First published 2008
Washington Irving became America's first writer to live entirely by his pen when he shot to literary stardom at twenty-six with A History of New York, published under the name Diedrich Knickerbocker in 1809. The public devoured everything he wrote. His celebrity status made him friends with literary giants like Dickens and Hawthorne, and political powerhouses including Van Buren and Madison. Irving ranked among the most recognized figures globally. Yet behind his polished public image lay a different man entirely. Brian Jay Jones strips away the glossy reputation to reveal Irving's private anxieties about finances and career security. The biography exposes his battles with creative paralysis and his calculated efforts to manage his literary brand. Jones constructs a portrait that captures both Irving's brilliant public success and his very human frailties, showing how America's first literary celebrity navigated the gap between his sparkling reputation and his personal insecurities.
Genres: biography, literary-fiction, 20th-century, american, 19th-century
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: literary-celebrity, public-image-vs-private-life
Setting: America
Period: 19th Century
456 pages · Hardcover · Arcade Publishing