An Analysis of Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Devil and Tom Walker Washington Irving was one of the first American writers to write any kind of fantasy story or writing. At first he tried to pass his stories as real life accounts found in a dead mans dresser. The start of one states that it is real and has been deemed so by collages and some museums. After he saw how much people liked his stories he published all of them in " The Sketch Book of Godfred Crayon, Gent.". This Collection became famous overnight. His stories were also successful in England and Europe. Most of his stories have many similarities and diff