Jacket: Stories from the Vinyl Cafe, 10th Anniversary Edition, 2005.

BOOKS | Stories from the Vinyl Café, 10th anniversary edition | PENGUIN Canada, 2005

Stuart McLean may look like a boring old dude from the CBC, but his writing is actually funny. Don’t believe me? He recently engaged in some intense self-love with his own mini-me for This Hour has 22 Minutes.

The guy’s got a sense of humour.

The stories in the 10^th Anniversary edition of Stories from the Vinyl Café prove that pure Canadiana has staying power. Featuring stories about everything from a balding guinea pig to a boy’s first jock strap, the book is as comforting as a game of Gretzky-age hockey and as familiar as an old episode of The Cosby Show.

Perhaps surprisingly, despite being enrobed in cool comics by SETH, McLean’s books are grandma-friendly tomes.

They’re free from sexual violence, serious obscenities, and gratuitous nudity, and that might be what makes them great.

To be so funny, so relatable and so inoffensive at the same time is no small feat.

2018: This short and terrible “review” was written for Dose as filler website copy before the actual launch of the magazine.

It never appeared in print.

I actually liked Stuart McLean a lot (as a writer) and took great comfort in his “Dave and Morley” stories. I also loved his CBC radio show, which I listened to obsessively whenever I was stressed or anxious. He wasn’t right for the so-called “Dose demographic” (obviously). I guess I produced this piece when asked because I still wanted to write about him, even though I was trapped amongst those who didn’t care. I wish I’d written something better and longer.