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A Walk of Memory and Renewal
by Neil King
A stunning, revelatory memoir about a 330-mile walk from Washington, D.C., to New York City―an unforgettable pilgrimage to the heart of America across some of our oldest common ground.
Neil King Jr.'s desire to walk from Washington, D.C., to New York City began as a whim and soon became an obsession. By the spring of 2021, events had intervened that gave his desire greater urgency. His neighborhood still reeled from the January 6th insurrection. Covid lockdowns and a rancorous election had deepened America's divides. Neil himself bore the imprints of a long battle with cancer.
Determined to rediscover what matters in life and to see our national story with new eyes, Neil turned north with a small satchel on his back and one mission in mind: To pay close attention to the land he crossed and the people he met.
What followed is an extraordinary 26-day walking journey through historic battlefields and cemeteries, over the Mason-Dixon line, past Quaker and Amish farms, along Valley Forge stream beds, atop a New Jersey trash mound, across New York Harbor, and finally, to his ultimate destination: the Ramble, where a tangle of pathways converges in Central Park. This compelling travelogue travels deep into America's past and present, uncovering forgotten pockets and overlooked people. At a time of mounting disunity, the trip reveals the profound power of our shared ground.
By turns amusing, inspiring, and sublime, American Ramble offers an exquisite account of personal and national renewal―an indelible study of our country as we've never seen it before.
This is more than a walk―it's a search for what holds America together.
"The author's storytelling skills transform a seemingly insignificant trip into something revelatory.…An enlightening book with lessons for us all." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"American Ramble is the wise, warmhearted account of a journey that was pedestrian in its execution, but miles from that in the depth of King's experience and his ability to share it in a clear and affecting way…he generously shares his sense of discovery and delight on every page." —Shelf Awareness
"King puts his head and heart on the page. His prose is mellifluous, yet measured. His life story helps drive the narrative, a mixture of the personal, political and pastoral...American Ramble helps make the past come alive." —The Guardian
This information about American Ramble was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Neil King Jr. (1959 – 2024) was a national political reporter and editor for the Wall Street Journal. He was deeply involved in the coverage of 9/11 that won the Journal the Pulitzer Prize. He also wrote for the New York Times, the Atlantic, and other publications.
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