A Washington Irving Sketch Book: Reflections on an American Writer

A richly textured portrait of an American man of letters who came to exemplify the writer’s life with all its setbacks and triumphsWashington Irving (1783-1859) is often considered America’s first professional writer, supporting himself and his family amid the ups and downs of literary fortune.He burst on the scene with his uproarious History of New York, followed by his Sketch Book, a collection of personal essays and short stories that includes “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” As an essayist and teacher, Phillip Lopate identifies with Irving, inspired by his humane and elegant prose style, and by Irving’s courage and persistence in the face of setbacks and his own limitations as a writer. In this illuminating book, Lopate reflects on Irving and his extensive body of work through a series of warmly sympathetic sketches of his own.Irving was the first American writer to attain international renown, attracting such devoted fans as Charles Dickens and Lord Byron, and w