I read this book while on a work trip to Ruidoso and Alamogordo. My wonderful best friend Amy had suggested it a while back, and it didn't disappoint. The plot line is this: Michael is a fashion stylist who moves to Barcelona on a whim to market a friend's jewelry line. He gets there, and the job doesn't pan out and he's stuck with a five-year lease (apparently that's the norm over there). He resorts to selling off old designer scarves and such on ebay, eventually realizing he can make good money tracking down out-of-circulation Hermes scarves for a tidy profit. He becomes e-mail pen pals with several of his customers, one of whom tells him that if he can get his hands on the Hermes Birkin bag, she'll gladly pay him a nice profit.
These bags are legendary. They cost $8-10k and up to start yet Hermes has waitlists for them that span several years. Michael figures out a "formula" to get his hands on these bags, and a new and profitable career is under way. Along the way, Michael finds love, experiences great loss and realizes that life isn't about the things and more about the memories and experiences.
This book has much more heart at the end than you expect, and it reads more like a work of fiction than a memoir. It's fun and fast-paced, and it has several laugh-out-loud moments. It's another great summer read.
And for those of you wondering what these bags look like, here's Michael and a few of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment