{"product_id":"washington-irving-sketch-book","title":"Washington Irving Sketch Book","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA richly textured portrait of an American man of letters who came to exemplify the writer’s life with all its setbacks and triumphs\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWashington 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 \u003ci\u003eHistory of New York\u003c\/i\u003e, followed by his \u003ci\u003eSketch Book\u003c\/i\u003e, 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 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 while he may have been overrated in his day, he has since become undeservedly neglected. A lifelong bachelor, he was urbane, popular, and socially adept, mixing with royals as well as paupers, yet underneath it all he was a loner and a melancholic. Lopate describes how Irving constantly reinvented himself, first as a satirist, then a belletrist, at times a hack writer, and finally as a serious biographer of figures like George Washington and the Prophet Mohammed. Along the way, he explains why minor writers like Irving have their enduring fascinations.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDelving into all that is likable and perplexing about the man once considered America’s most famous writer, \u003ci\u003eA Washington Irving Sketch Book\u003c\/i\u003e brings Irving closer to today’s readers, capturing the charm of his work and the vicissitudes of literary fashion.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56759662739800,"sku":"9780691284439","price":31.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9780691284439.jpg?v=1771988474","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/washington-irving-sketch-book","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}