One of the Best Books I Have Ever Read

 By Bruce Shawkey

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I honestly didn't want it to end. 

American Ramble is a mixture of travelogue, memoir, and history. At times profound, funny, and heartbreaking.

King goes on a 330-mile walk from Washington, D.C., to New York City across some of our oldest common ground. 

I identified with much of his walk because I have visited many of the same places that King visited ... the Capitol Mall, Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Amish Country, Pennsylvania, and New York City.

King's journey 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 was in remission from a long battle with cancer.

Determined to rediscover what matters in life, Neil turned north with a small satchel on his back and walked 26 days 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 of Central Park.

He finds kindness and compassion on his walk ... people offer him food and drink. But in one encounter, he is refused a simple refill of water. In Central Park, he has a chance encounter with a chess player and plays a round with him. 

At the end of his walk, he shares a simple meal with a friend and reminisces about his walk, His wife is there to greet him, and they drive back to Washington D.C.

King is a gifted writer, blending narrative with numerous history lessons, quoting many historical figures, from Abraham Lincoln to de Tocqueville. This is a wonderful book that I heartily  recommend, especially for those faith in America has been shaken.