"A Confederacy of Dunces"

(Reviewed by Judi Clark MAR 1, 1998)

Ignatious J. Reilly is the hero of this tragic-comical novel. Some hero. Ignatious is truly pathetic, arrogant and pretentious.  He regards and treats everyone and everything with haughty contempt. Whatever he does not outright disdain, he finds room for plenty of criticism (humorous at that). He sees himself as the "Don Quixote of the French Quarter." He still lives with his mother, spends his time writing his magnum opus and only finds a job after a series of events. First, at the Levy Pants Company where he eventually gets himself fired through his own folly and then, as a Paradise Hot Dog Vendor which turns out to be equally disastrous. Ignatious has a logic all his own. 

A Confederacy of Dunces bursts with original characters as it romps about New Orleans lower depths with zany scene after scene of high and low comic adventures. This is one of my top ten recommended must reads of all times.

• Amazon readers' rating: from 979 reviews.

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Bibliography: (with links to Amazon.com)

• The Neon Bible
• A Confederacy of Dunces (1980)

Special 20th Anniversary Edition:

• A Confederacy of Dunces (2000 - reprint)

Of Interest:

• Ignatius Rising: The Life of John Kennedy Toole by Nevels/Hardy (June 2001)
• Managing Ignatius: The Lunacy of Lucky Dogs and Life in the Quarter by Jerry E. Strahan
• Literary New Orleans edited by Judy Long
• Ken & Thelma: The Story of A Confederacy of Dunces by Joel L. Fletcher (2005)

 

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Book Marks:

• Walker Percy's Foreword to A Confederacy of Dunces
• Biographical information on Ken Toole's efforts to publish his book
• Reader's Guide for A Conferacy of Dunces
• Wikipedia page on A Confederacy of Dunces
• CurledUp review of A Confederacy of Dunces
• Metroactive Media on the movie The Neon Bible

 

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About the Author:

John Kennedy Toole committed suicide in 1969 at the age of thirty-two.  His mother found his manuscript and nagged publisher Walker Percy until he finally read it. This novel went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1981 and has sold over three-quarters of a million copies.