Home from the Vinyl Cafe: A Year of Stories

Marcia Sweet, former editor of the Queen’s Quarterly, is an
information consultant and freelance editor.

This refreshing collection of stories about family and community belongs
in the best tradition of Canadian humour. There are sweet and bitter
surprises in these stories, as well as much cleverness and occasional
hilarity. In “Labour Days,” the author sympathetically depicts the
crushing weight of a demanding job on a working mother. The weirdly
funny but believable “Burd” offers thoughtful commentary on media
hype as it focuses on the zealotry of “birders.” “Sourdough”
deals with the themes of hubris and pride as a husband reveals
surprising things about his personality to his longtime wife. Anyone who
likes uncontrived, low-key humour will enjoy this book.