When We Were Young: A Collection Of Canadian Stories

by Stuart McLean

In When We Were Young , bestselling author Stuart McLean has selected his favourite stories of childhood from some of Canada’s most esteemed writers. The collection shows the many colours of childhood passion and imagination, humiliation and insecurity, friendship and first love, and creates a composite childhood both familiar and unexpected.

Genres: Fiction, Canada, Short Stories, Humor, Canadian Literature

Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Librarian Note: There was more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

From the Vinyl Cafe web site: Stuart McLean was a best-selling author, award-winning journalist and humorist, and host of CBC Radio program The Vinyl Cafe.

Stuart began his broadcasting career making radio documentaries for CBC Radio's Sunday Morning. In 1979 he won an ACTRA award for Best Radio Documentary for his contribution to the program's coverage of the Jonestown massacre.

Following Sunday Morning, Stuart spent seven years as a regular columnist and guest host on CBC's Morningside. His book, The Morningside World of Stuart McLean, was a Canadian bestseller and a finalist in the 1990 City of Toronto Book Awards.

Stuart has also written Welcome Home: Travels in Small Town Canada, and edited the collection When We Were Young. Welcome Home was chosen by the Canadian Authors' Association as the best non-fiction book of 1993.

Stuart's books Stories from the Vinyl Cafe, Home from the Vinyl Cafe, Vinyl Cafe Unplugged, Vinyl Cafe Diaries, Dave Cooks the Turkey, Secrets from the Vinyl Cafe and Extreme Vinyl Cafe have all been Canadian bestsellers. Vinyl Cafe Diaries was awarded the Canadian Authors' Association Jubilee Award in 2004. Stuart was also a three-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour for Home from the Vinyl Cafe, Vinyl Cafe Unplugged and, most recently, Secrets from the Vinyl Cafe.

Vinyl Cafe books have also been published in the U.S., the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.

Stuart was a professor emeritus at Ryerson University in Toronto and former director of the broadcast division of the School of Journalism. In 1993 Trent University named him the first Rooke Fellow for Teaching, Writing and Research. He has also been honored by: Nipissing University (EdD(H)); University of Windsor (Lld) and Trent University (DLH). Stuart served as Honorary Colonel of the 8th Air Maintenance Squadron at 8 Wing, Trenton from 2005 to 2008.

Since 1998 Stuart has taken The Vinyl Cafe to theatres across Canada, playing in both large and small towns from St. John's, Newfoundland to Whitehorse in the Yukon.

Close to one million people listen to The Vinyl Cafe every weekend on CBC Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio and on a growing number of Public Radio stations in the United States. The program is also broadcast on an occasional basis on the BBC.

Reviews

[CynthiaA · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful anthology of pieces, curated by Stuart McLean of Vinyl Cafe fame. Some chapters were short stories and some were chapters out of longer books. All authors were Canadian and the over-riding theme was youth or reflections of youth. One story, for example, was Roch Carrier's The Hockey Sweater. It was soooo different to read that NOT in the picture book format. There was a chapter from Anne of Green Gables, which I loved because... Anne! There was short stories by Margaret Laurence and Alice Munro which were divine! A chapter from Atwood's Cat's Eye, which I have not read, and now I really want to because that chapter was fantastic (and held up in a stand-alone format). The last chapter was an author named Hugh Hood, which I was unfamiliar with, and honestly, it took me 3 days to get through his chapter. I do highly recommend this book, it is a really awesome synopsis of nostalgic Canadiana.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this collection to be a great way to discover “new to me” authors. My favourites were Margaret Atwood with an excerpt from Cat’s Eye, Hugh Hood with Silver Bugles Cymbals Golden Silks, In a Glass House by Nino Ricci, an excerpt from Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels and one from Margaret Laurence’s A Bird in the House. Of course, I can’t forget Roch Carrier’s Hockey Sweater, which I have heard many times and was a perfect addition to the collection. I really enjoyed it. It was nice to be able to read 20 pages or so, then put it down for a day without needing to remember what happened the previous day, because it was a new story. A delightful taste of literature from some classic Canadian authors.

[Paula Dembeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well known story teller Stuart McLean has gathered some of his favourite stories by Canadian authors, created an introduction to the compilation and placed it all in a book. It serves as a nice gift for someone who enjoys Canadian writers, but those already familiar with the country’s literature, may find it redundant.

Among the authors he has chosen are many prize winners from Robertson Davies, Marian Engel, Timothy Findley, Alistair MacLeod, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Margaret Laurence, Roch Carrier, Anne Michaels, Diane Schoemperlen, Guy Vanderhaeghe and of course who could leave behind Margret Atwood, W.O. Mitchell and Alice Munroe? They are all stand outs.

The stories all center on the theme of childhood, that time of complex emotions, quickly earned triumphs and heart sinking defeats.

Some may see this as a quick way for a writer and a publisher to get something out on the market in time for Christmas shopping, to help those who wonder what to give friends who enjoy reading; but it is also nice to have these wonderful stories all in one place.

[Molly Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of stories that compliment one another nicely. I liked the order the stories were in and they flowed quite nicely. Altogether a great read, and of course anything Stuart McLean did was pretty great.

[Lana Kamennof-sine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating collection of short stories, or chapters, from a variety of CANADIAN authors. Some very well known to me, others less so but all with a keen eye for childhood perspectives.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing collection of Canadian story tellers that only got better as you went deeper into the book. Reflective and heart tugging.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This compilation put together by Canada's master storyteller, Stuart McLean of Vinyl Cafe fame reminds us of how very good some of Canada's preeminent authors of fiction are. Stories from childhood are indelible in each contributor's memory. While many of the stories could be described as nostalgic, they are rarely sympathetic in tone and some will continue to haunt readers as reminders of their own childhoods in years past. The excerpts and stories are about growing up, but they are most definitely not for children.

[Jeannine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Canadian short stories selected and introduced by Stuart McLean ... Excellent stories about growing up in Canada, but I haven't actually finished this book. I had to set it aside for a while, but I'm anxious to get back to it. The stories are more or less ordered by the age of the protagonist in each story. I've been skipping around.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely Chosen and an interesting theme. Different authors approach the relating of stories by kids and about kids differently. I preferred the short stories to the exerpts.
Overall - very enjoyable.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of Canada's best writers. Maybe not their best stories but good ones.

[Jeri Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great collection of Canadian stories. It was a perfect read on the BC Ferry

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brought back the youthful spirit. an easy read