The Washington Irving Library: Ultimate Classics

by Washington Irving

Here the original, adult, complete versions of Washington Irving's most famous stories, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle, as well as lesser known but richly textured gems such as Kidd the Pirate, The Legend of the Rose of Alhambra, The Devil and Tom Walker, and The Spectre Bridegroom -- haunting, quirky, and astonishingly contemporary readings by Susan Anspach, Jamie Farr, Elliott Gould, Eleanor Mondale, John Rubinstein, and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

Genres: Classics

Audio Cassette

First published December 1, 1997

About the author

People remember American writer Washington Irving for the stories " Rip Van Winkle " and " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ," contained in The Sketch Book (1820).

This author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century wrote newspaper articles under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle to begin his literary career at the age of nineteen years.

In 1809, he published The History of New York under his most popular public persona, Diedrich Knickerbocker.

Historical works of Irving include a five volume biography of George Washington (after whom he was named) as well as biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad, and several histories, dealing with subjects, such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors, and the Alhambra, of 15th-century Spain. John Tyler, president, appointed Irving to serve as the first Spanish speaking United States minister to Spain from 1842 to 1846.

Reviews

[Robert Nagel]

I enjoyed the narrators of the Washington Irving stories especially Elliot Gould and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. They really made the short stories very colorful and engaging. They read the most famous tales, Rip Van Winkle, The Devil and Tom Walker, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I could have done without one story, Life Rural in England, basically talking about how there are gardens everywhere you go in the English countryside.

[Angie]

It's always interesting to read classics through a modern lens, particularly when those classics have spawned so many adaptations that the modern audience may be more familiar with than the original, in this case, Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.