tonello's book showcases the recipe he used to become such a big success in his luxury niche. Luck, and being in the right place at the right time, clearly had a lot to do with it. But it was Tonello's business savvy that really catapulted him into the big time; he took the niche he'd stumbled across and ran with it, learning everything he could about Hermès in the process. Reading about the strategies he employed to liberate the elusive bags from their gilded prisons is detective story fascinating, and only becomes more so when one of his $22,000 croc bags suddenly becomes the subject of what he referred to as an "international hostage situation."
Tonello's witty storytelling, combined with the addictive nature of quests and auctions, made this book particularly hard to put down. I can't say it made me want a Birkin, though.”
“Delightful story, wonderful locations, a true pleasure to read!”
branflakez wrote this review Friday, June 6 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
