Woah! An unusual, imaginative and probably controversial-at-the-time novel from the early days of Barbara Gowdy. A story about a family in which both parents are trying to work out their sexual identity - and other identity issues. The first daughter has a baby from a one-night stand and the parents pretend the baby is theirs, even keeping this secret from their second daughter. The three children are, not surprisingly, confused about who they are. And the baby apparently has an unusual form of brain damage. Normally I would prefer a story which seemed closer to the reality of the world as I know it, but this novel had enough reality and complexity to keep me reading, and I enjoyed it in the end. I have more Gowdy on my TBR pile and I'm looking forward to them. ( )

Publisher synopsis: “The Canary family are unlike any other. Joan is exquisite, tiny, mute, plays the piano like Mozart and lives in a closet. Marcy is a nymphomaniac, while Sonja earns a fortune clipping hair-grips to cardboard and knits compulsively. Their parents keep their own habits secret for as long as they can.”

The secrets of the parents are that Gordon is homosexual and Doris likes to sleep with other women. The story reaches its climax when Joan reveals them to each other.

Well-written, but a bit bawdy for my taste.

(The title is derived, on one level at least, from the tunes that Doris always has running through her head. I kept hearing the beautiful tune Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream…. Here it is played by a master. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-c66SJPuUI&feature=autoshare)

Read this if: quite honestly, I’m not sure who should read this. 3 stars ( )

It's taken me forever to review this book because I misplaced it and only recently tracked it down. After reading some of the reviews here, I expected to love Mister Sandman, but I didn't. Don't get me wrong, I liked it a lot, but it just didn't grab me the way it did other readers. I'm a fan of the funny, dysfunctional family, but the book made me sad more than anything. Maybe I shouldn't have read reviews, but I was expecting it to be really funny. It's at times moving, and it's well-written, but you might want to approach it with fewer expectations than I did.

Family dynamics...truth seen through eyes of brain-damaged child... odd, odd, odd. ( )

I was surprised to see this as an Early Reviewer book on LibraryThing because I knew it had been published in 1995. I also knew it was one of Nancy Pearl's Booklust 'must reads'. This is a re-issue, now with an introduction by Katherine Dunn, author of Geek Love. Barbara Gowdy is a consisently good writer and here again we find strong characterization, this time with dark humour and frank sexuality. The Canary family are unconventional to say the least. Gordon and Doris Canary are emotionally dishonest with themselves as well as others. Their habit of lies and wildly exaggerated histories spills over into the lives of their daughters, Sonja and Marcy. We laugh at some of the ridiculous things they say but with a tinge of sadness because they resort to such self-deceptions to get through life. Gowdy's characters seem almost preposterous, although she is non-judgemental and compassionate towards them and we come to understand them better once we get to know them. The story is set in the 50's and 60's during which a third child is born into their midst. A mute but musically gifted and insightful creature, little Joan becomes the unwitting keeper of all the family secrets and ultimately its saving grace. We do care about the characters after all because they protect and care for each other. But I found the sexual bits disturbing. I've heard Mister Sandman compared to both Geek Love and Arrested Development but I have read neither myself so you will have to judge for yourselves. ( )