Isaac Fitzgerald
@isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social
📚 NYT bestselling author of Dirtbag, Massachusetts 🍎 Next up: American Rambler—5/12/26 (Knopf) 📺 Talking books on the Today Show 🥾 I walk. A lot.
I'm looking forward to interviewing Isaac in Madison on September 23, 2026. Wisco book folks, save the date! www.wisconsinbookfestival.org/events/ameri...
American Rambler: Walking The Trail Of Johnny Appleseed | Wisconsin Book Festival
wisconsinbookfestival.org
Isaac Fitzgerald@isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social · 5mo agoMainly here to promote my books these days—not much else. If you want my jokes/theories/dumb drinking stories, come find me in person. Always happy to talk. I'll buy you a beer. American Rambler is out May 12, 2026. ⭐️ Kirkus ⭐️ Publishers Weekly Some great blurbs, too. 🥾🌳🍎
I repair rare books professionally and I've been asked 'wow do you worry if there's no future in that?' for 30 years and counting...
I lived through the "books are dying" discourse of the mid-aughts.* I'll live through the "reading is dying" discourse of now. Reminder that book sales are up overall in 2026.** 😘
We’ve landed in NOVA, and are spending some time exploring. Today, we went to Old Town Alexandria and discovered a new favorite bookstore, Old Town Books, where I finally picked up @isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social’s American Rambler. ❤️
I’d been sitting on this book from @isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social for a few months. It turns out that actually the perfect time for it is this America’s 250th weekend, and the perfect place is in my childhood home in Massachusetts.
![[chapter title]SPRING * [page number]35
It's always a gamble, who gets remembered and who doesn't.
Whose story gets told correctly, and whose story is warped over time.
History is never definitively what happened—it's a human construct, with human biases, perspectives, and agendas. Like all things human, history is flawed, and forgetful, and at times overly optimistic.
Statues are erected, and statues are torn down. Memorials are built and then dismantled. Especially in a country as young as ours, and as big as ours—with such a lugubrious and contentious past— history isn't so much history as it is a never-ending narrative that is constantly being amended, erased, added to, and often ignored.
Still, ya gotta try. I'm glad people like Florence E. Wheeler do.
The sky is still threatening, but whatever precipitation is up there has managed to stay in the clouds. Nevertheless, the temperature continues to drop—I can feel the icy air cutting into my hands, and I regret not bringing gloves —as I walk away from the memorial and head farther west.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:plbkfzxd2ddwe7bny7zlpw3z/bafkreibx7fghvkzuwwjesdekl5pwxan34aqvoyqpyhimsbnmwjozf4tqmq)
Our next Letter in the Mail comes from @isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social, author of American Rambler (@aaknopf.bsky.social). Subscribe to Letters in the Mail today to start receiving IRL letters written by IRL authors straight to your IRL mailbox: buff.ly/v10qgtO
Our annual summer book extravaganza - w/ @isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social @kait.bsky.social @gemmacorrell.bsky.social @paultremblay.bsky.social @cynthiapelayo.bsky.social @colsonwhitehead.com @esglaude.bsky.social And way more www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/03/s...
Summer books: Our 50 coolest books for your hottest months
What are you looking for in your summer reading? Chicago stories, books about music or celebrities, history lessons, or tawdry, trashy novels that are secretly good? Read on.
chicagotribune.com
Tonight! Come out, Houston! 🙌🏻🍎
Blue Willow Bookshop@bluewillowbooks.bsky.social · 2mo agoTomorrow! Don't miss our event with New York Times bestselling author @isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social, celebrating his book, AMERICAN RAMBLER: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed. 🍎 This book is fantastic, friends. Come by for a great conversation! buff.ly/fDbyv9M
Tomorrow! Don't miss our event with New York Times bestselling author @isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social, celebrating his book, AMERICAN RAMBLER: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed. 🍎 This book is fantastic, friends. Come by for a great conversation! buff.ly/fDbyv9M
_American Rambler_ is really good, y'all. Fun, sad, moving, compelling, surprising...the best kind of ramble.
@isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social putting into words what I've thought myself: "That devotion is something that still perplexes me--unless it's a devotion to art, or my friends, or walking. But in a way, as I grow older, I'm beginning to realize that it may all be the same thing, and that's enough."
Next Wednesday! Join us for an event with New York Times bestselling author @isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social, celebrating his book, AMERICAN RAMBLER: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed. 🍎 This book is fantastic, friends. Come by for a great conversation! buff.ly/ew11wtH
Getting to listen to this (& Needy Generator, etc) on Star was, as always, incredibly special. Sharing stories of compacting trash while Dave tinkered by the power house or made tattoo magic with @isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social. Just being there with this beauty. Miss you. #BrownBird #AmysMusicMayhem
Brown Bird "Run the Wire"
YouTube video by Mikael Kennedy
youtu.be
🎂 AMY FREAK 🦇 seeing MONSTA X saw Onew Key Hannah Bahng 💎🐥🐈⬛🧀🐈⬛🍉🏴☠️❎@amedawg18.bsky.social · 2mo agoSpent last weekend volunteering in my favorite place on earth, Star Island. Got time with friends I’ve known for ages, some for less, some brand new. Rain, sunset, morning spent getting a tractor running with a nice man named Gilbert, & found my new favorite thing: cardboard shredding. #StarIsland 🌊
Finished this by @isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social last night. Loved it. Man knows how to tell a story. I also love the little glimpses into his friendships with @theferocity.bsky.social and @smashfizzle.bsky.social and I love reading about Fort Wayne through other people's eyes. (I grew up there.)
“As a child who grew up in a homeless shelter…Johnny Appleseed became a personal hero. A patron saint.” Following in his footsteps—across an America no longer made for walking—was no easy task, @isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social discovered: www.motherjones.com/media/2026/0...
Hunting for Johnny Appleseed in the backroads of America
The true story of John Chapman is much more complex—and booze-fueled—than the history books had led me to believe.
motherjones.com
Johnny Appleseed became @isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social‘s patron saint. Almost everything he thought he knew about the folk hero was wrong:
Hunting for Johnny Appleseed in the backroads of America
The true story of John Chapman is much more complex—and booze-fueled—than the history books had led me to believe.
motherjones.com
Emanuel Swedenborg’s conception of hell sounds like social media. (Quoted in @isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social AMERICAN RAMBLER.)
“One person read this book, and they just called it a great American bar crawl,” says @isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social. Listen to the author discuss his newest book “American Rambler” on #SayMore:
Isaac Fitzgerald and Johnny Appleseed are Massachusetts dirtbags - The Boston Globe
The bestselling author discusses his new book, “American Rambler,” which follows the footsteps of Johnny Appleseed from New England to Indiana.
bostonglobe.com
We're SO excited to invite you to an event with New York Times bestselling author @isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social, celebrating his book, AMERICAN RAMBLER: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed. 🍎 This book is fantastic, friends. Join us for a great conversation! buff.ly/ew11wtH
Congratulations!! Such an incredible book - you deserve a ton of praise 👏
"There’s always going to be times to live an adventurous life, but the definition of what adventure is can change." Read @ianmacallen.bsky.social's interview w/ @isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social on "American Rambler" (@aaknopf.bsky.social). chireviewofbooks.com/2026/05/20/w...
Walking In Search of Balance: A Conversation with Isaac Fitzgerald - Chicago Review of Books
I first met Isaac Fitzgerald at the Bell House in Brooklyn when The Rumpus was co-hosting a holiday party. I had just started writing for the site, and he had previously served as managing editor. A f...
chireviewofbooks.com
What an amazing night we had with @isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social! We talked about it the magic of small towns, progressive views of grammar, and, of course, Johnny Appleseed. If you have the chance to see Isaac along the rest of his national tour, do it! You won’t regret it.
At the @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social, I spoke with @isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social about American Rambler. chireviewofbooks.com/2026/05/20/w...
Walking In Search of Balance: A Conversation with Isaac Fitzgerald - Chicago Review of Books
I first met Isaac Fitzgerald at the Bell House in Brooklyn when The Rumpus was co-hosting a holiday party. I had just started writing for the site, and he had previously served as managing editor. A f...
chireviewofbooks.com
“I think I’ve had a fear of stability, and I’ve had an inability to admit to myself that I want stability. And let’s start there, but if we want to go one step deeper, to admit to myself that I deserve it,” said @isaacfitzgerald.bsky.social, in conversation w/ @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social tomorrow.
Isaac Fitzgerald finds himself on the trail of Johnny Appleseed – Matter News
The author will discuss his new book, ‘American Rambler: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed,’ in conversation with the poet Maggie Smith at WOSU Ross Community Studio on Tuesday, May 19.
matternews.org