Customer Reviews
WITTY AND WINNING - By: Gail Cooke, 05 Nov 2008 
Many of us probably have an idea of what a dream job would be. How about one that takes you to some of the most beautiful cities in the world where you stay in the finest hotels & dine only at 5-star restaurants? Plus, when you're not in Paris or on Capri you don't even have to go to the office, you simply work at home in your pajamas.
Sound too wonderful to be true? Well, it surely is for most of us but not for Michael Tonello who tells us alll about it in the highly amusing, can't-believe-he-reallly-did-this memoir Bringing Home The Birkin. As the affluent know a Birkin is a handbag made by Hermes with retail prices in five figures & more than difficult to obtain. Evidently the two-year waiting list makes a Birkin even more desirable.
Tonello had already seen a good bit of the world as a beautician
who traveled about prettying up the already pretty for commercial photo shoots. He was happy with his current home but had grown weary of the unfriendly Cape Cod winters. A recent assignment has taken him to Barcelona where he found he loved the people, the food, the sunny clime. When an opportunity to take a job there surprisingly appeared, he packed his designer duds & moved to Spain.
His euphoria was short lived because almost as soon as he had unpacked his job vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. What to do, how to make ends meet & keep wine at table? On an impulse he listed one of his Hermes scarves on eBay & it sold - at a nice price. Further, he was the recipient of emails from those who had lost out on his auction & wanted to know if he had more. Tonello soon realized that these were "serious collectors," & that there might be a great deal of money involved.
As he writes, "I didn't let my ignorance get in the way of my avarice. I intimated that this was only the tip of the iceberg. Well, I've always been a strong believer in the power of positive thinking - I reallly wanted it to be the tip of the iceberg."
For Tonello wanting made it so. It wasn't a great leap from scurrying around, finding & buying older patterns of Hermes scarves for his burgeoning list of clients to buying & reselling (at a healthy profit) the extravagantly priced, impossible to get Birkins. How could he possibly climb to the top of the daunting two-year waiting list? Where would he find the funds to purchase these more than pricey handbags?
He is one dauntless, determined fellow & his story is a carousel of chuckles, costly cuisine, & luxurious lodgings. Michael Tonello reallly brought home the Birkins & lives to tell his fascinating story while still enjoying Spain where, as he puts it "excuses to celebrate include getting out of bed in the morning & the ability to breathe for long periods of time."
This reader doesn't need an excuse to celebrate the refreshing honesty, wiles, & wit found in this memoir .
- Gail Cooke
Can't Blame him for Trying! - By: Tutu and a T-Shirt, 14 Jul 2008 This is a good book about how one individual just lucked out on EBAY. Mr Tonello's wild ride through Europe to collect the most coveted handbag is truly fascinating! Not only does he find Birkins through a flurry of Hermes scarves but he also has a great adventure doing it.
Perfect quick read for the weekend!
