Joseph Amato

" I have met with but one or two persons in the course of my life who understand the art of Walking, that is, of taking walks, who had a genius, so to speak, for sauntering. "— Henry David Thoreau (1817—1862)" Everything is within walking distance if you have the time. "—Stephen Wright (1955—)For approximately six million years, humans have walked the earth. This is the story of how, why, and to what effect we put one foot in front of the...

Joseph A. Amato follows his own poor, obscure, and truly "mongrel" family through seven generations, revealing their place in the key events of America's past. Using powerful family traditions to clarify his personal connection to the larger stories of our nation, Amato advocates for the power of the history closest at hand in building personal identity and resisting mass culture.