Canadian

McLean, Stuart. (2007/2000). Vinyl cafe: Unplugged. London: Granta Books (Canada: Viking).

So this is the second book that has turned out to be a collection of stories. If the five sections hinted at that, I'll remind you that many novels are similarly divided. The difference between a novel and a short story collection is that the novel builds up a cohesive narrative, while a short story collection is generally random though the better ones have a unified theme that binds them.

Though unified by the presence of married couple Dave and Morley (first mention p. 3)'s family, there is a clear sense of randomness in McLean (2007/2000)'s short story collection. At the same time, these stories revolve primarily around Dave who dominates all but two stories: "Morley's Christmas Pageant" (pp. 202-219) which features Morley, with minor references to Dave (pp. 203-204, 207, 209-210, 212-213, 215, 217-218), their dog Arthur (first mention p. 4; pp. 206-207, 218), and their son Sam (first mention p. 4) whose costume or part he played in "the annual holiday concert at [his] school" (p. 202) we don't know because McLean (2007/2000) failed to provide that info.; "The Bare Truth" (pp. 136-151) which, by p. 139, ends up centering on neighbor Mary Turlington (first mention p. 136).

Besides "Morley's Christmas Pageant" (pp. 202-219), though, daughter Stephanie (first mention p. 4) also disappears from "The Last Kind Word Blues" (pp. 117-135). However, Sam and Stephanie are both absent in "The Fly" (pp. 39-55), "The Bare Truth" (pp. 136-151), "The Razor's Edge" (pp. 186-201), and "Love Never Ends" (pp. 242-255); yet, if they were removed completely from the 10 other narratives, we wouldn't miss them because of how inconsequential they are to the storylines except for "Susan Is Serious" (pp. 152-167). Arthur, on the other hand, appears only in "Arthur" (pp. 3-21), "Galway" (pp. 22-38) - the only time the family's "Galway, the cat" (p. 22) is talked about - "Dorothy" (pp. 95-113), "Susan Is Serious" (pp. 152-167), and "Morley's Christmas Pageant" (pp. 202-219).

Then again, the main title is Vinyl Cafe (first mention p. 40) which is Dave's "second-hand record store" (p. 39). But what are readers supposed to make of his relationships with his children and pets?

One of the strategies McLean (2000/2007) uses, however, is a roping technique where he seems to lead you off in another direction, but loops it back. There are some inconsistencies, though. For example, in "Arthur" (pp. 3-21), McLean (2007/2000) gives us a glimpse of Dave's background (see pp. 8-11), the rope which goes a little long but loops back to the point: "Apparently [Dave] hadn't learned a thing about protecting his self-interest" (p. 11); but the transition is awkward and doesn't really explain the relevance of the rope. That story is funny, though, because it's about a game of alpha-ship between Dan and Arthur.

In terms of "Galway" (pp. 22-38), there are really two interconnecting stories - Dave's attempts to toilet train Galway (the rope); his cousin Brenda's reacting to the weirdness of that which leads her "leap[ing] out the bedroom window" (p. 36) - the loop. But questions aren't answered: How, for example, did "Dave's neighbor Jim Scoffield" (p. 36) find out about the toilet training? Do Jim and Brenda end up marrying (see pp. 36-38)?

Finally, in "The Last Kind Word Blues" (pp. 117-137), McLean makes a slip when alternating between the rope of Ken (first mention p. 128; see pp. 128-132) and the loop back to Kevin Burnett (first mention p. 120; p. 132). First, McLean (2007/2000) references Ken at the top of p. 132 and, two paragraphs later - with no break - comes back to Kevin with "And now the kid had come back." Three paragraphs after that McLean (2007/2000) - finally - makes it clear that the conversation is between Dan and Kevin.

However, I think where McLean (2007/2000) really succeeds with the short story format is "Figs" (pp. 223-241). Here McLean (2007/2000) sets up a tension early on with the first line: "On a rainy night in April, Dave sat down to write a letter he knew was going to be difficult" (p. 223). This is followed by a nice buildup that flows, giving us some great background between Dave and Morley and their "good neighbors" (p. 226) Eugene and Maria (first mention p. 225), reintroduces the tension by also making the reader worry about Eugene and Maria; see pp. 236-238), then resolves it happily (pp. 240-241). In fact, "Figs" (pp. 223-241) is a story that could be developed into a novel; personally, I think it's the best piece in McLean's (2007/2000)'s Vinyl Cafe: Unplugged.

In general, though, the stories in the collection are readable. I just think that, outside of "Figs" (pp. 223-241), the stories were left wanting in some way, in fact fitting the description McLean (2007/2000) gave: "like a table full of water bugs squirting around a dark pond" (p. 160). The best short story collections, in my opinion, succeed by giving a holistic sense to the narrative, a facet lacking in McLean (2007/2000) which gives the feel of loosely fitted vignettes knotted around Dave but without overall purpose and development.