Daniel De ViséRezensionen

100000

This is the true story of John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, the talented duo of The Blues Brothers

I grew up in this era. I just thought I knew stuff. I didn’t know half the stuff going on. This book is so well researched and includes so much! I loved all the memories and names this author threw into the mix.

I really never knew all the information about SNL and the making of Animal House. Such great talents in improv and creativity! And such a waste and sadness lose part of this duo to drugs! The drug use is astounding! I do not see how John Belushi continued as long as he did.

The narrator, Johnny Heller, is FANTASTIC! I have listened to him on a few other audiobooks and he is someone I remember. Very cool sounding voice!

Need a good biography that brings back memories….THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this audiobook from the publisher for a honest review.

The Blues Brothers by Daniel de Visé is a wonderful look at a very specific time in popular culture by focusing on The Blues Brothers. From understanding the people behind the characters to the rise in the popularity of improv through the creation of the characters and the movie, this volume tells a story much larger than just the making of one movie.

Most readers who remember this time also know a fair amount of the stories about the key players, even though many of what we "know" may be false or overblown. What de Visé does is offer some fact-based background on Belushi and Ackroyd, as well as the world of improv comedy at the time, to show how a film like The Blues Brothers came to be, and how it has become such an iconic film.

I really appreciated the way what led to the making of the film was given sufficient space. Many books that use a film as a focal point for a bigger assessment spend so much time on the minutiae of the filmmaking itself that the cultural impact becomes secondary. Or they use sensationalistic stories and anecdotes to help sell the book. With the group of people involved in this story, some gossipy bits like that can't be ignored, they were part of what made the scene both appealing and, for some, less appealing. But the sensationalism is downplayed here in favor of looking at what resulted from them rather than wallow in them.

I did see one person who complained that the book spent time on things other than the movie. I don't understand the complaint, the title itself makes clear it is about "an epic friendship, the rise of improv, and the making of an American film classic." What about that title would make someone think it was just about the film? Oh well, a heads up, read the entire title before reading a book, and especially before whining about a book not being what it never set out to be.

I would certainly recommend this to fans of the movie as well as SNL fans. I also think anyone with an interest in popular culture more broadly will find a lot to enjoy here.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

Do you like reading that is deadly intense? Yes? Then go read the chapter titled “20 Minutes” in The Comeback, a biography of Greg LeMond, the three-time Tour de France champion and winner of multiple world championships. I’m not kidding. It’s intense.

In addition to those 20 minutes, bike racing fans will learn from Daniel de Visé’s book how LeMond became a racer and how he came to compete and succeed against such formidably gifted men as Bernard Hinault and Laurent Fignon. It was a success achieved in the face of personal demons that followed him from his youth.

After his racing career, LeMond was belittled for his protests publicizing the competitive performance advantages realized in the peloton by doping. His outspokenness gave him the reputation of being a bitter man jealous of others’ successes, the most famous of the others being Lance Armstrong. Fans now know who was telling the truth. The racers, most of whom doped, knew all along. Thus, the book also becomes a story about what it is to insist on honesty in an environment committed to subverting truth, in a sport where the event most directly testing a competitor’s strength (the time trial) is often called the “race of truth” (ironic, eh?). At book’s end, the author gives us a specific example of why one should suspect that deceptions by those most successful in the sport persist. I hope LeMond’s voice continues to be heard.

This book, written by Don Knotts’ brother-in-law, is the story of both Don Knotts and Andy Griffith and their rise in show business from “No Time For Sergeants” in the 1950s to their iconic “The Andy Griffith Show” in the 1960s. The anecdots are personal and interesting. As I read the book, I was surprised at how well written it is, but at the end, the author’s bio mentions that he won the Pulitzer Prize, so that made sense. After reading some pretty heavy books before this one, I was ready for something light. And this is what “Andy and Don” was. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Andy & Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show is a powerful book and a great one to win a free copy of from a Goodreads contest. Daniel de Vise examines the lives of Andy Griffith and Don Knotts providing a different way to look at these two iconic men. It is full of interesting facts and shines a different light on each man as a person as well as an actor.

Anyone who reads this book will be a big fan of the Andy Griffith show. A nice, linear walk down memory lane. The only thing better is watching the show itself.

One of the best books I have read! The author doesn't hold back or sugar coat . He paints Andy and Don as they truly are-warts and all- the good, the bad, the ugly,bathe funny. The book wil bring back mant happy memories of the show. I found myself laughing and smiling a lot.

Andy & Don is a sweet tale of friendship framed around one of the best comedies to come out of the 60s, The Andy Griffith Show.

Andy Griffith and Don Knotts, both with rural southern backgrounds, met on Broadway and then solidified their bond on Griffith’s show.

The book highlights the great friendship and comedy they shared. It also is honest about the foibles and mistakes along the way – Knotts’ debilitating hypochondria and Griffith’s explosive anger.

But at its heart, the book is about an era long-gone, even in the 60s, when the pace was slower and friendship seemed deeper.

You don’t have to be a big fan of the show to like this book, just a fan of simpler times and of the appreciation of small things in life.

More of my reviews at my WordPress site, ralphsbooks.

This was a fun book to read. It can be a quick read, but it wasn’t for me. I found myself getting on YouTube to watch the episodes the book was describing. It was a treat to get those inside secrets of what was going on behind the scenes.

I am sure you all know someone who is an avid “Andy Griffith Show” fan. One of my brothers is such a fan. But it has to be the black & white episodes, not the color ones. I didn’t understand this distinction until I read this book. It was not the addition of color that changed the show; it was the absence of Barney.

The book starts out with a scene we all remember:
Andy and Barney are kicked back on the front porch. “Ya know what I think I’m gonna do?” Barney asks Andy. “I’m gonna go home, have me a little nap, then go over to Thelma Lou’s and watch a little TV.” Several seconds pass in silence. ‘Yeah, I believe that’s what I’ll do: go home, have a nap, head over to Thelma Lou’s for TV.” More silence. “Yep, that’s the plan: ride home, a little nap…”

Did you know that in the 55 years since its debut in 1960, it has never left the air! Think about it…I bet it comes on every day somewhere on your TV channel line-up. Sheldon Leonard said the show would never sell. He said it was fantasy. But apparently people enjoyed fantasy, and Sheldon was proven wrong.

This was a thoroughly delightful book about the classic television series, but more than that, it is about the friendship between Andy Griffith and Don Knotts. What an amazing friendship they had! Andy was not an easy person to get along with, but nervous little Don could do no wrong in Andy’s eyes. They were happiest when they were together.

The personal lives of both men are detailed – Andy’s temper, Don’s hypochondria, their marriages, their affairs. But beyond it all was the comedic genius of Don Knotts and the production talent of Andy Griffith. This show had the finest producers, writers, and directors available, along with an amazing cast of characters. And Andy was responsible for most of that.

Andy and Don’s names will always be linked throughout history. Neither could have risen to such fame without the other. And they liked it that way. Andy & Don - forever.

**I got an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review**

I'm one of those people who grew up watching Andy Griffith every Sunday at my grandpa's house, and then at my parent's house. It's ingrained in my childhood and just thinking about it makes me happy and I can't help but smile. I hear that whistle in the beginning and I'll sit down and watch that show. All that said, this book exceeded my expectations when it came to talking about Andy and Don. It was informative, fun, and at times heartbreaking, but I couldn't put it down! It was so well written and engaging that I looked forward to the time I got to sit down and read it and was sad to see it end. I learned so much and Mr. de Visa has a work of art here he should be proud of. Well written, smart, and hard to read at parts. Worth the read. 5 out of 5 stars.

I must admit, the Andy Griffiths Show did not impinge much upon my childhood. For one thing, it had ceased production by the time I was of a TV watching age and was only shown as repeats. Secondly, it was black & white, and we scorned B&W shows as old hat. I was much more aware of shows like Green Acres and the Beverley Hillbillies, which ironically were two of many shows influenced by TAGS. So reading this wonderful book was like a revelation. I was cognisant of Andy Griffiths mainly from Matlock, and Don Knotts from seemingly endless Disney movies, and had no idea that at one stage they formed a comedy partnership that is possibly without equal in TV history. Both men came from similar, dirt-poor Southern backgrounds, and both struggled long and hard before breaking through to TV stardom, although they were as different as chalk and cheese. Griffiths' gentle, fatherly TV persona concealed an explosive temper, a considerable ego and the capacity to hold grudges for a long time. Knotts' achingly funny onstage persona was matched his nervous, hypochondriac, hard-drinking, pill-popping character off-set. Yet the pair of them on screen were comedy gold, and De Vise makes the point that TAGS, a simple show about ordinary people and minor happenings in a very small Southern town, dominated American TV viewing habits from the beginning to the end of its 8 year run, and spawned a sequel, several spin-offs, a couple of reunions and endless devotion from its fans that persists to this day. This is a lovely book, a tribute to TV in its golden years, highly recommended for all TV buffs.½

**I got an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review**

I'm one of those people who grew up watching Andy Griffith every Sunday at my grandpa's house, and then at my parent's house. It's ingrained in my childhood and just thinking about it makes me happy and I can't help but smile. I hear that whistle in the beginning and I'll sit down and watch that show. All that said, this book exceeded my expectations when it came to talking about Andy and Don. It was informative, fun, and at times heartbreaking, but I couldn't put it down! It was so well written and engaging that I looked forward to the time I got to sit down and read it and was sad to see it end. I learned so much and Mr. de Visa has a work of art here he should be proud of. Well written, smart, and hard to read at parts. Worth the read. 5 out of 5 stars.