JIM HENSON (FORTHCOMING)
Brian is thrilled to be working on the first biography of the legendary Jim Henson, with the generous cooperation of the Henson family and the Jim Henson Legacy. The book will explore Henson’s life and work, including his days as an early TV pioneer, innovative artist and businessman who created a whole new way to present puppetry in a popular art form for television and motion pictures. It will also cover Henson’s famous creations, such as The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock and his important contribution to the development and success of Sesame Street, and describe his groundbreaking artistic and technological work that continues to this day.
The book will be published by Random House/Ballantine.
More information will be provided as it becomes available.
WASHINGTON IRVING: AN AMERICAN ORIGINAL (2008)
Winner of the St. Nicholas Society’s Medal for Literary Excellence
“Charming.” — New York Times
“Definitive.” — Providence Journal
“Engaging.” — The Washington Post Book World
“Authoritative.” — Associated Press
The definitive biography of the author of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip van Winkle,” quintessential New Yorker, presidential confidant, diplomat, lawyer, and endlessly fascinating charmer.
The first American writer to make his pen his primary means of support, Washington Irving rocketed to fame at the age of 26. In 1809 he published A History of New York under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker to great acclaim. The public’s appetite for all things Irving was insatiable; his name alone guaranteed sales. At the time, he was one of the most famous men in the world, a friend of Dickens, Hawthorne, and Longfellow, as well as Astor, van Buren, and Madison. But his sparkling public persona was only one side of this gentleman author.
In brilliant, meticulous strokes Brian Jay Jones renders Washington Irving in all his flawed splendor – someone who fretted about money and employment, suffered from writer’s block, and doggedly cultivated his reputation. Jones offers as never before a very human portrait of the often contrasting public and private lives of this true American original.
