With a Good Heart: A Walk From LA to Brooklyn ($20)

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Twenty-five years after an epiphany in a barbershop, Tom Griffen finally began his walk across America. Lugging a heavy backpack and wearing a fresh pair of running shoes, Tom urgently dipped his hands into the Pacific Ocean, bid farewell to loved ones, then began an eastbound journey toward the opposite coast. Tom’s reasons for walking were largely unclear, but he was sure of one thing—he couldn’t wait for the chance to tell people he had walked all the way across the continent. Tom’s plans, however, were thwarted by a sidelining injury that spiraled him into an abyss of doubt and regret. Until one day he recalled an interaction with a man he met weeks earlier at a California crosswalk, which inspired Tom to reframe his reasons for walking in the first place. With a Good Heart details Tom’s journey across a trembling nation. It tells a story of unexpected kindness, human connection, and ultimately love and self-acceptance. BUY

Imagine the Sea: one hundred poems from a long walk ($15)

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In 2018, Tom Griffen walked across the United States. For 205 days and more than 3,200 miles, he carried one book—a tattered copy of One Hundred Poems from the Japanese by Kenneth Rexroth. Its translations of haiku and other classic forms shaped Tom’s daily dose of extreme solitude. Imagine the Sea’s simple poems and striking images capture the beauty of the mundane. It celebrates life’s humdrum breadcrumbs, joyous and devastating, as they propel Tom across America afoot. This collection is a companion to Tom’s memoir, With a Good Heart: A Walk From LA to Brooklyn. BUY