Isaac Fitzgerald: AMERICAN RAMBLER

Schedule

Wed, 23 Sep, 2026 at 07:00 pm

UTC-05:00
Location

201 W Mifflin St, Madison, WI, United States, Wisconsin 53703 | Madison, WI

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As a child, Isaac Fitzgerald was captivated by Johnny Appleseed, drawn to the legend by family ties, his father’s larger-than-life stories, and a shared restlessness to leave home and discover what lay beyond.
In American Rambler, he sets out on a year-long journey to follow Appleseed’s path, walking (okay, sometimes driving, and at one point, even floating downstream) from Massachusetts to Indiana. On this journey, Fitzgerald turns a childhood fascination into a profound reckoning of loss and grief, ritual and faith, grimy gas station bathrooms and scenic apple picking. He is followed by a mysterious creature, camps in hostile environments, trespasses more than once, and is warmed by the generosity of strangers at every turn.
A moving blend of memoir, history, and travelogue, American Rambler is at once an ode to the American heartland, a meditation on escaping the breakneck pace of modern life, and a clear-eyed look at the myths—often violent, sometimes hopeful, frequently romanticized—at the very core of American identity and history.
In conversation with Andy Adams.
https://www.wisconsinbookfestival.org/events/american-rambler-walking-trail-johnny-appleseed
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Where is it happening?

201 W Mifflin St, Madison, WI, United States, Wisconsin 53703

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Wisconsin Book Festival
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