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Radio Daze
When acclaimed comic writer Aaron Zevy began to collect vintage radios, his friends and family hoped they might get a respite from the barrage of short stories which had been filling their inboxes.
After all, how much trouble can one man, no matter how unusual and prone to social and dating mishaps he might be, get into while engaged in a sedate hobby ordinarily associated with reticence and retirement?
In Radio Daze, Zevy, often joined with his usual associates - the Ketel and cran drinking Lewberg and the misanthropic Goldfarb - weaves tales and vignettes of his time obsessively collecting antique radios.
From oldest to newest, each chapter is named after a radio. But after the Table of Contents, all semblence of order and organization, quickly disappear.
These radios, in a multitude of beautiful designs and colors, are indeed very real. The stories however, are pure Zevy - almost the truth.
Don't try to figure it out. Just sit back and enjoy.
Praise for Radio Daze...
From Kirkus
"...Engaging look at the life of an avid collector."
"Zevy regularly counterbalances this element with everyman observations about everything from dealing with delivery services to negotiating with sketchy dealers."
"He likewise softens the ultra-niche nature of his own specific interest by painting an effective portrait of what it’s like to be a dedicated collector—not just of vintage radios, but of anything. Readers are shown every aspect of the life of a collector, from the “honeymoon phase” (that was “affecting a judgment which was already teetering on the edge of sanity”) to the resigned and world-weary later stages of accepting that virtually nobody else will understand the obsession. To help give readers context for his avocation, the author includes clear color photos of all of his focal-point radios."
Praise for Almost The Truth...
from Midwest Book
"Almost the Stories and Lies is uniformly one of the more creative, satisfyingly reads of 2020. Readers who enjoy wry humor and life observations that depart from any anticipated pathway will delight in Aaron Zevy's collection, which is often politically or culturally incorrect in delightful ways."
-Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer
Praise for Not Book Club Material...
From Kirkus Reviews:
"He’s at his best proving that the extraordinary exists within the ordinary. Readers will be drawn into these largely brief vignettes, and the line of demarcation between the real and the imagined will cease to matter. In fact, the audience will learn to embrace the messy mixture. (...)
"All the stories have the tenor of an intimate confidence—minor events are recounted in an informally anecdotal style brimful of lighthearted insights. This is a companionably diverting selection of stories, vibrantly humorous and thoughtfully perspicacious. Those in search of an easy but still engaging work will enjoy these offerings."
Starred Review from Blue Ink Reviews:
"The laugh-out-loud quality of his work makes fact or fiction irrelevant... His writing has a staccato-like quality... moving the story quickly along and making reading a delight... Like a good comedian, he always delivers...
After all, how much trouble can one man, no matter how unusual and prone to social and dating mishaps he might be, get into while engaged in a sedate hobby ordinarily associated with reticence and retirement?
In Radio Daze, Zevy, often joined with his usual associates - the Ketel and cran drinking Lewberg and the misanthropic Goldfarb - weaves tales and vignettes of his time obsessively collecting antique radios.
From oldest to newest, each chapter is named after a radio. But after the Table of Contents, all semblence of order and organization, quickly disappear.
These radios, in a multitude of beautiful designs and colors, are indeed very real. The stories however, are pure Zevy - almost the truth.
Don't try to figure it out. Just sit back and enjoy.
Praise for Radio Daze...
From Kirkus
"...Engaging look at the life of an avid collector."
"Zevy regularly counterbalances this element with everyman observations about everything from dealing with delivery services to negotiating with sketchy dealers."
"He likewise softens the ultra-niche nature of his own specific interest by painting an effective portrait of what it’s like to be a dedicated collector—not just of vintage radios, but of anything. Readers are shown every aspect of the life of a collector, from the “honeymoon phase” (that was “affecting a judgment which was already teetering on the edge of sanity”) to the resigned and world-weary later stages of accepting that virtually nobody else will understand the obsession. To help give readers context for his avocation, the author includes clear color photos of all of his focal-point radios."
Praise for Almost The Truth...
from Midwest Book
"Almost the Stories and Lies is uniformly one of the more creative, satisfyingly reads of 2020. Readers who enjoy wry humor and life observations that depart from any anticipated pathway will delight in Aaron Zevy's collection, which is often politically or culturally incorrect in delightful ways."
-Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer
Praise for Not Book Club Material...
From Kirkus Reviews:
"He’s at his best proving that the extraordinary exists within the ordinary. Readers will be drawn into these largely brief vignettes, and the line of demarcation between the real and the imagined will cease to matter. In fact, the audience will learn to embrace the messy mixture. (...)
"All the stories have the tenor of an intimate confidence—minor events are recounted in an informally anecdotal style brimful of lighthearted insights. This is a companionably diverting selection of stories, vibrantly humorous and thoughtfully perspicacious. Those in search of an easy but still engaging work will enjoy these offerings."
Starred Review from Blue Ink Reviews:
"The laugh-out-loud quality of his work makes fact or fiction irrelevant... His writing has a staccato-like quality... moving the story quickly along and making reading a delight... Like a good comedian, he always delivers...
232 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 10, 2023
50 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 26, 2023
Funny and true? You bet!
I stumbled upon this book on a whim and I am so glad I did! Aaron Zevy tells the story with a great dry wit and fabulous humor. If you love MCM, old things, or collect things, you will love this story. Take a walk down memory lane and learn some new things.
I stumbled upon this book on a whim and I am so glad I did! Aaron Zevy tells the story with a great dry wit and fabulous humor. If you love MCM, old things, or collect things, you will love this story. Take a walk down memory lane and learn some new things.
July 23, 2023
Great read by the pool
April 19, 2023
Radio Daze is a collection of short stories tied together by the author’s newest hobby, which is collecting unique, retro radios. He buys some of them on Ebay and finds others in the strangest of places. He gets joy out of taking people on tours of his collection, whether they want to see them or not! As usual, Mr. Zevy loves to poke fun at himself and his collection of characters, mostly friends, golf buddies, and members of his family.
I really enjoyed reading the stories about his adventures at his country club. One story finds him buying a radio in Miami. He calls it “the Little Havana episode of Antiques Road Show.” Then there’s a scene where he’s eating lunch at his club and a few nosy tennis ladies strike up a conversation. The author spoofs it with his usual way - tying it to his Dijon Yellow radio collectors item.
Good light reading entertainment when you want a good belly laugh.
I really enjoyed reading the stories about his adventures at his country club. One story finds him buying a radio in Miami. He calls it “the Little Havana episode of Antiques Road Show.” Then there’s a scene where he’s eating lunch at his club and a few nosy tennis ladies strike up a conversation. The author spoofs it with his usual way - tying it to his Dijon Yellow radio collectors item.
Good light reading entertainment when you want a good belly laugh.
April 13, 2023
I tried not to read Aaron Zevy’s latest collection of short stories all in one go, trying to treat each one like a savory treat. Alas, like any good dessert, it is really hard to stop yourself from sneaking in a second (or third) slice. His latest collection of short stories is held together thematically by his new obsession of collecting vintage transistor radios. These serve as the backdrop to a new set of yarns spun out hilariously by the author. My personal favourites are when they tie in to a dating story (1938 Emerson Bullseye) or to the hijinks that occurs when his “wingmen” Lewberg and Goldfarb get involved (1960 Zenith 50 Transistor) and they try to break the Guinness world record for number of transistor radios playing all at once. This book is an easy read and will put a smile on your face. Enjoy!!
June 23, 2023
Charming, heartwarming and laugh-out-loud funny collection of stories! Great for a quick laugh but also found my self reading it for hours!
May 27, 2023
Old people with money.
If you read only the news headlines (or watch the television equivalent) you probably believe that all people over 65 are one medical bill away from living in a cardboard box. True, many seniors live on small incomes, especially never-married women (my niche.) But even some of us have paid-for houses and savings.
The truth is that my parents generation (WWII-era folks) frequently enjoyed larger retirement incomes than they did when they were working. Those "defined benefit" retirement plans were da bomb, kiddies. While Baby Boomers weren't as saving as their parents, plenty of them have far more retirement income than necessary for basic expenses.
Google "The Villages" and read about well-to-do seniors with luxury homes, SUVs, golf carts, and expensive hobbies. If they are frequently angry and/or miserable, it's not due to lack of money. Their joints hurt.
This author lists his hometown as Toronto, but much of his time is spent at his retirement home in an up-scale neighborhood on the East Coast of Florida. He's wealthy, apparently. He has one of his friends say, "You're rich, Pappy, but not THAT rich." And his wealth is obvious in other ways.
Never married, but a fond (mostly) uncle to various nieces and nephews, he dates and is suitably irritated when women his own age make snide comments about his younger GFs. Who's to say those girls aren't with him for his looks and personality? Who cares?
He's a publisher who's written books himself, although nothing you'll remember from the best-seller lists. And in his old age he's acquired a new hobby - collecting old radios. He freely admits that he can give no reason for his obsession with them and the amount of money he spends collecting them. He's literally in a "daze" about the whole thing.
He has some good stories about his childhood in a Jewish family in Toronto with a quiet mother and an eccentric father. People owned radios in those days and he remembers owning and listening to them, but none of it explains his current collection. It just happened.
Like everything else, there is a community of radio collectors and sellers. Also books on the subject and (most likely) conventions. Modern Americans have WAY too much time on their hands and they have to figure out some way to use it.
His stories are about his family, one of many Jewish families living in Arab countries in pre-WWII days. Then the political climate changed dramatically and they scattered to more hospitable countries, like Canada. He is half Ashkenazi Jew and half Sephardic Jew, a rare combination since the two groups tend to avoid each other and intermarriage isn't encouraged. I could have done with one fewer radio story and an explanation about how this unusual marriage occurred, but it's his book.
He's a good humor writer and God knows if there's anything we need now it's a good laugh. Or even a bad one. I remember pulling a kiddie chair up to my aunt's big floor-model radio (no longer working by the time we met) and pushing the numerous buttons and pretending to be on a space ship. If I ever saw any of the colorful radios he collects, I paid no attention. You couldn't run fast enough to give me a large collection of them.
Still, a laugh is a laugh and I'm always grateful to any writer who supplies one. Even if it's about old radios or cranky old friends. I enjoyed it and would read more by this author.
If you read only the news headlines (or watch the television equivalent) you probably believe that all people over 65 are one medical bill away from living in a cardboard box. True, many seniors live on small incomes, especially never-married women (my niche.) But even some of us have paid-for houses and savings.
The truth is that my parents generation (WWII-era folks) frequently enjoyed larger retirement incomes than they did when they were working. Those "defined benefit" retirement plans were da bomb, kiddies. While Baby Boomers weren't as saving as their parents, plenty of them have far more retirement income than necessary for basic expenses.
Google "The Villages" and read about well-to-do seniors with luxury homes, SUVs, golf carts, and expensive hobbies. If they are frequently angry and/or miserable, it's not due to lack of money. Their joints hurt.
This author lists his hometown as Toronto, but much of his time is spent at his retirement home in an up-scale neighborhood on the East Coast of Florida. He's wealthy, apparently. He has one of his friends say, "You're rich, Pappy, but not THAT rich." And his wealth is obvious in other ways.
Never married, but a fond (mostly) uncle to various nieces and nephews, he dates and is suitably irritated when women his own age make snide comments about his younger GFs. Who's to say those girls aren't with him for his looks and personality? Who cares?
He's a publisher who's written books himself, although nothing you'll remember from the best-seller lists. And in his old age he's acquired a new hobby - collecting old radios. He freely admits that he can give no reason for his obsession with them and the amount of money he spends collecting them. He's literally in a "daze" about the whole thing.
He has some good stories about his childhood in a Jewish family in Toronto with a quiet mother and an eccentric father. People owned radios in those days and he remembers owning and listening to them, but none of it explains his current collection. It just happened.
Like everything else, there is a community of radio collectors and sellers. Also books on the subject and (most likely) conventions. Modern Americans have WAY too much time on their hands and they have to figure out some way to use it.
His stories are about his family, one of many Jewish families living in Arab countries in pre-WWII days. Then the political climate changed dramatically and they scattered to more hospitable countries, like Canada. He is half Ashkenazi Jew and half Sephardic Jew, a rare combination since the two groups tend to avoid each other and intermarriage isn't encouraged. I could have done with one fewer radio story and an explanation about how this unusual marriage occurred, but it's his book.
He's a good humor writer and God knows if there's anything we need now it's a good laugh. Or even a bad one. I remember pulling a kiddie chair up to my aunt's big floor-model radio (no longer working by the time we met) and pushing the numerous buttons and pretending to be on a space ship. If I ever saw any of the colorful radios he collects, I paid no attention. You couldn't run fast enough to give me a large collection of them.
Still, a laugh is a laugh and I'm always grateful to any writer who supplies one. Even if it's about old radios or cranky old friends. I enjoyed it and would read more by this author.
August 3, 2023
I’m GaGa for Radio Daze.
Full disclosure, before reading this book I didn’t care a wit for vintage radios. I still don’t - they’re utterly unrelatable. And yet I couldn’t put the bloody thing down, which is what makes this collection so strangely compelling.
Maybe it’s because his stories are so artfully composed and lovingly embellished (much like the eponymous radios for which they’re named). Maybe it’s Zevy’s quirky characters and trademark zingers, or the playful way he invites you into his narrative.
Whatever it is, he’s officially turned me into a depraved fellow collector - of his stories!
And let me tell you this collection is mint.
Pro Tip: if you really want to set the mood, try reading over a generous pour of Kettle and cran
Full disclosure, before reading this book I didn’t care a wit for vintage radios. I still don’t - they’re utterly unrelatable. And yet I couldn’t put the bloody thing down, which is what makes this collection so strangely compelling.
Maybe it’s because his stories are so artfully composed and lovingly embellished (much like the eponymous radios for which they’re named). Maybe it’s Zevy’s quirky characters and trademark zingers, or the playful way he invites you into his narrative.
Whatever it is, he’s officially turned me into a depraved fellow collector - of his stories!
And let me tell you this collection is mint.
Pro Tip: if you really want to set the mood, try reading over a generous pour of Kettle and cran
May 1, 2024
inspirational!
Enjoyable little jaunt, reading about a man who is obsessed with collecting vintage radios. Each chapter is a stand alone vignette, altho there are some characters who appear regularly throughout the book. I contemplated starting to collect radios, then remember that I’m decluttering my own vague and scattered collections. However, the last chapter grabbed me, and I’m off to start searching eBay for a novelty radio. Quick and easy read. Enjoy!
Enjoyable little jaunt, reading about a man who is obsessed with collecting vintage radios. Each chapter is a stand alone vignette, altho there are some characters who appear regularly throughout the book. I contemplated starting to collect radios, then remember that I’m decluttering my own vague and scattered collections. However, the last chapter grabbed me, and I’m off to start searching eBay for a novelty radio. Quick and easy read. Enjoy!
April 15, 2024
Great radio pictures and cool stories
I recently developed a fondness for vintage radios and that was how I was drawn to this book. Aaron Zevy's stories and pictures of radios are wonderful. I learned a great deal about different types of radios and the stories with his friends remind me of a sitcom.
I recently developed a fondness for vintage radios and that was how I was drawn to this book. Aaron Zevy's stories and pictures of radios are wonderful. I learned a great deal about different types of radios and the stories with his friends remind me of a sitcom.
November 4, 2024
A Lighthearted Romp Thru Radios
When I needed a book to kick back with for smiles and relaxation, Zevy’s Radio Daze was just the remedy. Fun, easy to digest in small bites, the world of radio collecting (and golf) somehow fit seamlessly through a rich group of Alta Kachkers in Florida (where else?) Enjoy!
When I needed a book to kick back with for smiles and relaxation, Zevy’s Radio Daze was just the remedy. Fun, easy to digest in small bites, the world of radio collecting (and golf) somehow fit seamlessly through a rich group of Alta Kachkers in Florida (where else?) Enjoy!
July 14, 2023
Should be on everyone’s summer reading list
July 16, 2023
Beautiful, funny and probably my favourite Zevy collection to date.
September 6, 2024
A hilarious, light read that seamlessly weaves together author Aaron Zevy’s obsession collecting radios with friendship, colourful stories and human hilarity.
September 8, 2024
You don’t have to be a collector to appreciate this humorous book of thematically linked stories.
November 30, 2024
Fun Read
If you’re a radio geek or just like a good story it’s a fun read. Zevy tells a great story.
If you’re a radio geek or just like a good story it’s a fun read. Zevy tells a great story.
April 29, 2025
Excellent book! I relate to it 100%, being a vintage radio collector. Is a wonderful read. The author is amazing! I recommend it!
October 22, 2025
Hilarious
October 6, 2023
This is the second book I’ve read by this author on a recommendation. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the first (Schlepping Across the Nile) because it’s hard to find a good fit with contemporary fiction. I loved this book, there are some truly great stories (again, hilarious, sad, fun) and characters here and I will be reading back through the author’s list this year.
October 26, 2025
I really enjoyed this book about collecting antique radios. The stories are interesting and often very funny. I laughed out loud at the story about the lizard that ran on two legs into the house. I am a collector myself (not of antique radios, I collect other things) so I understand the desire to track down something for your collection. I have been known to drive many hours and walk many miles to get something for my collection. The many pictures of old radios in this book are very cool and serve as a historical record.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews