American Rambler
Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed
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- Pedido anticipado
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- Se espera: 12 may 2026
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- $199.00
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- Pedido anticipado
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- $199.00
Descripción editorial
New York Times bestselling author Isaac Fitzgerald sets off to the heart of America, following the path of the legendary Johnny Appleseed on an epic journey that both takes him far from home and brings him closer to it.
“It’s a difficult thing, to separate legend from story from memory from fact.”
As a child, Isaac Fitzgerald was always captivated by Johnny Appleseed, drawn by family ties to the legend, his father’s larger-than-life stories, and a shared restlessness to leave home and discover what lies beyond. In American Rambler, he sets out, walking from Massachusetts to Indiana on a year-long journey to follow Appleseed’s path, turning a childhood fascination into a profound reckoning of loss and grief, ritual and faith, grimy gas-station bathrooms and scenic apple picking. A moving blend of memoir, history, and travelogue, American Rambler is at once an ode to the American heartland and an antidote to the breakneck pace of modern life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this lyrical travelogue, memoirist Fitzgerald (Dirtbag, Massachusetts) recounts a yearlong journey he took from Massachusetts to Indiana that was inspired by his childhood love of Johnny Appleseed. Overwhelmed by financial struggles and worries about his aging parents, 30-something Fitzgerald—who developed the habit of taking aimless walks during the Covid pandemic—decided to clear his head and reconnect with his childhood wanderlust via a pilgrimage along the Johnny Appleseed Trail. Determined to move "at a human pace," Fitzgerald blends reflections on aging and contemporary ennui with historical tidbits about the ecology and culture of the states he passes through, all with an eye toward figuring out how to "separate legend from story from memory from fact." Memorable visits to Appleseed's birthplace of Leominster, Mass., his longtime home near Mansfield, Ohio, and his grave site give way to considerations of how Appleseed became "a legend used to help America look away from the darker aspects of its past." Elsewhere, discussions with people Fitzgerald meets in his travels prompt reflections about his budding romantic relationship and his mother's declining health. Throughout, Fitzgerald's elegant prose, restless curiosity, and deep compassion leap off the page. The result is a stirring, singular entry in the American road trip genre.
