Reviews

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, rich in compassion and good-natured humour. 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 screening 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, teenage children, friends, neighbours and unannounced guests.

Warm, gently funny and supremely likeable, McLean's stories are the best thing out of Canada since Leonard Cohen and maple syrup.