Looking for Andy Griffith: A Father's Journey is not what I thought it was going to be. . .at all. That said, what it turned out to be was interesting enough to keep me engaged throughout the read.

Other reviews have mentioned a poetic feel, and I'll agree to a certain point - would rather say a free associating lyricism drives the entire piece, from start to finish. Snapshot descriptions, timelines that go back and forth, and two different stories woven over and through each other: Evan Dalton Smith's and Andy Griffith's. These are not whole biographies of either of them, but rather a cherry picking of all the commonalities between them. There are quite a few as they both come from the same region, the same dna backing up a number of generations, and all of it shows the effect of place, time and family outlooks on life circumstances.

Many of the author's choices surprised me, the wandering narrative giving no clue of what was ahead (or behind, if we were backtracking), not the least of which was the wrap up. Still, an approach in presentation that normally wouldn't be my preference turned out to be of interest to me. I suppose in a longer book, that would have worn out eventually, but in this length it worked for me. The overall tone of melancholy and a sense of woebegone-ness was not one I'd have ever associated with Andy Griffith.

There were aspects of Andy G's life that were new to me - and I was able to add some books to my TBR from information provided by the author, and have added A Face In the Crowd / Your Arkansas Traveler movie to my list of future viewing. Have somehow missed that over these years.

I do wonder what Mr. G would think of this book. . .

*A sincere thank you to Evan Dalton Smith, University of North Carolina Press, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.* #LookingforAndyGriffith #NetGalley

Quick Synopsis: Growing up an hour south of Andy Griffith’s hometown in North Carolina, Evan Dalton Smith grew up watching The Andy Griffith Show and looking up to Griffith, finding similarities in both his own story and Griffith’s.

Strong Points: I bet when you think of The Andy Griffith Show, the catchy whistling theme song plays in your head. The show's comfy themes and happy endings made me a huge fan. That was also true for Smith, who found comfort and relaxation in his otherwise chaotic childhood. Throughout the book, it’s clear that Griffith has touched the author’s life in a prolific way, and it comes through in his passionate writing.

Weak Points: However, this felt very much like a first draft. The organization was very, very strange. At times, it was hard to follow the author’s train of thought. This, paired with the clunky transitions between the author’s life and Griffith's, left me disoriented. I get what the author was trying to do with this story—a half memoir and half Griffith biography—but unfortunately, I think this needs some serious editing before its publication date.

Did not enjoy the book. I am upset to give such a low rating, but I did not enjoy reading the biography.

As a native North Carolinian, fan of UNC Press, and admirer of Andy Griffith, I was really looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, it was just not to my taste. I was unable to finish it and stopped reading about halfway through. I feel like the author just missed the mark.

Warning: I try to be nice with my book reviews but with this one, I just can’t.

Bad writing, bad premise, bad everything - AVOID if you can! Thank God, Andy Griffith is not around to read this and shame on the University of North Carolina Press for publishing this mess of a book.

This ARC was given to me to review from the publishers and NetGalley. My thoughts and comments are solely my own.

I'm not sure what this is exactly... A bunch of sentences put together that sometimes mention Andy and his wife and a variety of other unknown people.

The pictures are nice though!

The good news is "Looking for Andy Griffith" was my 100th book of 2023. The bad news is it was the worst of the lot.

The author, Evan Dalton Smith, seems like a very nice, sensitive man. Sadly, he seems to be fixated on Andy Griffith. By "fixated", I mean he's spent the better part of his life researching and watching every show Andy ever made . . . . . . . . most of them many, many times over.

If Smith would have written a nice biography, it might have been a three-star book. Instead he elected to analyze the links his own life had to Griffith. In most cases, the links are insignificant and even senseless. The author spiderwebs from the insignificant to the absurd. Does the reader care that both Andy and Evan walked down the same street 20 years apart?

As I said, I hate giving a low rating to such a seemingly nice man. But the fixation is more than a little creepy.