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.

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

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.

Search for Van Gogh by Donald Lystra is about 2 young people growing up during the 1960’s. Nate and Audrey are transitioning from childhood to adulthood. They have both left home to find themselves and to try and deal with things that have happened in their young lives. Both seemed to be rejecting authority and the ideals of the country at that time. They become friends but know little about each other.

Unfortunately this is not the type of book I normally read and I was not impressed with it. Not that I do not vary my reading genres, but I found the writing to be very repetitive and situations drawn out. I skipped over a lot. I think the idea of friendships and people trying to understand themselves and each other is a good premise for a story, but I was just not crazy about the way it was presented.

Thank you Netflix Galley for giving me the opportunity to read this pre-release.

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.

“Searching for Van Gogh” is by Donald Lystra. This book, in a number of ways, reminded me of “Catcher in the Rye.” Overall, this seemed to be a bit about coming of age, finding oneself, and trying to live in a world that is new and exciting, but also frightening. I think if you’re a fan of Mr. Lystra’s books, this may be one you additionally enjoy.

Searching for Van Gogh was a quirky type of story!
Nathan really wanted to go to college and learn electrical however his Dad really wanted him to learn how to be a good Salesman. His Dad forced his brother Gary to join the Army and Gary’s love was the piano & being in the Army wasn’t his life style at all and he definitely didn’t fit in.
Nathan met Audrey who really had a blemished past and wasn’t entirely honest with him about what happened in her past life or what she was really doing in her present life.
Nate’s parents just went through the functions of everyday life and really weren’t happy with the success his job and promotions had led them to.