Home from the Vinyl Cafe

February 21, 2005
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. Agent, Melanie Jackson
.

April 15, 2005
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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)