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Washington Irving (1783鈥�1859) is often considered America鈥檚 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 鈥淩ip Van Winkle鈥� and 鈥淭he Legend of Sleepy Hollow.鈥� As an essayist and teacher, Phillip Lopate identifies with Irving, inspired by his humane and elegant prose style, and by Irving鈥檚 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 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.

Delving into all that is likable and perplexing about the man once considered America鈥檚 most famous writer, A Washington Irving Sketch Book brings Irving closer to today鈥檚 readers, capturing the charm of his work and the vicissitudes of literary fashion.