Andy and Don, Daniel de Vise
Andy and Don, Daniel de Vise
4 Rating(s)
List: $25.99 | Sale: $18.20
Club: $12.99

Andy and Don
The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show

Author: Daniel de Visé

Narrator: George Newbern

Unabridged: 9 hr 29 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/03/2015


Synopsis

A lively and revealing biography of Andy Griffith and Don Knotts, this “humorous, informative, and poignant book” celebrates the powerful real-life friendship behind one of America’s most iconic television programs and “shows how the magic was created” (Library Journal).

Andy Griffith and Don Knotts first met on Broadway in the 1950s. When Andy moved to Hollywood to film a TV pilot for a comedy about a small-town sheriff, Don called to ask if Andy’s sheriff could use a deputy. The friendship and comedy partnership between Sheriff Andy Taylor and Deputy Barney Fife ignited The Andy Griffith Show, elevating the folksy television sitcom into a timeless study of human friendship. Together, they created a program with a uniquely small-town dynamic that captured the hearts of Americans across the country who watched these two men rocking on the front porch, meditating about the pleasure of a bottle of pop.

But behind this sleepy charm, de Visé’s exclusive reporting “captures the complexity of both men and the intimacy of their friendship with extreme detail and sensitivity” (Publishers Weekly), from unspoken rivalries, passionate affairs, unrequited loves, struggles with the temptations of fame, and friendships lost and regained. Although Andy and Don ended their Mayberry partnership in 1965, they remained best friends for the next half-century.

Written by Don Knotts’s brother-in-law, Andy and Don is “a rewarding dual biography that is also a lively look inside the entertainment industry in the latter half of the twentieth century” (News & Observer). Entertaining and provocative, it “captures a golden moment in modern Americana. You’ll not only return again to Mayberry, you’ll feel as though you’ve never left” (Tom Shales, Pulitzer Prize–winning television critic).

About Daniel de Visé

Daniel de Visé is an author and journalist who has worked at The Washington Post, The Miami Herald, and three other newspapers in a twenty-four-year career. His investigative reporting has twice led to the release of wrongly convicted men from life imprisonment; he shared a 2001 Pulitzer Prize. A graduate of Wesleyan and Northwestern universities, de Visé lives with his wife and children in Maryland. He is the author of I Forgot to Remember (with Su Meck) and Andy and Don.


Reviews

I grew up watching The Andy Griffith Show with my parents and I still watch it to this day. Something has to be said for a TV show that has never been off the air since its premiere. I believe the fascination is based on the down-home feel, those simpler days, and of course the comedic timing of And......more

Goodreads review by Jessie

My first 5 star rating of 2016! Andy Griffith show has always been my favorite show. My favorite part is the relationship between the characters of Andy and Barney. So when I saw this book I had to read it. The book goes over the real life friendship between Andy Griffith and Don Knotts which lasted......more

Goodreads review by Debbie

This is a must-read for anyone who is a fan of the Andy Griffith show. The book not only covers the lives of Andy and Barney, but many of the additional cast member- Opie, Aunt Bea, Goober, Gomer and many more. It is obvious that Daniel de Vise did a great deal of research and interviewed surviving......more


Quotes

“A lilting labor of love, a book that captures a golden moment in modern Americana. You'll not only return again to Mayberry, you'll feel as though you've never left.”

“This delightful book, written by Knotts’ brother-in-law, traces the production of the series and the friendship of its two leads, a friendship that continued long after the actors went in different career directions, right up to Knotts’ death in 2006.... A well written, respectful, and informative look at a classic TV show and the two friends who made it great. Delicious comfort food for boomers and, really, anyone with cable.”

“An intimate look into the lives of two thoroughly unique human beings who became not only household names but icons. What a thrill to take a peak down the alleys of Mayberry and beyond.”

“Andy Griffith and Don Knotts are one of the most famous comedy duos in America, and in this tender tribute, De Visé, Knotts’s brother-in-law, chronicles their relationship.... De Visé offers an intimate look at the lives of these two stars, and his access is invaluable to understanding their lifelong friendship. He captures the complexity of both men and the intimacy of their friendship with extreme detail and sensitivity.”

“The perfect holiday gift for your aunt, uncle, grandma, or hipster niece, this well-written, often eloquent chronicle is just what fans of the show have waited for every fan of The Andy Griffith Show – and the great actors and writers who made it come alive – will treasure it.”

"A delightful, affectionate tribute to the show, and to the two stars whose unique chemistry, both on and off the screen, was the key to its enduring appeal."

"This is the book about The Andy Griffith Show you didn't know you needed. De Visé shows that Griffith and his equally famous sidekick were far more complicated, troubled—and interesting—than their public personae ever let on."

“An engaging, well-researched portrait of what made one of the great comedy duos of the television age tick.”

“This book by a Knotts in-law shows how the magic was created.... The author chronicles their parting of ways, career and marital ups and downs, cast reunions of the old show, and later their reteaming in Griffith's popular series Matlock. De Visé examines the childhood, early careers, and outsize ambitions of both men, explaining why their chemistry made them click. By turns humorous, informative, and poignant.”

“Veteran journalist de Visé returns with a plethora of memories about actors Andy Griffith and Don Knotts, who propelled The Andy Griffith Show to enormous popularity in the 1960s.... As the author reminds us, the show about rural Mayberry remains in the popular culture: it's never been off the air, he writes, and Mount Airy, North Carolina, continues to profit from fans' visits and its annual ‘Mayberry Days.’”