The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories by Washington Irving (9780143107538)

Description - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories by Washington Irving

Perhaps the marker of a true mythos is when the stories themselves overshadow their creator. In the 21st century, Washington Irving's name is generally followed by the same, shopworn honorific--"father of the American short story"--while his best-known inventions continue to roar with life, regularly appearing in movies and TV shows. This serves only to illustrate the author's genius- Irving was the first to give America its own mythology. He constructed a legendary past for a country that many of his peers had dismissed as too young to have a history, and too green for ghosts.
Irving's great work, The Sketch Book, written under the pseudonym Geoffrey Crayon, is a kitchen-sink read- part travelogue, part story anthology, part personal essay. With the help of fictional Dutch historian Diedrich Knickerbocker, it is here that readers discover Rip van Winkle, the Dutch colonist who slept through the Revolutionary War, Ichabod Crane, the superstitious, social-climbing schoolmaster, and the pumpkin-topped Headless Horseman, spirit ancestor to countless horror film antiheroes. All these larger-than-life figures inhabit the dreamy Hudson River Valley, a place where bewitched mountains and buried secrets are everyday events. In addition to "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle," The Sketch Book touches on cultural and historical concerns that remain fresh and compelling, thanks to Irving's surprisingly modern outlook and impressive foresight.

This new edition, with an introduction from Irving expert Elizabeth L. Bradley, demonstrates how inextricably and meaningfully Irving's writings are woven into the fabric of American culture both high and low. As Ichabod and Rip find themselves again in the culture spotlight, this edition will strive to infect a new generation with fervor for Washington Irving and to celebrate his enduring contributions to the dream life of a nation.

The timeless collection that introduced Rip Van Winkle, Ichabod Crane, and the Headless Horseman

Perhaps the marker of a true mythos is when the stories themselves overshadow their creator. Originally published under a pseudonym asThe Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon,Gent.,The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Storiesgave America its own haunted mythology. This collection of larger-than-life tales contains Washington Irving's best-known literary inventions-Ichabod Crane, the Headless Horseman, and Rip Van Winkle-that continue to capture our imaginations today.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators.

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