Every family has its secrets.When you commit acts of arson during Christmas dinner, attempt to start a life of crime by shoplifting a lipstick, or sink your false teeth into the forbidden pleasure of corn on the cob, it’s hard to come clean. But Stuart McLean has got the goods on Dave and his family.Morley, for example, is reluctant to talk about her beauty parlour betrayal and that other man in her life—Mathieu—while Dave tries to avoid mentioning his assault on an innocent dentist. These are the things they wouldn’t tell you themselves: lies, white and otherwise, aliases, double lives, and all manner of petty crimes and everyday transgressions. These are the Secrets from the Vinyl Cafe.

Stuart McLean is a bestselling author, award-winning journalist and humorist, and host of the CBC Radio program The Vinyl Cafe. Over one million people listen to The Vinyl Cafe every weekend on CBC Radio, Sirius Satellite Radio and on a growing number of public radio stations across the United States.

McLean was awarded the Canadian Authors' Association Jubilee award in 2004. He is also a three-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour.

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“Secrets from the Vinyl Cafe…contains the same gentle and generous wit, the same smooth storytelling ability, the same warmth of tone, not to mention the same set of endearing characters… that have made McLean a Canadian icon.” - The Globe and Mail

“HIS is the quintessentially Canadian voice.… Secrets from the Vinyl Cafe offers plenty of territory to revisit for devoted fans and new places to visit for the uninitiated.” - Winnipeg Free Press

“An excellent collection from the café, making this the fifth book in the Vinyl Cafe series. Hats off to McLean for his humorous and compelling creations.” - Wetaskiwin Times-Adviser

“Stories from the Vinyl Cafe speaks with a compelling, compassionate voice and the sense of a refined humour.” - The Financial Post

“The stories are gentle in tone, rich in the details of contemporary life and highly readable.” - The Toronto Star

“Delivered in a simple style, liberally spiced with humour and understanding of what makes people tick, Stories from the Vinyl Cafe presents vivid pictures of an assortment of ordinary situations. Witty and warm, the 18 stories in this collection…make easy reading as well as pleasant listening.” - The Ottawa Citizen

“A treat through and through…it’s hard to think of a gift that would give more pleasure than these stories, guaranteed to be read and re-read for years to come.” - Thunder Bay Sunday

“Stories from the Vinyl Cafe, full of warmth and charm and dignity and real emotion, is very beautiful indeed." - The Chronicle Herald (Halifax)

“McLean keeps comedy writing alive in Canada.” - Winnipeg Free Press

“The man can tell a story…. He has a remarkable ability to polish the everyday and give it a gleam…. It is a generous and remarkable thing, best shared with a wink and a nod and a good cup of tea.” - The Globe and Mail

“Stuart McLean is one of Canada’s most beloved storytellers.” - The Ottawa Citizen

“The same blend of charm and humour as the No. 1 Ladies Detective Series’.” - The Times (London)

“Rip-roaringly funny…. A cosy, meandering, often laugh-out-loud treat." - Kirkus Reviews (New York)

“It’s rare to find a book that would be the perfect gift for a good friend or a total stranger, but Home from the Vinyl Cafe is that rare find because it’s hard to think of anyone who wouldn’t enjoy and treasure this collection of stories.” - Chronicle-Journal (Thunder Bay)

“McLean’s wry depiction of the hapless Dave and his family is apt, hilarious and never saccharin. We defy you to read the chapter on their unintentional kitchen renovation [in the Vinyl Café Unplugged] without hooting with laughter.” - Chatelaine