Manolo’s Shoe Blog

Manolo says, for the past few weeks, since the start of the new year, the Manolo the Shoeblogger has been feverishly writing away at his autobiography.

Now, after this burst of activity, the Manolo is most happy to announce that he has reached the 120 page mark, and that his agent tells him that he is ready to take this brief sample of the Manolo’s magnus opus to the publishers, so that they may judge its literary worth in the markeplace.

Yes, 120 pages sounds like the large portion, but at the rate the Manolo is going, he expects this work to be in excess of 400 pages.

Thus far, at 120 pages, he has only told the story of his early childhood through the point at which he survives the winter as the homeless street urchin, who lives in the Parque del Buen Retiro, shining the shoes on the Paseo de Recelotes for the spare change. (Those who have seen portions of the work suggest that it somewhat Dickensian.)

So, please, keep your fingers crossed for the Manolo as his book-to-be enters this next stage of its existence.

Manolo says, ayyyyyyyyy! One of the Manolo’s favorite bloggers, the Cindy Bokma, has published the new book!

Cindy Bokma, also known as celebrity blogger “distresssedjeans” has released her first novel, a Hollywood satire called A Thousand Dollars For A Kiss. Cindy gained popularity for her award nominated gossip site, Conversations About Famous People where over six million viewers from around the world read the hilarious entertainment reports. She became known for her cutting edge wit and social commentaries on celebrities in the news. Phil Magitti from the satire site, Pug Bus called her a “female Oscar Wilde.”

Cindy is also well known for her author interview blog, Conversations with Famous Writers where she conducts fun, offbeat interviews with best-selling authors such as Lauren Weisberger, Jeannette Walls, Jennifer Weiner, Janet Evanovich, Simon Doonan, Jessica Cutler, Stephanie Klein and many more. Jane Heller joked that Cindy was the “Oprah of the internet!” with all her work inspiring people to read good books and learn more about authors.

A Thousand Dollars for a Kiss takes a look at what happens when a normal person gets swept up in the life of a Hollywood starlet named Kat Savage- rumored to be modeled after none other than Britney Spears.

The Converstaions about the Famous Peoples was one of the Manolo’s all time favorite celebrity blogs, simply because the Cindy has the most marvelous, intelligent, and biting wit, one which is neither peruile, nor panders to the base crowd. And so the Manolo has the highest expectations that the Cindy’s new book will be most amusing indeed.

Manolo reads,

Her shoes were the newest thing in footwear (Edy Boardman prided herself that she was very petite but she never had a foot like Gerty MacDowell, a five, and never would ash, oak or elm) with patent toecaps and just one smart buckle at her higharched instep.

Manolo says, It is cheating if you strap the book to your head.

Manolo says, look! The Manolo’s good friend the Donna Barstow she has edited the new super funny book about the love and/or the going to Hell.

Here is the hilarious sample.

It is funny because it is so true!

Manolo says, the Samurai Suzy she gives the endorsement of the whole heartedness to the Manolo’s favorite book of the 2005.

They call it “a photographic conversation,” and the result is a book for every fashionista to lust for in her Xmas stocking. “Blahnik by Boman” (Thames & Hudson), with its shoe trailing a peacock tail through a shrubbery or its purple suede boot spilling over with lilac blooms, has an atomic sexual charge and a luscious sense of decoration.

Eric Boman photographed his friend Manolo Blahnik’s work in all its delicacy and intensity. As Paloma Picasso, part of the trio who met up in Paris in the 1960s, puts it: “Eric has been able to give Manolo’s creations the perfect setting in which to bloom before our eyes.” Her words and Blahnik’s exuberant, tangential, culture-packed commentary add an extra dimension to the book and its exceptional images.

[…]

It is rare for a book to capture so completely the visual, emotional and intellectual spirit of a designer, without any of the usual vainglory or sugary endorsements. The playful, elegant images – 165 in full plates – are a fitting tribute to the drama and craftsmanship of both cobbler and photographer.

Truly it is the most wonderful book, the perfect gicft for the person who loves the shoes.

Manolo says, the Manolo he continues his suggestions for the books suitable for the holiday giving, here are the few more, given in no particular order.

The Indispensible Collection

The Complete Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Who does not love the charming adventures of the little boy Calvin and his friend the tiger Hobbes? This theoretical person, who does not love the Calvin and the Hobbes, the Manolo he does not wish to know. Such is the regard the Manolo holds for the oeuvre of the genius Bill Watterson.

What The Modern Italian Brides Get on The Day of Their Weddings

The Silver Spoon

It is well known the Manolo he is something of the gourmand and the scholar of the culinary arts, indeed he has the most sizeable collection of the books of cookery and culinary history on the shelves in his humble kitchen. This book, which has been the standard item in the Italian homes for the past fifty years, it is one that the Manolo cooks from frequently, usually with much satisfaction and success. It also has the virtue of being the handsome volume, something designed by the collective of prominent Italian modernists, and thus suitable for giving as the gift.

The Horror, The Horror

Interior Desecrations by James Lileks

The Gallery of Regrettable Food by James Lileks

The James Lileks he makes the Manolo laugh out loud. He is the master miner of the detritus of the American near past, bringing up for our disapproval the loathsome foods and the ridiculous trends in the home decorating, and in the process, turning these prosaic things into the comedy gold.

The latest book, which the Manolo has not yet read, it is entitled Mommy Knows Worst : Highlights from the Golden Age of Bad Parenting Advice. This it is not the topic that especially appeals to the Manolo, however, the Manolo he will undoubtedly read this book simply because the James Lileks he is that funny.

For the Smartie Friends Who Like to Think and Laugh

The Cornish Trilogy by Robertson Davies

The Robertson Davies he is the long time favorite of the Manolo, and this week the Manolo is joyously racing (re-racing) through the Robertson Davies’ The Cornish Trilogy.

The three novels that comprise this masterwork they all consider, each from the slightly different angle, the important matter of art, and how it entertwines with the life and the love and all of the important things.

For the Manolo what makes them so delightful, it is that the Davies he is indeed most erudite, and his novels they are filled with the high-minded things, but at the same of the time he is not above telling the low joke, not above the common japery. And so, despite the profundity of the topics, these they are the books of great humor, and would be perfect for your smartie friends who read and like to laugh.

P.S. The Manolo he had intended to give you his recommendations for the new fiction, but then he realized that there was not much of the new fiction that he liked.

Sadly the recent trend in the literary fiction it has been inexorably inward looking, resulting in mounds of unreadable books that are about nothing but the solipsism of the authors who produce them. Bleech. This it is not for the Manolo, which it is why he is rereading the Robertson Davies this week.

Manolo says, many of the Manolo’s friends they have been asking the Manolo for the advice for the holiday giving, saying

Manolo, please help us, we are foundering in the sea of gift-giving choices! We do not know what to get the husband, or the wife, and/or the person of the significant otherness!

The Manolo says to his many internet friends, be not afraid, over the next week or the two the Manolo he will provide you with the assistance you require to make this the most super fantastic of the holiday seasons.

Today, it is the part one of the gift books!

As the Manolo’s many internet friends know, the Manolo he is the great reader, and thus the subject of the books it is dear to the heart of the Manolo. And so here are the few of the books that the Manolo himself will be giving his friends this year.

Manolo’s #1 Book of the Year

Blahnik by Boman: Shoes, Photographs, Conversation

This it is the most gorgeous of the books for the table of the coffee that the Manolo the Shoeblogger has ever seen. It is simply beautiful.

Yes, the text it is as the Maestro Manolo Blahnik has described it, the “vomitarian” stream of the consciousness, however you do not want this book for the writing, but for the gorgeous pictures of the shoes of the master presented in the whimsical tableaus. This it is the perfect gift for the person who loves the shoes and the beauty.

The Perfect Book for the Man Who Would Be Well Dressed

Dressing the Man: Mastering the Art of Permanent Fashion

This book it is the Bible of the fashion for the man. If your husband, or boyfriend, or your man of other significantness does not have this book on his dressing room table, you must buy it for him. Give him this book as the not so subtle hint that perhaps his wardrobe it needs the improvement.

Manolo’s Favorite New Cookbook

Tapas : A Taste of Spain in America

It is not the secret that the Manolo he is something of the gourmand, and is the habitual reader of the books on the cooking and the eating. So, you can trust the Manolo when he notes that this book it is worth giving to your culinarily inclined friends. Even the better, the Jose Andres, he is the delightful character, and his charm it infuses this attractive and easy to use book.

Manolo’s Favorite New Fashion History Book

The Essence of Style : How the French Invented High Fashion, Fine Food, Chic Cafes, Style, Sophistication, and Glamour

The Manolo loves the Louis XIV! The opulence! The excess! The beautiful red shoes with the bows!

Manolo’s Favorite Book by the Personal Friend of the Manolo

The Seasoning of a Chef : My Journey from Diner to Ducasse and Beyond

The Manolo he runs with the literary/culinary crowd, and this book, which has caused such the uproar among the professional chefs, it is written by the chef Doug Psaltis and his twin the Michael Psaltis, who also happens to be the Manolo’s literary agent. Even if this connection it did not exist, the Manolo he would recommend this book to those who enjoy the culinary books.

The Chef Doug he is the magnificently obsessed person, one who has dedicated his life completely to the good food, to the extent that his own memoir often makes him look like the jerk, but always amusingly so.

Tomorrow the Manolo will present to you his favorite works of the new fiction.

Manolo says, the Manolo he has finally received his copy of the masterful, Blahnik by Boman: Shoes, Photographs, Conversation, perhaps the greatest book for the table of the coffees ever produced.

The pictures in this book they are of the shoes of the Maestro Manolo Blahnik set in the whimsical, artistic, striking, visually witty tableaus by the fashion photographer Eric Boman.

The juxtapositions of the shoes with the everyday things, or the objets d’art, they point up not just the skill of the photographer, but also, the beauty of these masterful shoes. Also, the pictures they remind the Manolo the Shoeblogger that the shoes of the Maestro Manolo Blahnik they are in themselves frequently objects of great wit and humor, and that above all else these they are fun; fun to wear, fun to look at.

There is the joie de vivre inherent in the shoes of the Manolo Blahnik that cannot but enhance the life of those who put them on.

So the Manolo he must recommend to you this book, either for your own table of the coffees, or for that of your close shoe-loving friend. It is the perfect gift for the holidays.