"Delightfully wry and perceptive . . . a captivating achievement in
Americana."--"Booklist" (Starred Review)
"Engaging . . . Means scrubs away nearly two centuries of rumor and
myth to uncover the truth about 19th-century pioneer nurseryman
John Chapman. . . . Mean's meticulous research reveals Chapman as
an ascetic, conservationist and pacifist well-suited to serve as
patron saint of today's faith-based 'creation care' movement."
--"St. Louis Post-Dispatch"
"Johnny Appleseed is one of the great myths of our childhood. With
insight and a lively touch, Howard Means tells us the story of the
real Johnny Appleseed, John Chapman, a mystic and visionary who
turns out to be a most memorable American character." --Evan
Thomas, author of "The War Lovers"
"Means supports the legend with hard-earned fact in his portrait of
Chapman as a 'nurseryman; religious zealot; real-estate dabbler'
and even altruistic capitalist." --"The Wall Street Journal"
"We all know the caricature, but few of us know the man. Howard
Means produces a feast of a story that strips away the myths of
this folk-tale hero and gives us the real John Chapman and the
rough-and-tumble world he lived in. This is a thoroughly
fascinating and fun book." --Jay Winik, author of "April 1865" and
"The Great Upheaval"
"So it turns out that Johnny Appleseed, iconic naturalist of the
American frontier, is one of folklore's great inventions. The real
man behind the myth was an itinerant loner, a failed entrepreneur,
a nutty, religious mystic. This is a perfect tale for our fractious
times when the facts of history are so often willfully rearranged
and made to advance agendas of all sorts. A delightful parable for
post-modernists who understand that there is no truth, only text."
--Ellen Chesler, author of "Woman of Valor"
Advance Praise for"""Johnny Appleseed""Finally, the cliche is
peeled away and the essence of this utterly American character is
so revealing. John Chapman comes alive here and it is a thrilling
experience to escape the specific gravity of the decades of
myth."-- Ken Burns
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