'A pair of new shoes,' believes Paola Jaccobi, 'can bring about a kind of exaltation which comes close to that fleeting pleasure described by the philosophers. Shoes possess magical properties; capable of making you feel splendid or sexy, elegant or sporty at a single stroke. They are works of art - or at least of a kind of noble craftsmanship which, at the end of the day, is not that far removed from that of jewellery. With the difference, of course, that they cost somewhat less than diamonds.'
The world is divided into two kinds of people: those who 'get' the shoe thing, and those who do not. Or to put it another way, men and women.
I Want Those Shoes is gloriously, unashamedly a book for the shoe lover: a paean to the platform; a song for the stiletto. With incomparable Italian style, Paola Jacobbi examines the shoe phenomenon from every conceivable angle: from footwear as the foundation of the personality to the global politics of manufacture and marketing - to the practical subject of how to feed and care for your shoes.
