[Summer Read] Bringing Home The Birkin by Michael Tonello

I was both pleased and a bit sad to finish Bringing Home The Birkin by Michael Tonello this evening. Pleased because it was another highly entertaining book in my summer reading list. Sad because I wanted to read more.

Bringing Home The Birkin is the real story of how Michael traveled around the world (US, Europe, South America, and a bit of Asia) to find the Birkins for his eBay customers who are obsessed with the famous bags from the House of Hermes. The Hermes Berkin is so famous and desirable mainly for three reasons: top quality (leather & croc), price ($8,000 to $80,000 give or take), and rarity. Rarity was perhaps the key to the story due to the notorious one to two-year waiting list for the Berkin. Rich and famous would not guarantee you a Birkin. Michael, however, found a secret formula to bring home the Birkin for his customers, so he went everywhere – from the largest flagship Hermes store in Paris (24 Faubourg Saint Honore) to the tiny Hermes store in Capri, Italy.

Originally from Massachusetts, Michael decided to move to Barcelona after a make-up gig because (1) he was so much in love with the city and (2) someone promised him a job there. (1) has not changed. As for (2), after signing a five-year lease on his new Barcelona apartment, Michael found out to his amazement and frustration that the job was not gonna happen. Only then had he discovered eBay so that he could sell off some of the items in his closet, including a Hermes pashmina scarf that would change his life forever.

I really love the book because, as much as the Birkin is the main catch of the story, Bringing Home The Birkin is essentially about the human psychology and behavioral economics. We know that a crocodile bag is expensive, but the price of a Hermes croc bag would not be so high if customers did not drool for it. Regardless of how rare the material is, if there were no significant demand, Hermes would simply be unable to charge thousands of dollars for a bag. As if it was not difficult enough for customers to find a Birkin, Hermes made sure it was more the case by different techniques including keeping a waiting list with high-profile customers, putting “Reserved” sign on the only display bag, and limiting the number of Birkins sold to each customer in every purchase. Hermes’ strategy and customers’ perception worked so well together they proved one thing: in luxury fashion, the intrinsic value of an item is much lower than the value perceived by its customers. Hermes customers made the connection not only between rarity and value but also between rarity and social status. Michael Tonello knew it only too well he went on a journey that led to the most awesomely ridiculous relationships along the line of his eBay business.

Yet, even the most outrageously beautiful dream does not last forever. The last chapter was about Michael waking up from his orange-coated dream. It was quite personal and not as glamorous as the previous chapters, but absolutely my favorite. I almost felt the pain in his words, and he could have made it even more dramatic, but he chose not to. It was simply not his style. When I read his book, I could almost picture him sitting right there telling me the stories. Once he started, I could not stop listening, and once he stopped I wish he would have moved on. Nonetheless, a good reader must have some patience. I’ll be waiting for the next Michael Tonello book. Meanwhile, if you have a sparkling interest in fashion especially in handbags, luxury fashion, and particularly Hermes, I highly recommend this book. And if you ever want to bring home a Birkin, this is a website of “Sarah”, one of Michael’s customers who turned out to be another reseller: Createurs Deluxe. You could access some excerpts from the book here.

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist

I carried the book The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist with me in the subway, in the bus, then finally sat down and finished it. I had to do it in one day otherwise I wouldn’t go to sleep.

Basically, this book is about a reserve bank unit where dispensable individuals – those who are not really wanted or connected to society in different ways – spend the rest of their lives (women recruited at age 50, men at 60) participating in different biological and psychological experiments and donating their organs. Once the individuals settle in at the unit, they cannot get out. To be exact, their motivations to escape will be skillfully eliminated. Dorrit, a 50-year-old woman, went into the unit expecting to live that life. Then she fell in love, and things started to change course.

The idea of an underground research center/lab that performs experiments on human beings is not new, yet the novel feels fresh and the writing is lively. A major part of it has to be due to the excellent translation by Marlaine Delargy. Holmqvist is particularly good at description. Her meticulous details on a simple movement of the character can make you visualize it like in a movie. The reserve bank unit which was depicted so well I really wanted to see it in a movie adaptation. Overall, there is no significant climax in this story. Nonetheless, I was engaged in the little details. I generally found such types of stories amusing. Why? Though life-changing, ground-breaking events can make a story much more attractive, some writers (e.g Raymond Carver, Haruki Murakami) can skillfully present a completely uneventful story to draw the readers into the details. Well. Aren’t most of us live to remember the ordinary moments?

The Unit, like other dyspotian novels, does not have a happy ending. Dystopian novels are those about dystopia, a type of society in which people suffer from misery/pain/unhappiness. (The other extreme is utopia, the ideal society in which people are fully happy.) Nevertheless, I find The Unit a light read. The topic is quite disturbing yes, but with a few awkward places here in there in the writing, the book does not seem as heavy as it could have been.

Besides, in a way dyspotia is essentially our society under a fictitious, more negative light. Some readers may find it too disturbing and heavy, some might think it’s somewhat reflective of our own flawed collective. How readers feel about The Unit, like any other book, also depends on the types of books they usually read, their perspectives on human conditions, and definitely their personalities. They tie together in a tight knot.

I won’t give too many details here so you could enjoy it thoroughly. You could watch a video based on the book here and find it on Amazon.

As for a number rating if we must — I would give The Unit a 7.5 out of 10.