Customer Reviews

Washington Irving: An American Original

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Once I got into Brian Jay Jones' biography of Washington Irving, I couldn't put it down. And I will say that it didn't seem like an automatic winner. I knew less than nothing about Irving, whose name I associated with the Walt Disney version of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and with Rip van Winkle; that's about it. But now I feel I have been transported back by the scruff of my neck into the raucous, brawling and yet strangely elegant world of early America. An eager nurse trailed George Washington through the unpaved streets of downtown New York, and obliged him to stroke the tousled head of baby Washington Irving, guilt tripping him I suppose by saying that this baby was named after you, General! And thus it began, young Irving's vicarious association with nearly every president up until Abraham Lincoln (Irving finally died the year before Lincoln took office). Presidents I didn't even remember play in this fascinating story!

Brian Jay Jones speculates that we don't know, but that Irving at least in his youth might have had some sort of gay lifestyle, and I would agree, but after a wild youth his sense of fun seems to have disappeared in general, and the masks he invented early in life, the masks of the graying Diedrich Knickerbocker and the patrician Geoffrey Crayon, sort of froze onto his face right quick. And onto his genitals too? There doesn't seem to be one case of him actually having sex, but maybe people did things different back then? Maybe you could carouse around with your heavy-drinking bachelor friends till you were about thirty, having sex with them too, but that didn't count as a preference? Irving's talents changed over the years from the sly, anti-Jefferson provocations of his (faked) History of New York, to the mellow sounds of The Alhambra and Wolfert's Roost. He seemed fascinated by biography, and wrote lives of such disparate figures as Columbus, Oliver Goldsmith, and the prophet Mohammed (known then as "Mahomet"); even the teenaged "poetess" Margaret Miller Davidson came under his biographical gaze. He was a man of intense, if sometimes scattered curiosity, and many found him loveable. Brian Jay Jones excels at parsing out the strange passion the widow Mary Shelley conceived for Irving; this could have been a whole novel all by itself. He's good with people, the big and the small, the famous and the forgotten. Irving's encounters with his peers are especially well drawn; his infatuation with Walter Scott as a substitute father, a father of art; his rivalry with the firecracker James Fenimore Cooper; his kindness to the ambitious Edgar Allan Poe. When he meets up with Clark (from Lewis and Clark) on his trip to the frontier, it's like worlds smashing together, worlds of reference and power. And Jay Jones can also strip away the Victorian curtains of prudery which in the past have occluded our view of early Federal life; it is somehow reassuring to find Irving travelling through the hideous English pass through a mountain that his contemporaries called the "Devil's @sshole."

But he goes too far, I think, in his vocabulary which is continually anachronistic. The nurse who pestered George Washington is called a "presidential groupie." An entire chapter is called "Workaholic." At times of stress, he gets "burnt out." Then he has "a meltdown." Then he gets "a stalker of sorts." The Quarterly Review's attitude towards all things American? Snotty. Just a handful of dozens and dozens of tacky neologisms, slips into a modern, suburban vocabulary that somehow distort what one feels the real emotional experience must have been for Irving, by re-casting him and his life into sound-bites of pop psychology, while the real thing must have been fuller or at any rate more tentative than Jones gives it credit for. Reduce reductiveness, Jones, for otherwise your life of Irving is first rate.

I agree wholeheartedly with the other reviewers here that Jones's biography of Irving is well written, informative, interesting, and engaging. His style is light and airy and anything but academic, which is a good thing. My only complaint is his total disregard for the books themselves that Irving wrote, other than how hard he worked on them (especially near the end of his life) and a few comments on how they were received by the critics (usually very well except for a few, "Tales of a Traveller" and "Bonneville," for example, that bombed). "I have deliberately left literary criticism and analysis of his oeuvre in the capable hands of others," he writes in the preface. Brief summaries or simple mention of where Irving succeeded or failed in various works would have added to the significance of the biography. It's almost like reading a book about a great general but never getting any specifics about the battles he fought. Jones's biography is very good as far as it goes; if only it had gone a tad further.

This book is refreshing, original and well written. Mr. Jones' prose is vibrant and alive. Most likely, Mr. Irving would have been pleased--although perplexed as to why it has taken so long--that his writing and life are getting such literary care. Good job Mr. Jones.

From the first page, the author's style was engaging and informative. I learned more about Washington Irving than I had imagined could be written about a 19th century author. He lived an illustrous life, especially during his 17 years in England, and he was acquainted with a virtual who's who of that period. I am eager to share this work by Brian Jay Jones to my biography-loving friends and believe they will share my enthusiasm for the contents of the book, as well as the author's colorful usage of the English language.

I was eager to read this biography. Unfortunately, I found it impossible to finish the book. As both a composition instructor and a biographer, I was bothered by Jones's carelessness with terminology and lack of support for his assertions.

Jones claims that Irving was homosexual, then presents evidence which might, perhaps, indicate that Irving was bisexual. Jones presents as the clincher the fact that Irving's brother uses the word "orgies" to describe parties held by Irving's friends, completely ignoring the fact that Irving himself uses the same word to describe ladies' tea parties.

Jones also writes of times when Irving "almost certainly" had homosexual affairs with certain men, but gives little or no evidence to support this conclusion.

Further, Jones claims that, solely to get out of work, Irving convinced his family that he was sick and needed rest at a spa. Then Jones quotes an acquaintance in the next room as saying that Irving coughed violently all night. And later in the book, Jones reports that Irving was getting over his cough and weakness, a statement contradicting Jones's own judgment.

It's almost as though Jones wrote the book and then decided that it needed something startling, so he inserted these assertions, with little regard to what he had already written.

This could be a landmark book, but it needs work.

I looked forward to reading this biography of Irving. His Sketchbook was among the first "serious books" from my father's collection to attract my attention and I still have occasion to return to it. Jones provides much of interest on Irving's life but, like others, I found him at times careless with terminology and a little too quick to make assertions--particularly about Irving's sexuality--with little evidence to back them up.

That said, I did enjoy the book and am happy to see a boyhood hero get some attention which may attract readers who know little of his work beyond The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle--not that there's anything wrong with either story.

But more people should know Irving was not only our first man of letters, that his reputation did not come easy and he was an inspiration to many others, including Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville. I thought it appropriate his final work would be a biography of George Washington, his namesake, who gave the 5-year-old his blessing on the night of the president's inauguration.

"This new biography attempts to shift the focus from Irving's writings to Irving the writer," author Brian Jay Jones writes in his preface. Because of this, he warns, he has left out literary criticism and analysis. A bold decision, and the result is successful at presenting a human being, not just a byline.

Irving's public life was represented by his many pseudonyms and his true, private character has often been submerged because of this. Jones introduces us to the real Irving - a socialite who is under constant financial strain, avoids real work and responsibility, craves attention and approval, all while making drinking and socializing a priority. This biography reads quickly and its writing style is its most important attribute. Jones is not a academic and, because of this, the book is very accessible: its text flows like a quiet stream or a raging rapid depending on Irving's actions. At times, he's a hard man to follow as he hobnobs with bigwigs like Walter Scott, Lord Byron, James Fenimore Cooper, Martin Van Buren, Andrew Jackson, and various members of royalty, politics, and literature.

Jones does an excellent job at taking us through these scenes deftly and convincing us that Irving was a many-sided, complicated fellow. Jones does not apologize for Irving either, admitting that he wrote specifically for the popular audience and tried to balance his American sentiments with his British appeal. Reading the book, I experienced all of Irving's emotional ups and downs, and Jones occasionally takes advantage by tugging heartstrings and sensationally emphasizing heartache (as in the death of Irving's mother) - perhaps in a way that the sentimental side of Diedrich Knickerbocker would love.

The book also includes vital information on the politics and economics of the day, which certainly had an impact on Irving. It's almost shocking how Irving and his family find themselves involved (even if only peripherally) with some of the most important events in the early nineteenth century, be it the War of 1812 or the beginnings of Jacksonian Democracy. These bits of cultural context are, to me, incredibly important for understanding the development of Irving and his writing.

Jones also explores Irving's sexuality very matter-of-factly, stating throughout that the author's perpetual bachelorhood was due to homosexuality. He makes clear the people with whom Irving may have had relationships (including the painter Washington Allston) but does not provide ample evidence. Charged writings between Irving and his friend Henry Brevoort are also not convincing, as similar relationships between men were not uncommon during this time period. The discussion of Irving's sexuality is somewhat distracting (especially, as Jones presents, Irving also pursues women), but does not detract.

The chapters focus on only a couple years at a time - with the major exception being the first chapter, which crams 20 years into less than 30 pages. No complaints here, however, as Jones wants to emphasize Irving's career(s) rather than his childhood. I would note, however, that the chapters can be very, very long as Jones squeezes every last biographical detail out of the years each represent (one chapter can take you through several important incidents and even through several countries as Irving travels). It would have been easier on the reader if the book allowed a few line breaks within the chapters when a new theme was being addressed.

Truth be told, it was somewhat disheartening to read only casual mentions of "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," but to say that Jones does not discuss Irving's literature at all is untrue. The focus, however, lands on lesser-known works (at least, by today's standards) like "A History of New York" and "The Alhambra," in which Jones tells us Irving's intentions, his mindset at the time, the passion that drove him to write these works, and the public's response. Sure, there is no discussion of symbolism and psychoanalytic reasons - and the book is all the better for it.