Isaac Fitzgerald

Pen & Ink and Knives & Ink

Fitzgerald has published two books about tattoos, both of which he co-wrote with the illustrator Wendy MacNaughton. The books describe the stories behind people's tattoos, collected and edited by Fitzgerald, with MacNaughton drawing illustrations of these tattoos.

Michigan Quarterly Review described Pen & Ink: Tattoos and the Stories Behind Them (2014) as "a strikingly illustrated, curated showcase of tattoos," whose backstories "detail heartrending tragedies, funny accidents, and all manner of circumstances in between."

Fitzgerald and MacNaughton published a sequel in 2016, Knives & Ink: Chefs and the Stories Behind Their Tattoos.

Dirtbag, Massachusetts

Fitzgerald's memoir, Dirtbag, Massachusetts, describes his tumultuous upbringing in the small town of Athol, in north central Massachusetts. He writes about his use of drugs and alcohol from an early age, his time at Cushing Academy and later George Washington University, from which he graduated in 2005. The book goes on to explore his early adulthood, including his move to San Francisco, his work as a bartender, pornography actor, and volunteering for a missionary group, Free Burma Rangers, in Thailand and Myanmar.

The memoir consists of a collection of essays, not all of which are in chronological order. The Boston Globe reviewed the book positively, describing its stories as "worth hearing and thinking about, even if, like life, it's sometimes messy and out of order."

A review of Dirtbag, Massachusetts in The New York Times described the book as being "about the ways men struggle to make sense of themselves and the romance men too often find in the bottom of a bottle of whiskey," comparing it to works by Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, Richard Price, and Pete Hamill. The San Francisco Chronicle called the book "painfully honest but sincerely funny," and that his stories "resonate as a modern look at what it’s like to feel lost in America."

The book won the 2022 New England Book Award for Nonfiction and the 2023 NAIBA (New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association) Nonfiction Book of the Year.

American Rambler Fitzgerald's fifth book, American Rambler: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed, was released May 12, 2026 by Knopf. The book became a New York Times Bestseller and received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews.

"What we learn about the real Appleseed is fascinating... What Fitzgerald learns about himself and the state of the nation is more compelling still, with all their triumphs and tragedies. 'Blue Highways' with hiking boots, and a grand entertainment for travelers real and armchair." —Kirkus Reviews

Works