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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Writings (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) [NOOK Book]
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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Writings, by Washington Irving, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:
All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.
The first great American man of letters, Washington Irving became an international celebrity almost overnight upon publication of The Sketch Book in 1820, which included the short stories The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and Rip Van Winkle.” These two tales remain his crowning achievement, but in addition to being a writer of short stories, Irving was also an acclaimed essayist, travel writer, biographer, and historian.
This volume showcases Irving’s best work across a variety of genres, including whimsical newspaper articles about New York society, the theater, and contemporary fashions; charming travel pieces that evocatively weave together history and legend; humorous stories and satirical essays from The Sketch-Book and its sequel Bracebridge Hall, and excerpts from A History of New York, considered the first great American book of comic literature. The author’s success enabled him to earn a living by writing alone, unheard of for an American at that time.
Irving’s energetic, often tongue-in-cheek prose style, together with his ability to blend roguish satire, pathos, and picturesque description, had a profound influence upon the popular culture of his day. His writings have become a cornerstone in the foundation of the American literary tradition.
Peter Norberg received his Ph.D. from Rice University in 1998. Since 1997 he has been Assistant Professor of English at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. A specialist on the writers associated with the transcendentalist movement, he has written and lectured extensively on Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, and the critical reaction to transcendentalism in the writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe.
From Peter Norberg’s Introduction to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Writings
In April 1789, George Washington arrived in New York City for his inauguration as the first president of the newly formed republic of the United States. He met with a hero’s welcome. In the weeks that followed, well-wishers and admirers regularly approached him in the streets, among them a Scottish-born woman who cornered him in a shop on Broadway. Drawing before her a six-year-old child, she exclaimed, Please, Your Excellency, here’s a bairn that’s called after ye.” It was Washington Irving. In retrospect, the scene seemed prophetic. Later in life, after having established a reputation as the first American man of letters, Irving recalled in an interview how Washington laid his hand upon my head, and gave me his blessing.” Three generations after the Revolutionary War, George Washington was revered as the father of our country. Irving likewise was recognized as a founding father of America’s national literature.
Such a title might strike today’s reader as an exaggeration. Irving’s best-known characters, Rip Van Winkle and Ichabod Crane, do not seem substantial enough to serve as foundational figures in an American literary tradition. However, the stories Irving set in Sleepy Hollow, a secluded village in the Hudson River Valley, provided American culture with a local habitation and a name. Along with James Fenimore Cooper and William Cullen Bryant, Irving was one of America’s pioneer writers. He helped sketch the contours of a cultural landscape that was unique to the United States, not a pale imitation of the literature of England and Europe. Sleepy Hollow is an early example of American authors self-consciously setting out to create an imaginative space for artistic creativity. Nathaniel Hawthorne described this sort of space in his introduction to The Scarlet Letter as a neutral territory, somewhere between the real-world and fairy-land, where the Actual and the Imaginary may meet, and each imbue itself with the nature of the other.” By providing such a neutral territory” for his readers, Irving contributed to the new nation’s efforts to generate a collective cultural memory from native sources.
Anonymous
Posted February 1, 2007
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is not only a good premise for a Disney cartoon or a Johnny Deppy film, it's also a fantastic and carefully nuanced tale of the dealings and deceptions in an isolated community in Upstate New York. Washington Irving conveys just the right amount of humor and mystery and you cannot help but feel that he is laughing at you the whole time. It's a short novel, but as you finish the last line, you'll find yourself closing the book with a shiver and a smile.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 27, 2007
Some may find this book too scary for their children, but, believe me, it's an American classic that shouldn't go unread by any child.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 24, 2010
Sorry folks, but I've hunted all over this morning for the 'legend' and I keep getting all the 'Other Writings', they are fine, but all I want is the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Where is it? I don't like feeling so stupid but I've checked here and there, though not every one of the 485 pages, read a lot of the chronology, synopses of other writings, etc. but so far I haven't found "the legend". Good luck...
1 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 17, 2012
I read the free sample and i liked it so far
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I read this after seeing the Tim Burton movie, and it satisfies what i thought was missing from the film. It of course has the great original romantic era feel to it, and also the simplicity that doesnt need more to be better. The horseman is smart, and toys with Ichabod before assaulting him. There is the ambiguity that Bram as had his fun in getting rid of his competition. A classic that should be revered as much.
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Posted October 2, 2011
I liked the part where Ichobod's students were searching for him after his run in with the headless horseman.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.pizzalover99
Posted August 10, 2011
Happy
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted June 11, 2011
Irving+was+an+American+great.+Ignore+the+reviews+that+say+Sleepy+Hollow+isn%27t+included%2C+it%27s+clearly+listed+under+%22Selections+from+the+Sketch-book%22.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 29, 2011
You can find this story on page 172...
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Was looking forward to reading this. Can't seem to find any Legend of Sleepy Hollow in this one.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 7, 2010
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Posted November 27, 2011
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Posted August 18, 2011
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Posted April 8, 2011
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Posted July 2, 2010
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Posted July 21, 2011
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Posted March 1, 2011
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Overview
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Writings, by Washington Irving, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:
All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of ...