When longtime indie-publisher and SLG Publishing founder Dan Vado found a carrier full of his childhood diecast cars while cleaning out his late mother’s attic, the first thing he did was play with them. He didn't lay out track, although he could have, he rolled them around a table and he found himself reminiscing about the times spent playing with these cars and the story each one had. What began as a few nostalgic eBay listings turned into a memoir about growing up Italian-American in late-1960s San Jose. In My Die-Cast Life, Vado spins a series of warm, funny, and vividly detailed stories—each tied to a toy car—that chart the collisions between family, friendship, and the first sparks of imagination. From Sunday living-room races on bright-orange track to learning English at home one mis-translated soap opera at a time, Vado re-creates the sights, sounds, and smells of suburban California childhood with humor and heart