Washington Irving
Subtitle: An American Original
Publisher: Arcade Publishing; Arcade Pub.; Distributed by Hachette Book Group USA
Published: January 4, 2008
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 456
ISBN-13: 9781559708364
Subjects: General; Biography & Autobiography / General; Biography & Autobiography; Biography / Autobiography; 1783-1859; 19th century; Authors, American; Biography; Irving, Washington,; Biography/Autobiography
Description: Product Description: The first American writer to make his pen his primary means of support, Washington Irving rocketed to fame at the age of 26. In 1809 he published A History of New York under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker to great acclaim. The public's appetite for all things Irving was insatiable; his name alone guaranteed sales. At the time, he was one of the most famous men in the world, a friend of Dickens, Hawthorne, and Longfellow, as well as Astor, Van Buren, and Madison. But his sparkling public persona was only one side of this gentleman author. In brilliant, meticulous strokes, Brian Jay Jones renders Washington Irving in all his flawed splendor-someone who fretted about money and employment, suffered from writer's block, and doggedly cultivated his reputation. Jones offers as never before a very human portrait of the often contrasting public and private lives of this true American original.
Table of contents: title: Preface; title: Gotham (1783-1804); title: Traveler (1804-1806); title: Salmagundi (1806-1808); title: Hoax (1808-1810); title: Adrift (1810-1815); title: Desperation (1815-1817); title: Determination (1817-1818); title: Sensation (1819-1921); title: Rut (1822-1825); title: Workaholic (1826-1829); title: Politician (1829-1832); title: Frontiersman (1832-1834); title: Sunnyside (1834-1842); title: Minister (1842-1846); title: Icon (1846-1859)