I suspect that most Canadian adults are familiar with this late entertainer and his longstanding radio program and his touring live performances. We never missed any of the latter when his road show took him to London, and never saw a disappointing performance by him and his crew of musicians. So rather than the several other books that emanated from those episodes, I chose to review the book of short stories that others contributed to his weekly Vinyl Cafe Story Exchange- 100 in all, over ten years, although thousands, including yours truly, sent in stories to be considered. The only stipulations were that they had to be short and true. When I finished reading this collection, in keeping with the apparent fondness for the number ten (ten stories per year over ten years), I picked out ten to highlight here, not necessarily ones I enjoyed the most, but ones that I could easily relate to.
Mr. Fisher, by Irene Wood. A profound brilliant lesson for schoolchildren about civic duty and the dire consequences of remaining silent about witnessing abuse from a genius teacher.
After The War, by Alan Nanders. A touching story when a young army cadet learns about about the resilience of wounded war veterans.
Good Catch. by A.J. Mittendorf. An hilarious story from a teenager with one of the best punch lines of them all.
A Proposal of Hope, by Michael Gallagher. A sad/joyous beautiful romance.
Class Picture, by Harley Hay. A lovely story about a schoolboy and his dog.
Erica, by Kurt Armstrong. Another sweet romance.
Te Quiero Mucho, by Diego Ibarra. A funny story related to language translation.
Fatso, The Cat, by Tony and Maureen Smith. Hilarious misunderstanding with a neighbour.
Stepping Out, by Margaret Walton Roberts. Getting stranded in a rundown section of Detroit at night. Been there, done that.
Discovering Dieppe, by Tyler Levine. A story of deep appreciation for the sacrifices of our military in WWII.
My choices here are arbitrary and do not include some others that are also fun to read. But some are banal and poorly written. Overall, this is a good read, but few of these stories are as enjoyable as the author’s inventive imagination came up with for his radio shows and live performances, featuring the antics of his fictional Dave and Morley.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/10
The Passionate Reader 