Episode 826: Washington Irving with Phillip Lopate

At the time of Washington Irving's death, he was the most famous and widely praised American writer of his or any other era. But his reputation soon dwindled, and today he's known primarily as the author of just two stories ("The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle"), while his groundbreaking works of history, biography, and essays are barely known.

In Episode 826, Jacke talks to essayist Phillip Lopate about his book A Washington Irving Sketch Book: Reflections on an American Writer, in which Lopate pays tribute to the life and works of a nineteenth-century kindred spirit.

For more about Washington Irving, take a listen to Episode 809, in which Jacke talks to Washington Irving expert Elisabeth Paling Funk about her book The Dutch World of Washington Irving: Knickerbocker's History of New York and the Hudson Valley Folktales, which tells an alternative origin story of American literary culture.