Searching for Van Gogh

The cover and the title of Donald Lystra's novel, Searching for Van Gogh, are eye-catching. It is an enjoyable coming-of-age story that is written in a way that flows easily from beginning to end and the characters are likable.  For me, it was easily read in an afternoon.
Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed Searching for Van Gogh: A Novel by Donald Lystra. The writing is simple and straightforward: “I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and Audrey ordered a tuna fish salad sandwich with lettuce but no tomato.” The book is not dull or without meaning, however. Lystra’s style is, to me, similar to Hemingway or Salinger. I appreciate all he conveys without excess language. The characters are deeply developed and highly empathetic. The settings are vivid without lavish descriptions. This is a coming of age story, a discover oneself and comprehend the world story. It is a charged novel by an exceptional author.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bayview Press for the chance to read and review this ARC.

Searching for Van Gogh was a very different read for me. The writing was simplistic and I don’t mean that in a negative way. Two young people trying to find themselves and meet serendipitously. They each learn something from each other and of life during their involvement. Life is not black and white. Transitioning from youth to adulthood, reveals to us, all the grey. One important take-away written in this book, is that “sometimes truth is not as important as what it does to people, the consequences it leaves behind.” Thank you NetGalley and Book Whisperer for granting this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own. #NetGalley, #SearchingforVanGogh.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the opportunty to read this advanced copy of Donald Lystra's Searching for Van Gogh. I'll admit I wasn't sure what it would be when I started it, but this was a highly readable, very enjoyable coming of age novel of sorts, with a historical context of the early 1960s, and a young man searching for purpose. Some reviewers have described the writing as simplistic, but even if it is, it is a book that draws you in and moves very quickly. The story stays interesting, and there is no times in it when the reader feels like it is dragging. The protagonist might be a bit naive, but it is in that naivety where his development comes.

And i loved the metaphors to painting and to the great Vincent Van Gogh. Great book.

Searching for Van Gogh by Donald Lystra
After so many years of teaching teens, I found myself thinking “those crazy kids” as misstep followed misstep. Then events and dates would remind me that these would have been my contemporaries. Surely we were never that young, that confused, that torn between dreams and expectations. Or were we?
Nate and Audrey try to find their directions in life through art and friendship. Each is dealing with personal loss, off balance but looking ahead. Fathers in the ‘60s expected to be the leaders of their families (I had forgotten how “normal” that was), so both must struggle to be free to make their own decisions. I cared for them and for Nate’s mother, and worried about them, and applauded their efforts. At the end I didn’t want to let them go, and I wanted to know more about their lives . . . but that’s a feeling teachers are used to as our students go off to make their own way in life.
This is a thought-provoking book. When the world is in upheaval, how can one tell what’s real, important, moral? It was also a pleasure to read, well-written, with apt descriptions, characters who felt real, and secrets to uncover.

Thank you for the opportunity for this read!

Very beautiful coming of age historical novel set in the 60s. The character development was very thought though and I was hooked from the beginning. I was able to complete this read in a few days so it was quick but enjoyable.

Great title and beautiful cover. I enjoyed this -- it was good, not quite great. It had a subtle, straightforward style of writing which I appreciated -- it didn't try to spell too much out. This was set in the early 60's, but that fact was secondary to the story, and really was a minor factor.

I'd like to read the sequel -- "Looking for Andy Warhol" 10 years down the road. Recommended.

I received a free copy of the novel from the author and NetGalley, and my review is being given freely.

I enjoyed Searching for Van Gogh: A Novel by Donald Lystra. The writing is not complex and not wordy. Every word and sentence has a purpose. I appreciate all he conveys without excess language. The characters are well developed and sensitive to the world around them. The reader is able to visualize the settings without long descriptions. This is a coming of age story, where all of the characters grow.

Michigan 1963 is the setting for this coming of age story. Nate is 17, and after graduating from high school decides not to go to college after a fight with his father. His brother, who was a talented pianist, is somehow convinced by this same father to join the army because "it will make a man of him." Quite the sad context, especially on the cusp of Vietnam.
After an accident on the shooting range, the brother is killed. It's not a spoiler because this is the set up of the story.
Nate leaves home and gets a job at a car factory. He is fascinated by electricity, so he rather likes the job.
However, to deal with his grief, he decides to become a painter, perhaps in the style of Van Gogh.
One day, Audrey sees him on her daily walk and criticizes his style. They become friends, and we slowly learn her backstory.
They go on a journey, and both learn a lot about themselves.
This is a rather sad book, though there is character growth. I received an EARC Netgalley and Book Whisperer, who I thank because I probably wouldn't have come across this book otherwise.
I quite enjoyed this look at the past, a past that is close to how old I was at the time, so it quite resonated with me.
I think it is important to look at a time where "sensitive boys" and unwed mothers were looked down upon.
I would recommend this book to any age even though the main characters are teenagers, the role that grief plays in a family context is well written. Nate's mother also grows to understand herself, and it is important to know how to cope and become more than one can become more than expected.

Searching for Van Gogh
By Donald Lystra

Calling this book a coming of age story doesn't do it justice. While it is one – the coming of age of a young man named Nate Walker – it is much more than that. It is the "searching" of the title that is closer to what this book is about. Everyone in this story is searching for something – maybe truth, maybe something more.

Mr. Lystra begins this book with a quotation: "There is truth and there's what's needed and sometimes they are not the same." For me this quote sums up the story in a nutshell.

Nate is a seventeen year old boy who has argued with his father about going to college to study math or business or some such. He has decided to strike out on his own and support himself while trying his hand at painting. This decision has much to do with the death of his older brother, Gary, a sensitive boy and talented pianist – and possibly gay – who joined the army at his father's insistence and is killed in what the army calls a shooting range accident. This death has splintered his family.

But Nate isn't the only one searching for something. He meets up with a very strange – yet fragile – girl named Audrey who proceeds to tell him a series of half-truths and lies about her life. Additionally, Nate's mother, who cannot forgive herself for not doing more to protect Gary from a father who didn't understand him, is also searching for meaning in her life.

All this is set in 1963 America, in the backdrop of the Vietnam War and the Kennedy assassination. Thus the whole country is searching. I found that Mr. Lystra has given the reader much to think about which may be equally pertinent in the very troubled America we live in today.

An appealing coming-of-age story, set in 1963 Michigan.
Two young people meet unexpectedly, and the friendship that forms helps them both to move forward frown tragic experiences in their pasts. It’s a sweet, gentle relationship, forged by the fact that neither Nate nor Audrey has ever felt accepted by their their families for who they really are…
*Red Flags*
F-bombs are dropped frequently, and there are several incidents of underage drinking/ drunkenness.

I am a big historical fiction fan but don’t typically read this time period. This book read a bit like Salinger. The two young characters both showed personal growth, and I was interested in how their journeys would intertwine and play out.

Thanks so much for the advanced copy!

Audrey and Nate the two main characters could not be more different. Nate a quiet innocent young man is learning to paint by a river when Audrey wanders by and begins to comment and give him suggestions about his painting. Their friendship grows slowly. Nate tells her he works in a factory handing out tools, a mundane job to finance his painting. She tells him she gives walking tours to men and Nate accepts her word and occasionally spots her walking with a well dressed ‘gentleman’.
Things change when she asks him to do her a favour. The two have left home and are searching for ways to follow their dreams. It is an easy read, but what I liked about it is it shows how incidents in our lives help us to understand ourselves.
Nate and Audrey are just two young people learning to find themselves, a part of transitioning from youth to adulthood. I give it 3.5