The Birkin

After a diet of Mankell's Wallander books, I needed a bit of respite from all the blood and gore. What better antidote than a book that was the furthest in subject matter? I picked up Michael Tonello's Bringing Home the Birkin because of its title and it was so much fun to read! And to think that it is actually a memoir. The book opens when Tonello falls in love with the city of Barcelona and decides to move there. Never mind that the job he was supposed to have in the city never materialised. To finance his life, he turns to...ebay and finds that there is much potential to this online market. Encouraged by his first sales, he decides to start selling Hermes scarves and of course there is a huge demand for them. When he starts getting queries for the Birkin, he has no idea what it is. And so starts his crazy quest to supply the world's fashionistas with the elusive Birkin.

It is a rollicking good read as he travels the length and breadth of the globe in his relentless quest. Along the way, he acquires the Birkin acquisition outfit and comes up with a tongue-in-cheek guide to the various personalities one might encounter in the different Hermes stores. And we learn that of all of them, the one most helpful for the search is the Grandmother personality. With such a quest, there are moments of great hilarity and I especially enjoyed his encounter with an especially snooty sales person in the Marseilles branch of Hermes. It is a passage designed to be read aloud.

So what is the secret to acquiring the Birkin? I would tell you except it would deprive you of the chance to read this funny and memorably light memoir!