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| Author | Stuart McLean |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Dan Page |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Viking by Penguin Books Canada Limited |
Publication date | 2010 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 344 pp |
| ISBN | 978-0-670-06473-1 |
Vinyl Cafe Notebooks: a collection of essays from The Vinyl Cafe (2010) is Stuart McLean's ninth book and each one has been a Canadian bestseller. McLean has sold over 1 million books in Canada. Unlike the other "Vinyl Cafe" books, these are not "Dave and Morley stories".
The Vinyl Cafe was an hour-long radio variety show hosted by Stuart McLean that was broadcast on CBC Radio and was syndicated to approximately 80 U.S. public radio stations through Public Radio International. It aired on Sunday at noon EST and Tuesday at 11:00 pm EST on CBC Radio One and Saturday at 9 am EST on CBC Radio 2. The program is also available as a podcast, although the podcasts are usually just McLean's stories for studio episodes because of copyright restrictions on recorded music. CBC Radio also currently airs a weekday afternoon program, under the title Vinyl Cafe Stories, which consists of two previously recorded Dave and Morley stories per episode.
Andrew Stuart McLean, was a Canadian radio broadcaster, humorist, monologist, and author, best known as the host of the CBC Radio program The Vinyl Cafe. Often described as a "story-telling comic" although his stories addressed both humorous and serious themes, he was known for fiction and non-fiction work which celebrated the decency and dignity of ordinary people, through stories which often highlighted the ability of their subjects, whether real or fictional, to persevere with grace and humour through embarrassing or challenging situations.
Contents
Selected from 15 years of radio-show archives and re-edited by the author, this eclectic essay collection provides a glimpse into the thoughtful mind at work behind The Vinyl Cafe. From meditations on peacekeeping to praise for the toothpick, The Vinyl Cafe Notebooks runs the gamut from considered argument to light-hearted opinion. Whether McLean is visiting a forgotten corner of the Canadian Shield, a big-city doughnut factory, or Sir John A. Macdonald's gravesite, his observations are absorbing, unexpected, and original. With thought-provoking proposals about the world we live in and introductions to the people he meets in his extensive travels across our country, The Vinyl Cafe Notebooks is informed by McLean's intimate relationship with Canada and Canadians. Yet the collection is also an intriguing look at the writer himself—his past, his present, and his vision of the future. Sometimes funny, often wise, and always entertaining, The Vinyl Cafe Notebooks provides a wealth of reading pleasure that fans will return to again and again.
