Six Handbags
December 17, 2024 at 06:30PMIn this essay for The Paris Review, Simon Wu recounts his experiences pining after, and eventually buying, six designer handbags: some real, some real but used, and one fake. This is a sharp, funny, and entertaining read—even if obsessing over a luxury Musubi or Miu Miu bag isn’t your thing.
After I bring it home, I am lightheaded. Then I am nauseous. I used to be a normal person. Now I am this kind of person. This is an irresponsible use of my book advance, I think. Do I deserve this? Does anyone? I lean close to the bag and inhale. I remember that the leather is baby-cow skin. I smell the earth, animal mortality, and the moment of my financial trauma.
I transfer my water bottle, thirteen-inch MacBook, and wallet from my old bag—a humble backpack–to the Musubi. It cannot fit my gym clothes or the novel that I am reading, but I understand now that I have been going about this all wrong. I’ve been looking for a bag that can fit my life. I should be looking for a life that can fit into my bag. I do not need to read, to go to the gym. I need only what will fit inside the portal.
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2024/12/17/six-handbags/
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