Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"It takes a wild man to capture this wild land, and Fitzgerald is on the case. This time around, he brings his immeasurable charm and irrepressible humanism to bear on a genuine American legend, with fantastic results."
--Colson Whitehead, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad

"An immersive walk through our country's forgotten history. Fitzgerald carves out a trail through his own past as he explores the landscapes and lives that shaped a nation."
--Tara Westover, author of Educated

"Part memoir, part history, American Rambler turns its clear-eyed gaze upon the myths that made us and the connections that sustain us. The spirit of Thoreau accompanies Isaac Fitzgerald on this pilgrimage of restlessness and renewal, and the people he meets along the way are rendered with humor, grit and humility. Adventure, insight, and abandon all tangle in this compelling account of one man's meander along the paths of perseverance and discovery."
--Adam Johnson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Wayfinder

About the Author

ISAAC FITZGERALD is the New York Times bestselling author of Dirtbag, Massachusetts. He is also the author of the bestselling children's book How to Be a Pirate as well as the co-author of Pen & Ink: Tattoos and the Stories Behind Them and Knives & Ink: Chefs and the Stories Behind Their Tattoos (winner of an IACP Award). He appears frequently on The Today Show, and his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Esquire, GQ, The Guardian, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, and numerous other publications. He lives with his wife on the North Fork of Long Island.