Washington Irving: An American Original

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 publics 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 sufferedfrom writers 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.