Home From the Vinyl Cafe [Paperback]

Stuart McLean (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1999

Welcome to the Vinyl Cafe. Motto: "We May Not Be Big, But We're Small". Introducing Dave, owner of a downtown Toronto record store and his wife, Morley, and chronicling their valiant attempts to rise to the challenges of modern life, these are tales of everyday struggles and triumphs. In these hymns to common foibles and absurdities, nothing ever quite goes according to plan. A sleepover for ten small boys ends abruptly after an inadvertent screeing of "The Night of the Zombies"; a family holiday is interrupted by a surprising feline discovery under the bonnet of the car; a balding guinea pig runs up a vet's bill for £563.30; preparations for Christmas dinner unexpectedly involve an electric blanket, a hair dryer, a bottle of scotch and a hotel bill. Along the way, Dave and Morley battle to maintain perspective on the idiosyncrasies of elderly parents, teenaged children, friends, neighbours and unannounced guests.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Colloquial, interlocking stories chronicle the ups and downs of a suburban Toronto couple in this warm-hearted latest by Canadian author and broadcast personality McLean (Stories from the Vinyl Café). "Holland" considers the courtship and marriage of Dave, the owner of the eponymous record store, and his wife, Morley; early differences in perspective (she thinks eating raw onions is gross; he can't stand those frou-frou chive snippets in his eggs) lead them to a spontaneous skating trip to Holland to cement their romance. "Sourdough" concerns what happens when a neighbor asks Dave to baby-sit the starter for his precious sourdough bread; the sweet, charming "Burd" charts the consequences of Dave's decision to feed an unlikely avian visitor. Dave's daughter and niece enter the picture in subsequent stories, and McLean includes funny scenes about holiday dinners and road trips as well as poignant thoughts about the inevitable failing of Dave and Morley's parents. McLean's natural flair for storytelling helps overcome the limitations of the Lake Wobegonesque conceit, and while he reaches for overly cute, contrived humor in several entries, the overall package is highly enjoyable.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

McLean is billed as the Canadian Garrison Keillor, as though Keillor weren't close enough to being Canadian himself. This folksy collection of stories follows a year in the life of Dave and Morley and their family. Christmas, summer camp, first dates, and other minutiae are covered in a warm and engaging manner. Dave is a typical sitcom father--doltish but well meaning. His long-suffering wife, Morley, has a little more depth as she tries to rejoin the workforce after years of raising children. Dave's realization of the fact that he is no longer young and Morley's attempts to help a homeless man are both touching. The stories are not complete or complex enough to stand on their own, but together they make for pleasant reading. Marta Segal
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (1999)
• ISBN-10: 0140277439
• ISBN-13: 978-0140277432
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,964,701 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you lend this book out, you will definitely want it back!, June 19, 2000

By 

emmarose (british columbia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Home from the Vinyl Cafe: A year of stories (Hardcover)

This book is not only a very good read, but a truly memorable experience. It made me almost want to pet cats, smile at my unruly 6-yr.old neighbour, and actually consider a neighbourhood block party. (Fortuanately the mood soon passed).

The characters in it are lovable and recogizable. The teenage daughter in it was very much like my own teenager, and it was with relief and interest to see how other families interact with such a character. (Often with trepidation!)

The stories really are quite wonderful----I don't often laugh out loud whilst reading, but I certainly did with this book----so much so, that my husband checked my night table to make sure my tea cup actually did have tea in it, and not something a little more adult like.

A great book---I want all my friends and family to read it;however I am insisting that first they lend me a prized possession of theirs to be returned only when I get my book back.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stuart McLean is *the* Canadian Humourist..., July 2, 2001

By 

Jonathan Burgoine "bookseller" (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Home from the Vinyl Cafe: A year of stories (Hardcover)

In "Home from the Vinyl Cafe," Stuart McLean gives us a rousing journey of one year in the life of Dave, Morley, Sam and Stephanie. From one Christmas to the next, we step in an check up on the family a few times each season, with such fantastic stories as "Dave Cooks the Turkey," and "School Days." Rousing, amusing and touching in turn, McLean's tales are as much a joy to read as they are to listen to.

Now, if you have no idea who I'm talking about, you're in for a real treat. Stuart McLean is a humourist who speaks on the radio twice a week with his wonderful Canadian prose short narratives, which always manage to make me laugh out loud. I've bought a few of his tape collections so I can listen to them whenever I'd like; he's that good. You follow the lives of this small family through their idiosyncratic - and wonderfully Canadian - trials and laughs throughout this book.

Stephen Leacock award winner McLean has put together a wonderful collection here, and if you can get a copy, do.

It is important to note that this book is not out of print, it is merely published in Canada. You could get it through a Canadian source with no troubles.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and heartwarming, October 6, 2004

By 

Sarah Sammis "Avid BookCrosser" (Hayward, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Home from the Vinyl Cafe: A Year of Stories (Hardcover)

I can see why Stuart McLean is one of Canada's beloved storytellers through the warmth, humanity and humor of his stories. My favorite stories came early in the book, one of them being "Turkey" which starts off both the book and the Winter section. The description of the turkey before it was roasted had me and my husband howling with laughter. Another favorite is the one about the birthday party, especially the scene where Dave tries to frost the cake while it is still warm. My husband recently made the same mistake when he was frosting my birthday cake. I think there is enough depth to this collection of stories that most any one can come away with a favorite story or at least a favorite scene.