Secrets from the Vinyl Café

Naomi Brun is a librarian assistant in Communications and Community
Development at the Hamilton Public Library and a book reviewer for the
Hamilton Spectator.

Somebody should nominate Stuart McLean as our official national
storyteller. His long-running CBC radio series, The Vinyl Café, has a
following in this country that rivals the success of the Harry Potter
novels in terms of its place in our hearts. Canadians listen weekly to
the misadventures of Dave and his family on the CBC, they buy the Vinyl
Café books to relive the stories at their own convenience, and at
Christmastime, for a special celebration, they go to stadiums and arenas
to hear McLean tell just what will happen next to the Vinyl Café crew.

In these two books, McLean has once again transformed the ordinary into
the extraordinary. The Vinyl Café Unplugged is what you would expect
from any of the popular McLean books, a funny collection of stories
about Dave and the people in his neighbourhood. In “The Fly,” a
refusal to answer a chain letter has Dave believing he will meet an
early death. In “The Last Kind Word Blues,” a slick customer sparks
seven years of record store memories with five unexpected words. In
“Susan is Serious,” Dave’s wife, Morley, sets new domestic
standards for the family after a visit from an overachieving university
friend.

Secrets from the Vinyl Café is a little different. The stories in this
book all revolve around the theme of secrets, things that the Vinyl
Café crew would really rather keep hidden from public view. Dave’s
daughter, Stephanie, prepares herself for a summer of successful tree
planting, only to realize once she’s at it that she isn’t very good.
Dave’s son, Sam, announces that he wears skirts to school and likes
it. Dave himself, while under anaesthetic, savagely attacks his dentist.
The stories, all a little shocking at first, are soon transformed into
endearing, life-affirming tales in true McLean form. Stephanie learns
the value of passion and hard work. Sam’s skirt is really a kilt,
traditional for field hockey, a sport he enjoys and excels at. And Dave,
well, he eventually returns to his dentist for a somewhat karmic
experience.

The Vinyl Café is addictive, and its characters impossible not to
love.