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A Confederacy of Dunces

by John Kennedy Toole

3.84 · rating details · 56,818 ratings · 5,977 reviews

Meet Ignatius J. Reilly, the hero of John Kennedy Toole's tragicomic tale, A Confederacy of Dunces. This 30-year-old medievalist lives at home with his mother in New Orleans, pens his magnum opus on Big Chief writing pads he keeps hidden under his bed, and relays to anyone who will listen the traumatic experience he once had on a Greyhound Scenicruiser bound for Baton Roug...moreMeet Ignatius J. Reilly, the hero of John Kennedy Toole's tragicomic tale, A Confederacy of Dunces. This 30-year-old medievalist lives at home with his mother in New Orleans, pens his magnum opus on Big Chief writing pads he keeps hidden under his bed, and relays to anyone who will listen the traumatic experience he once had on a Greyhound Scenicruiser bound for Baton Rouge. ("Speeding along in that bus was like hurtling into the abyss.") But Ignatius's quiet life of tyrannizing his mother and writing his endless comparative history screeches to a halt when he is almost arrested by the overeager Patrolman Mancuso--who mistakes him for a vagrant--and then involved in a car accident with his tipsy mother behind the wheel. One thing leads to another, and before he knows it, Ignatius is out pounding the pavement in search of a job.

Over the next several hundred pages, our hero stumbles from one adventure to the next. His stint as a hotdog vendor is less than successful, and he soon turns his employers at the Levy Pants Company on their heads. Ignatius's path through the working world is populated by marvelous secondary characters: the stripper Darlene and her talented cockatoo; the septuagenarian secretary Miss Trixie, whose desperate attempts to retire are constantly, comically thwarted; gay blade Dorian Greene; sinister Miss Lee, proprietor of the Night of Joy nightclub; and Myrna Minkoff, the girl Ignatius loves to hate. The many subplots that weave through A Confederacy of Dunces are as complicated as anything you'll find in a Dickens novel, and just as beautifully tied together in the end. But it is Ignatius--selfish, domineering, and deluded, tragic and comic and larger than life--who carries the story. He is a modern-day Quixote beset by giants of the modern age. His fragility cracks the shell of comic bluster, revealing a deep streak of melancholy beneath the antic humor. John Kennedy Toole committed suicide in 1969 and never saw the publication of his novel. Ignatius Reilly is what he left behind, a fitting memorial to a talented and tormented life.(less)

Paperback, 394 pages

Published January 21st 1994 by Grove/Atlantic, Inc. (first published 1980)

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Community Reviews

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Sep 20, 2007

Nathan rated it

Recommends it for: People who think unreasonable whining is funny.

Shelves: books-i-hope-die, fiction

I know I'm out on my own on this one, but I detest this book. I really think it glorifies whining to an extent never before seen in the human condition. Everyone I know loves this book, and I know I am in a minority here. But Christ... That this book is so popular with people in my age bracket and not so popular with people older or younger really makes me wonder if it is part of the problem or a reflection of the boring, whiny apathy of my generation. But if this book has any redeemable aspects...more

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Apr 06, 2007

sarah rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Best friends, cool uncles

There are a lot of ways to judge people, but I find that opinion of this book is one of the most accurate and efficient. With very few exceptions, I've found that how much I like someone is strongly correlated with how much they enjoy the book. Is it their favorite book ever, omg? Well, they're probably either a best friend, a comrade whom I hold in worship-approximating esteem, or my cool cousin or uncle or something like that. Do they not "get" it or find it boring? You aren't my typ...more

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May 17, 2008

Michelle rated it

Shelves: novels, disappointments-and-or-sucked

I thought the book was ok. One of my old boyfriends recommended it to me, and while I was reading it I told him what an asshole I thought Ignatius J. Reilly was, and that I was sick of hearing about his valve. He got pissed off at me and told me that I didn't get it. He said Ignatius was a misunderstood genius stuck in a shitty town with no one who understood him. To be honest, my eyes kind of glazed over and I don't remember the rest of his rant, but I finished the book anyway. I think the most...more

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Jul 30, 2007

Gregory rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: my enemies if I had any.

This so-called "farce" and "classic" was more frustrating to me than entertaining. I dislike leaving a book unfinished and the only reason I continued to read it was the hope that my effort would get paid off in the end. Alas, no such reward awaited me. This further cemented my belief that the only reason classics are called so is because some committee agreed and the public thought the committee must be right. I'm afraid my lingering disillusion with this book prevents my ab...more

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Jan 15, 2008

Patrick rated it

Recommends it for: the pretentious and unpretentious alike

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. First things first: this book isn't quite the hilarious masterpiece everyone would have you believe. Is it funny? Yes. Is it smart? Unquestionably. Are the characters interesting and well-developed? I'd say yes. However, is it as funny and smart and are the characters as interesting and well-developed as people will tell you? No.

While reading this book in semi-public places, I had no less than 3 different people come up to me and tell me how hilarious the book was (why do people do t...moreFirst things first: this book isn't quite the hilarious masterpiece everyone would have you believe. Is it funny? Yes. Is it smart? Unquestionably. Are the characters interesting and well-developed? I'd say yes. However, is it as funny and smart and are the characters as interesting and well-developed as people will tell you? No.

While reading this book in semi-public places, I had no less than 3 different people come up to me and tell me how hilarious the book was (why do people do that anyway? Are they afraid I'm not going to get through it, so they feel the need to interrupt me and reassure me? Do they think my sense of humor is underdeveloped and I won't be able to see the humor myself, so I need to have the fact that the book is funny explained to me beforehand? Just leave me alone and let me read the book for myself!). I thought it was a very funny book, but it wasn't so exceptionally funny that I would walk up to a stranger while they're in mid-sentence and let them know that hilarity was about to ensue, if it hadn't already.

Ignatius J. Reilly is an unquestionably great character, and Burma Jones was quite good as well. But I felt that the rest of the cast were a little one-dimensional, existing mainly to set up jokes and the like. And as great as Ignatius is, his act does get a little repetitive.

Parts of the book's plot feel a little dated as well, such as the pornography arrest at the book's climax. Why was that illegal, exactly?

All that said, however, the book was a very enjoyable read. I liked it a lot, even if I didn't think it was quite the timeless masterpiece it is made out to be. I think the book benefits greatly from the author's mythology, as detailed in the introduction by Walker Percy (Toole wrote what he thought was the Great American Novel and was so devestated when he was unable to sell the manuscript that he eventually took his own life. His mother eventually found the manuscript, sent it to Percy, who read and loved it, and got the book published posthumously, where it received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction). Toole clearly regarded the book as great, and I'd suspect he had at least early drafts or outlines of a sequel detailing Ignatius and Myrna's exploits and travails in New York. To me, the obvious attempt of the books ending to create a 'series' of Ignatius J. Reilly books that never happened cheapens the book a bit, but that's probably just me. Overall, it is still a great book, if not the perfect comic novel.(less)

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Mar 20, 2009

Sarah Null rated it

Shelves: book-club, pulitzer, a-z-author-challenge, american-as-apple-pie, 1001-must-read, oh-my-nola, owned

Dear Reader,

Fortuna evidently was smiling upon my being when I endeavored to undertake the consumption of this philosophical masterpiece. How amusing to stumble upon a comic homage to Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy, an homage that not only mirrors its source of inspiration in both content and structure, but moreover employs said source as a plot device of the most humorous kind. Certainly it was no mere accident; indeed it must have been a result of afflatus imparted by the god...moreDear Reader,

Fortuna evidently was smiling upon my being when I endeavored to undertake the consumption of this philosophical masterpiece. How amusing to stumble upon a comic homage to Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy, an homage that not only mirrors its source of inspiration in both content and structure, but moreover employs said source as a plot device of the most humorous kind. Certainly it was no mere accident; indeed it must have been a result of afflatus imparted by the goddess herself in collaboration with the muses Thalia and Calliope. Oh, what genius has the world lost with the tragic demise of John Kennedy Toole?

Through his quixotic anti-hero, Ignatius J. Reilly, Toole is disposed to explore the ideas of predestination and game theory. Is Rielly a misunderstood genius, surrounded by intellectual inferiors and thus a victim of their nescience? Or is it his own distorted reality, paranoid delusions, and ineptitude that is the impetus of his misfortune? It is for you, dear reader, to decide.

I found the descriptions of New Orleans particularly diverting. Such a cast of eccentric and delightful characters could only be found within the borders of the Crescent City (or Stars Hollow). Like Proust's madeleine, the wonderful references to NOLA summoned to my mind memories of a happier, pre-Katrina time in one of my favorite municipalities.

I must say that the numerous references to various and sundry bodily emissions offended my delicate feminine sensibilities somewhat. Perhaps this was the plan of some devious alpha-male, to thus corrupt the otherwise sheltered and virginal innocence of my mentality. As Ignatius said, "This subject deserves the attention of a profound thinker who has a certain perspective on the world's cultural development."

(If any perceptive film producers are interested in buying the movie rights to this Review, I might here make a note about the filming of this critique. A song performed by The Preservation Hall Jazz Band would provide excellent background accompaniment. Perhaps the actress playing your humble reviewer could be seated at a table at the Cafe du Monde, enjoying a cafe au lait and plate of beignets.)(less)

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Aug 19, 2007

Adam rated it

Recommends it for: some people

Shelves: read-2007

People talk about this book a lot, and the story around its conception is one of those wonderful literary legends (genius unrecognised in his lifetime, manuscript submitted to random publisher by mother after his death, instant accolades for the latest Great American Novel, &c). So it's got a lot to prove right from the start.

Ignatius J. Reilly could easily have simply been a fat, grumpy, ignorant anti-hero, but there's something about the depth and complexity of the characterisatio...more

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Apr 15, 2009

mp rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

One fine morning Fortuna spun my wheel of luck and put me on a flight to NYC. The guy who was sitting next to me, refusing to indulge in modern day perversities like movies or music, pulled out his book and sat down reading. He must have been enjoying it immensely, because he kept laughing out loud every now and then. Pretty soon he realized that some people had started turning around to give him weird looks. Poor guy didn't have an option but to put the book down. But Fortuna, being the degener...more

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Dec 29, 2007

Mary Catherine rated it

I hated this book. I almost gave up after the first 20 pages, but I decided to stick with it and give it a chance. Wrong. My first instinct was correct!

The only thing that might have saved this for me was if the main character Ignatius faced a long, slow, painful death. There was absolutely nothing about him that I found redeeming or appealing. Has there ever been a more annoying, obnoxious character in literature? If so, I don't want to know.

I had heard that this was s...more

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Oct 24, 2011

Ian Graye rated it

Shelves: reviews, read-2011, exert-yourself

A Whiff and a Sniff and I'm Off

Well, I finished and I'm glad I persisted.
You know how dogs sometimes sniff each other for ages before deciding to hump?
I was like that for a few years before I read the book, but more importantly I sniffed around ineffectually for the first 100 pages and could easily have blamed the book for my lack of engagement.
I read the last 300 pages in a couple of sittings.
I had to get on a roll.
But once you commit, the book pulls y...more

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Nov 15, 2007

Lisa rated it

There is no denying that this book is funny. It's funny in a dated, written-in-the-60s-in-the-South way, but still just classic comic set-ups and timing -- it all ties together perfectly, and I really appreciate that. I guess my main problem with the book is I didn't find it to be anything other than hilariously funny and mildly offensive (women are drunks or nags or both! women activists are fools!). Everything I hear about this book is how funny but deeply sad and moving it is. No.

...more

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John R. A Cofederacy of Dunces.

“…an epic comedy”, “astonishingly good novel” “One of the funniest books ever written..”, “destined to become a cl...moreA Cofederacy of Dunces.

“…an epic comedy”, “astonishingly good novel” “One of the funniest books ever written..”, “destined to become a classic” These quotes pretty much tell it as it is. They are all from the back of the Confederacy Of Dunces, the Pulitzer Prize winner by John Kennedy Toole. This book is so strange and odd it is actually enjoyable to read, especially if you think your life is weird or if your not as smart as other people. This book gives you the chance to laugh at entire book full of odd characters. The book revolves around a very large and grotesque man, Ignatius J. Reilly. The begging of it gives you the idea and paints a picture of this large childlike man with a green hunting cap. The story splits up as you keep reading into many different side stories. One is a man who runs Levy Pants and how he has to work with an old lady who comes into work and just falls asleep. Another part is that of a manager who runs a night club but that you later find out that she runs more than that. This all happens in the city of New Orleans. The story itself seems to be a melting pot of every odd character you can think of. Everything from a huge lazy man who spends his days in his room laying n a bed of ”stained sheets” to a gay man who buys Ignatius’s mothers hat. This book is amazing in that you want to look away at times but at the same time you stayed glued the story and you cant help but wonder what crazy twit the book will lead you next and what new character for you to follow appears next. If this book had anyone that could be described as the hero or the person you just want to cheer on, it would have to be Mrs. Reilly. Just by reading the book you feel so much pity for a woman who is having to take care of her son who is a full grown, lazy, obnoxious man. You wonder how she can take it as he sits around the house in his room and always seems to end up in trouble when ever he does go out. As the books continues she finally seems to become a more controlled and stronger character as she finally makes Ignatius get a job and tries to teach him the value of money and that she cant support both of them or pay for damages they made. So eventually Ignatius finally gets a job at Levy Pants. Though this might seem like a breakthrough for Ignatius and a new beginning for the two of them you soon learn it is not at all what you would hope for. At his new job Ignatius sits around drawing crosses on sheets and when asked to alphabetize a drawer of folders he says “Ok” and when no one is looking he just tosses them in the trash. Later you discover if that wasn’t bad enough, he decides to try to take things into his own hands and tries to lead a worker revolt which ends up doing nothing but landing Ignatius jobless once again. Eventually one day Ignatius is walking down a street when he smells hotdogs being cook. The smell leads him into hot dog vender garage where he meets the owner who forces Ignatius to work for the hot dos he ate which does nothing since Ignatius goes down the street with a cart and eats most of them and makes up a story about a young man robbing him. As you can see this story is a huge malting pot of odd characters with odd stories. If you think about even though the story seems so strange it is a very accurate portrayal of what people are truly like. This book shows that John K. Toole is non-other than a brilliant author who can show you the real every day life of Americans, but not the one of fireworks, flags, hamburgers and apple pie. He shows you the America of white trash, strange people, hot dog vendors, hopeless job owners, and how New Orleans even though its one city shows how all of America is a melting pot of the best and the worst.

Good luck a Notre Dame Barwick.(less)
May 20, 2008 08:43am

Aug 10, 2007

Steve rated it

Am I being unduly harsh giving this a mere “It’s OK”? Maybe. To hear some people describe it (even people I usually correlate well with), this book is a laugh-scream riot. Hopes grow even higher when you hear the story about Toole’s mother who, after his suicide, finally gets the thing published, then sits back to watch the prizes pour in. What I viewed as a miss may have been because the bar was so high. It could be, too, that I’m just not predisposed to dysfunctional characters, all bloat...more

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Nov 28, 2007

Joe S rated it

Shelves: novels

What a colossal waste of my life. Nothing happens. Literally. That's what's wrong with this book. It's a freshman-level fiction workshop gone horribly awry. And it won what?

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Apr 01, 2008

Nathan Marshall rated it

A weird and wonderful book. Truly, I've never read anything like it. This novel has some of the crispest, most well-painted characters I've ever read, and although I wasn't "laughing out loud" as much as the reviewers on the back cover promised, it is definitely funny as hell, and a completely cringe-worthy story. The character of Ignatius Reilly will haunt me. We all know people like this -- the over-educated, miserable, socially dysfunctional outcast who is so cut off from the world...more

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May 07, 2007

Conrad rated it

Shelves: owned, abandoned, fiction

Ugh. Most overrated book ever. What a smug pile of overripe garbage.

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May 15, 2008

Mary Kate rated it

Recommends it for: Anyone with a sense of humor

Recommended to Mary by: BARWICK

A Confederacy of Dunces is a great comedic book with tremendous amount of detail that makes the reader feel as if they are actually set in the 1950s and standing on Canal Street, at the heart of New Orleans. John Kennedy Toole creates a believable scene, with landmarks such as Bay St. Louis, St. Louis Cathedral and real streets such as Canal St. and St. Charles Ave. These landmarks create a sense of comfort for readers who are familiar of the region. Toole was inspired by his own life while writ...moreA Confederacy of Dunces is a great comedic book with tremendous amount of detail that makes the reader feel as if they are actually set in the 1950s and standing on Canal Street, at the heart of New Orleans. John Kennedy Toole creates a believable scene, with landmarks such as Bay St. Louis, St. Louis Cathedral and real streets such as Canal St. and St. Charles Ave. These landmarks create a sense of comfort for readers who are familiar of the region. Toole was inspired by his own life while writing the book, which is another reason why A Confederacy of Dunces seems so descriptive and real. The theme of the book is the deceiving stereotypes of the 1950s including homosexuals, black Americans and obese Americans. Despite its nearly 400 page frame, the book is not only interesting, but it is subtly seductive, leaving you wanting more when it is put down.
A Confederacy of Dunces is about the seemingly ruthless protagonist, Ignatius J. Reilly who you can only feel sorry for. Ignatius has a master’s degree in medieval studies, but has no job. Instead, he lives with his mother in a small home in New Orleans, just like Toole did in his real life. A meeting of these characters plus Ignatius and his mother start the story off with an impact. Patrolman Mancuso tries to arrest Ignatius for looking suspicious, and ends up taking in Claude Robichaux, an older man and Jones, a black man. The story names many characters that seem unimportant at the beginning, but they end up having vital roles to the novel. They each have individual stories in the beginning, but somehow tie in at the end, which is one reason why A Confederacy of Dunces is such a Great American Novel.
After a peculiar night that consisted of Ignatius and his mother becoming intoxicated at a local nightclub, his mother crashes their 1946 Plymouth into a building off St. Anne Street. The damages of the car accident cost $1200, and neither of them currently have a job. John Kennedy Toole uses some of his own personal experience to help write the story. Ignatius gets his first job at a suffering men’s clothing warehouse: Levy Pants. Toole also worked at a men’s clothing warehouse, and wrote on the subject with personal experience. Other than the money issue in the Reilly household, Ignatius got the job to prove to Myrna Minkoff, his New York yuppie “arch nemesis”, that he writes every so often, that he is doing more than just sitting at home all day and making a difference in the world. Ignatius becomes very comfortable at Levy Pants, so at ease that he begins to conduct work for his own selfish comfort. He spends a lot of time making a sign at his desk and a cross that took weeks to complete. Ignatius explores the factory itself and begins to conduct a “Crusade of Moorish Dignity” against the administration. This fails and he is eventually fired.
His next job is at a hot dog vending company called “Paradise Vendors”. It is a failing small business that Ignatius only makes worse by eating more hot dogs than actually selling them. Toole reportedly worked in the French Quarter as a tamale vendor, so it is no wonder why the detail about the hot dog cart seems so specific. Ignatius meets characters along the way such as Dorian Greene: a rich, flamboyant, and mannered man who is persuaded by Ignatius into joining a new political party made up of homosexuals. Dorian is first introduced in this way to carry on the underlying theme of stereotypes that Toole sticks with through the entire book. Ignatius is only molested by three lesbian women, and kicked out of his own rally.
Other story lines go on in novel including Patrolman Mancuso receiving punishment for failing to bring in truly suspicious characters. He has to wear a different costume every day until he brings the sergeant a real suspicious character. Another story line is about Ignatius’s mother and Claude Robichaux’s romance and friendship with Patrolman Mancuso’s headstrong aunt named Santa Bataglia. The last story line is about Jones getting a terrible job at the same nightclub that Ignatius and his mother were when they crashed their car. Jones receives far below minimum wage for a hard working job, employed by a truly cruel woman, Lana Lee, that does pornography for high school kids as a side job. Jones tries to sabotage his boss, which causes her to delay her pictures deliveries until later, making the deliverer wait with the pictures longer than usual, having no choice but to store it in this fat man’s (Ignatius) hot dog vending cart.
Mancuso becomes the joke of all patrolmen, Mrs. Reilly and Claude strengthen their relationship while realizing that Ignatius might be a crazy communist, Jones suspects some funny business going on with his cruel boss, and Ignatius tries to keep his job while making Myrna “minx” Minkoff jealous. Ignatius by this time becomes a real famous name in the New Orleans society. Jones and Lana Lee want to know who this strange man is that is making such a wave in New Orleans. Ignatius finds the pictures in his vending machine wanting to know who it is, and tries to find her. All stories collide and a very unsuspecting ending occurs, which you can only find out once you read it.
(less)

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Dec 12, 2011

Paul rated it

Shelves: whats-all-the-fuss-about

Authors who commit suicide find their Lovelybones-eye view from the afterlife brings them no comfort:

John Kennedy Toole : Oh my God, if I'd only persevered for another year or so, I'd have been rich! Famous! Women would have wanted to sleep with me, maybe! Look at those sales figures! I'm so miserable! If there was only a way to commit suicide again up here again... but there isn't....

B S Johnson : Put a sock in it - your situation is, admittedly, redolent of a sublime ir...more

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May 09, 2007

ally rated it

i think i'm one of the few people in this world who didn't like this book. i really tried to read it, my dad and sister just raved about it - but i found myself bored and annoyed. it's one thing to not like characters b/c the author wrote them so brilliantly you actually have an emotional response to them, whether it be positive or negative, but with this book, i was just bored and didn't care about the characters. It was actually painful to read past one point. I absolutely could not read past ...more

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Aug 21, 2007

Brandon the Gentleman rated it

Recommends it for: someone I disliked

After hearing dozens of great things about 'A Confederacy of Dunces,' I figured I had to read it. And upon my third attempt at reading it, I did finish it. And I realized that I did not like it at all. There are a handful of humorous pages, but you have to suffer through 70 pages of tripe per one page of decency. Don't let the Pulitzer fool you. The only reason this novel was published was because the author killed himself because he couldn't publish it, and then his mother repeatedly sent it to...more

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Mar 07, 2008

Austin rated it

Recommends it for: People Who Enjoy Reading

Recommended to Austin by: Cheryl Albrecht

I'll be honest: A Confederacy Of Dunces probably didn't deserve a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

There, I said it.

BUT, this does not mean that you shouldn't read it, nor does that mean that it isn't as good as advertised, or that this is because of any deficiency in Toole's writing. This book is funny; probably funnier than most anything else you can find written by a dead Southern Writer who was never popular during his own lifetime.

For those who have neve...moreI'll be honest: A Confederacy Of Dunces probably didn't deserve a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

There, I said it.

BUT, this does not mean that you shouldn't read it, nor does that mean that it isn't as good as advertised, or that this is because of any deficiency in Toole's writing. This book is funny; probably funnier than most anything else you can find written by a dead Southern Writer who was never popular during his own lifetime.

For those who have never read it, there is no apt description that could ever give someone an idea of what reading it is like, and while the entire novel has an extremely cinematic feeling to the story (I'm specifically thinking of It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World), one is very quickly aware of the fact that, like so many good things in life, a movie version would reduce what is great about it to quips and nonsense.

The book is flawed, but it is flawed in a beautiful way that makes the author seem human, and the story something that could have come out of your own life if you would just sit down and write it. (I went to High School with a person exactly like Ignatius J. Reilly, right down the fact that he had a mother almost exactly like Irene.) While the story culminates in a Mad Mad Mad Mad World sense of finality in the penultimate chapter, the actual ending feels somewhat tacked on, and left me wishing I had stopped reading before I get there.

However, this should not stop you from reading it. The fact that it is not perfect endears you to it in a way that is well worth the investment. When Ignatius tries to organize a workers revolution to impress his old College Ex, you feel the same kind of sting that occurs only when making a stupid mistake for a partner. When he takes to wearing his pirate costume all the time - almost pathologically, and without any real reason given - it's like a constant reminder of all the strange OCD-esque habits you begin to develop that have no rhyme or reason to it either.

Ignatius is a fat, imperfect blotch on the skin of humanity, and if we look at him too closely, we can see the cracks in the surface as the artifice of the novel becomes all too apparent. Still, it is an incredible book, extremely funny, and if nothing else, a perfect character study of the kind of stupidly smart or intelligently dumb people that make up the bulk of our public interactions when things are just not going our way.(less)

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Jan 16, 2008

Eric rated it

Recommends it for: Anyone who has ever felt like the smartest guy in the room. Thomas Aquinas fans.

Quick, funny, engrossing, but am I the only one who felt the book could use a little "more"? Criticizing Toole seems to anger his fans and be somewhat akin to spitting on his tragically-departed soul, but even without my own Pulitzer I feel I can still point to certain areas and ask, "Whaaa?"

The characters are distinct and entertaining but not necessarily well-developed or understood. At times some just strike me as functional. It seems a shame because so many of ...moreQuick, funny, engrossing, but am I the only one who felt the book could use a little "more"? Criticizing Toole seems to anger his fans and be somewhat akin to spitting on his tragically-departed soul, but even without my own Pulitzer I feel I can still point to certain areas and ask, "Whaaa?"

The characters are distinct and entertaining but not necessarily well-developed or understood. At times some just strike me as functional. It seems a shame because so many of them have wonderful teaser personalities. I WANTED to know them better, but was often denied. There is a certain lack of exposition in the novel that struck me at times like I was reading a 400+ page play/screenplay. Action. Action. Action. With the exception of Ignatius and Myrna's letters, we don't often see substantive thoughts from many other characters. And I don't buy, "Because they're idiots!" Even idiots have thoughts, reflections, and it strikes me as yet another opportunity to get a laugh at their expense or maybe even bond with the more pitiful for a change. For example, with Patrolman Mancuso reflecting on his dreadful situation nearly passing out on the toilet.

For a novel that the forward dubbed a "commedia" the characters don't ALL have to be deeply engaging and relate to the reader, but the motivations of some fairly key people sometimes make you shrug your shoulders and say, "Whatever. Must be a New Orleans thing." Like Ignatius' mother. She's a character throughout almost the entire novel, and there's some attempt to make her grow, but it feels sort of kludged on for reasons I don't understand (except to provide some convenient excuses for more action, something we see time and again). Other characters are stagnant, or again, any development is almost always a plot device. Am I seeing things in the character issues, or are they really there in the book? Hard to tell when the work is so highly regarded. Few of the other characters grow, or at least only manage to change in minor ways. Even with Ignatius, what the heck is he doing at the end? It's not that I feel I don't "get" the ending, but with so many of the sidebars so creative that's what we're given as an ending?

The series of misadventures is funny, a fast read, and gives you what you can only assume is a good insight into the lunacy of New Orleans in that era. There are certainly deep elements like the parallels between the Consolation of Philosophy and certain geographic jokes/references about positioning in New Orleans. You've got your symbols, you've got some themes, all the elements of a great book are present... and yet... In the end, I wasn't left with a deeply satisfied feeling that I'd read a good story. I really enjoyed the book, but darned if I can summarize the plot or tell you what it's about. I read somewhere that the first publisher rejected it saying, "It's not really about anything." Having finished it, I tend to agree. Yes I understood Ignatius. Yes I've been in those kinds of situations. Yes there are times when I cringed noticing elements of my own thoughts in those of Ignatius. That makes him an excellent character, but does not leave the book 5-star worthy in my mind. "Confederacy" is a fairly conventionally-written novel and therefore caused me to expect certain conventional elements. When those didn't manifest I thought, "Huh? Then what was that all about?"(less)

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Aug 09, 2008

Joan rated it

Many claim it is the most valid depiction of New Orleanians ever. My favorite quote comes from Ignatius's extremely short tenure as a college teacher: "I could never have possibly read over the illiteracies and misconceptions burbling from the dark minds of those students. It will be the same wherever I work."
This from a professor who did not need to read the papers to know the most appropriate usage of them was to dump them "out of the window and right onto the students' h...more

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Aug 22, 2007

Clear_enGlish rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Majestic kooks, the misunderstood

Shelves: fiction, favourites, important-to-me

You great kook Mr. Toole.
Ignatius J. Reilly hit my world and went off like a "nucular bum"! The fallout is still in the air.
I wish we had been magnificent enough for you to stay, you left before we even got to know you; disappearing into the night like that... If only things had been different.
Since meeting Ignatius, you may like to know that Fortuna has spun my wheel again, this time I feel the cycle is definitely on the up!
I really appreciate this book.

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Jan 31, 2008

Amanda rated it

Hate, hate, hate this whole book. But I think I'm supposed to hate it--like the author actually wanted me to abhor the protagonist. Ignatius is gross. But I felt sorry for him in the end. Which makes ME feel gross. Ick. Blah. Hate it!

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Jun 20, 2008

Laura rated it

Shelves: american-lit

Easily the funniest book I’ve ever read. A masterful fugue of high and low comedy, the novel traces the exploits of Ignatius J. Reilly, thwarted author, philosopher, and medievalist, as he is tragically forced to divert energy from the writing of his magnum opus — a comparative history that will astonish a benighted world — in order to get a job. Interlaced through Ignatius’s epic employment journey (including stints as a hot dog vendor and filing clerk) is a cast of New Orleans eccentrics teete...moreEasily the funniest book I’ve ever read. A masterful fugue of high and low comedy, the novel traces the exploits of Ignatius J. Reilly, thwarted author, philosopher, and medievalist, as he is tragically forced to divert energy from the writing of his magnum opus — a comparative history that will astonish a benighted world — in order to get a job. Interlaced through Ignatius’s epic employment journey (including stints as a hot dog vendor and filing clerk) is a cast of New Orleans eccentrics teetering on the underbelly of humanity. Thwarting Ignatius at every turn are his nemesis, former classmate Myrna Minkoff, with whom he exchanges frequent and furious letters, and his antagonist, the hapless Patrolman Mancuso, who has the audacity to mistake Ignatius for a vagrant.

The minor characters are drawn with a riotous precision reminiscent of Dickens; actually, the way they all come together at the end in a sort of circuitous unity is even more reminiscent of Dickens. However, no character ever conceived could match the genius that is Ignatius. A more pompous, ungrateful, obnoxious windbag is hard to imagine, yet Ignatius captivates partly because he IS so appalling. I made the mistake of reading this on an airplane once, and people three rows away turned around to see who was shrieking. It’s the only novel that has brought me to actual tears of laughter. And appropriately so, as beneath every stream of comedy is an undercurrent of tragedy, and the world — even the motley world of New Orleans — holds no place for a uselessly over-educated, dysfunctional misfit like Ignatius.

It’s interesting to note that John Kennedy O’Toole committed suicide in 1969 without ever seeing his work published. His mother discovered the manuscript after his death and finally saw it published in 1980. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981. A few years ago I attended a panel discussion with several of O’Toole’s former colleagues and friends, who said some of the descriptions of Ignatius strongly resembled one of their colleagues. Someone in the audience asked if that colleague ever recognized himself in the work, and the friend replied, “Oh no — he’d never read this sort of novel!” In fact, neither would Ignatius.
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May 12, 2008

Jordan Neuenschwander rated it

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Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Jordan by: Chadwick Barwick

Before reading A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole my favorite novel thus far had to have been J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. Mr. Toole’s novel is full of vigor and life, quite an ironic statement being as how Mr. Toole took his own life at the relatively youthful age of thirty-two. A Confederacy of Dunces best fits into the category/genre of intellectual satire. Mr. Toole’s bold genius is quite prevalent throughout the narrative as he attacks his present, the 60’s, with Ignatius...more Before reading A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole my favorite novel thus far had to have been J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. Mr. Toole’s novel is full of vigor and life, quite an ironic statement being as how Mr. Toole took his own life at the relatively youthful age of thirty-two. A Confederacy of Dunces best fits into the category/genre of intellectual satire. Mr. Toole’s bold genius is quite prevalent throughout the narrative as he attacks his present, the 60’s, with Ignatius J. Reilly of New Orleans, Louisiana filling the role of main protagonist and common day leper, metaphorically speaking of course. Ignatius Reilly is the epitome of outcasts whom is best described as a lazy, unkempt, obese, feudal loving, and queerly loveable man. Ignatius is the heavily fortified vessel that carries this novel, without Mr. Reilly the foundation, of which a great novel has been forged upon, would surely crumble.
Regardless of the positive criticism of which I am showering upon the book there are still negative aspects of the book that need to be addressed. The main problematic issue that troubles me is the extent to which some of the characters, specifically Santa Bataglia (mother of patrolman Mancuso), Mrs. Reilly (Ignatius’ widowed mother), and Mrs. Levy (the wife of Gus Levy, owner of Levy Pants), have been developed in order to annoy me past he ends of sanity. These three bickering bimbos threatened my drive to continue reading the novel. They truly angered me with their unnecessary nagging, repetitive bibble-babble, and their idiotic assumptions to the point that I felt highly compelled to rip my hair out and physically express the extent to which my nerves had been shot upon another being. Now it may just be that I am a violent individual that needs to seek medical attention immediately, but I feel that I am not the only person of which has been affected in a similar fashion by this book. My second, and last complaint, for this novel is the sheer fact that every single character in this book will not be forgotten. This may seem to be an aspect of the novel that should be viewed as a positive but I interpret as a negative factor. This is due to the fact that I personally feel as if Mr. Toole has left his audience dangling I midair. Simply put the reader wants to know more about the characters than the book offers almost to the extent that the reader wishes to have a personal autobiography for Ms. Reilly, Claude Raubicheaux (angry old man that accuses everyone of being a comuniss), Jones (your stereotypical African American), Darlene (the aspiring striper), Dorian Greene (the stereotypical homosexual), Mr. Clyde (the owner of Paradise Vendors Inc.), Mr. Levy, Mrs. Levy, Susan and Sandra Levy (daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Levy), Ms. Trixie (the senile secretary at Levy Pants), George (the shady employee of an orphanage), Santa Bataglia, Patrolman Mancuso, Mr. Gonzalez (the obsessively dedicated office manager of Levy Pants), and the three lesbians inhabiting Dorian Greene’s place of residence (Liz, Betty, and Frieda). Not once did I glance at the book in order to procure the name or description for any of the characters listed above. Still this may be viewed as a positive aspect of the book but I personally felt somewhat offended that these colorful characters were only presented with little or no background information whatsoever. Hopefully I have not discouraged any potential readers of this magnificent work of art because truly the positives outweigh the negatives by a very large margin.
Personally, the most enjoyable experience I encountered while reading A Confederacy of Dunces was how the dialogue is so distinctly unique to each character. There really was no need for the common “this character said that indicators” such as “…said Ignatius.” or “…Jones quickly replied”. Each character’s style of speech fits them like a glove. For example Ignatius’ statements are easily identified by his unequalled fashion of intellectuality and complex metaphors that fill his speech. Coming in a close second as my most enjoyable experience of this novel is that no one is left unscathed by this book. The satire of this book has a personality of its own which spans across every individual personality type. Even Mr. Toole’s categorized personality of the rebellious, non-conforming artist is not spared.
I highly recommend this book to any whom posses the ability to read. This recommendation is coming from someone that is not fond of any form of reading whatsoever. It will change the way you view the world and yourself as a person. Read this book.
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Feb 13, 2009

Mindy rated it

Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Mindy by: ma Madame!

Shelves: fiction, funny-ha-ha

Final review: (Until I read it again, and oh I WILL read it again!) I LOVE this book. I love the New Orleans of it. I love the brutal satire. I love the sexuality of it that I didn't really pay attention to the first time I read it. And funny, my gawd, it's funny. And sad. And sweet. And inuriating. Just brilliant. What a great loss is Toole. Is there a biography of him? I'd really like to read that.

Feb 2009: Getting to reread this one now thanks to Sally! Yay!

May 2008: T...more

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Dec 29, 2007

Mister Jones rated it

One of the few books I've read twice or is it three times? There's just something about Ignatius that makes me rip a gut muscle laughing, and yes there's a tragedy to it all, but the humor wins out. The various characters and Ignatius's encounters with them, all make for a great novel. Hell, I love it.

Plus, I find the whole story of Toole and how the novel reached publication to be interesting.

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Mar 30, 2008

Kiersten added it

This book sort of made me hate people... more.

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Oct 17, 2011

Shane rated it

Ignatius J. Reilly is certainly one of literature’s unforgettable characters, and so are many of the supporting cast of this farcical morality play, written by a writer who committed suicide in his 32nd year, winning the Pulitzer posthumously.

Ignatius, a self-proclaimed genius, is lazy, opinionated, hypochondriacal, idealistic, flatulent and sexually scared, content to relieve himself with solo performances in his room. He is unemployed (and unemployable), lives in New Orleans with h...moreIgnatius J. Reilly is certainly one of literature’s unforgettable characters, and so are many of the supporting cast of this farcical morality play, written by a writer who committed suicide in his 32nd year, winning the Pulitzer posthumously.

Ignatius, a self-proclaimed genius, is lazy, opinionated, hypochondriacal, idealistic, flatulent and sexually scared, content to relieve himself with solo performances in his room. He is unemployed (and unemployable), lives in New Orleans with his harried and broke mother, and has an ambivalent relationship with his radical but sexually frustrated girlfriend, Myrna, who has run away to New York to start her own political movement.

On his mother’s threat of declaring bankruptcy, Ignatius gets a job at Levy Pants, a derelict garments factory that exploits its employees. Ignatius tries to organize the workers to demand for better working conditions in an event that turns into a nightmare and gets fired. He ends up pushing a hot dog cart around the French Quarter, eating much of the product himself. He is the quintessential messiah for the downtrodden, eager to pick up any cause that will ease their burden. In these days of Occupy Wall Street, his story takes on special significance and reminds us that nothing much has changed in labour relations. Surrounding him in his adventures is a motley cast, the confederacy of dunces: a hapless policeman looking for his first arrest, Mrs. Reilly’s new boyfriend who sees a communist around every corner, and the denizens of the Night of Joy, a derelict bar, whose proprietor Lana Lee is selling more than booze. Lana also has a love-hate relationship with her cleaner, Jones, who works for her for peanuts, fearing being arrested as a vagrant if he is out of work. There are also the Levy’s, the owners of Levy Pants, locked in their own love-hate relationship, and the ancient Miss Trixie, who is not allowed to retire from Levy Pants for Mrs. Levy believes that will hasten the old lady’s physical and mental demise.

Ignatius gets into some of the most bizarre situations and the book skirts caricature and contrivance in places – my only criticism. The author brings out the underbelly of New Orleans vividly and humorously, and the accents and prejudices are well displayed. Like a play, the scenes weave together fluidly with secondary characters taking centre stage the moment lead players make their exit.Certainly, a page-turner if you can stomach a gross, unhygienic and sometimes unsympathetic hero, who has the whole world conspiring against him, including his mother.

There is an ending reminiscent of the movie “The Graduate.” We are left wondering if Ignatius, now re-united with Myrna, and free of the confederacy, will step out of his comfort zone finally and have that one explosive orgasm with her that will restore him to normalcy and retire him from the pages of literature as one heck of an unforgettable guy! We shall never know, for John Kennedy Toole, like Ignatius, made a hurried and unexpected departure from the literary stage, much to our loss.
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About John Kennedy Toole

John Kennedy Toole was an American novelist from New Orleans, Louisiana, best known for his novel A Confederacy of Dunces.

Toole's novels remained unpublished during his lifetime. Some years after his death by suicide, Toole's mother brought the manuscript of A Confederacy of Dunces to the attention of the novelist Walker Percy, who ushered the book into print. In 1981 Toole was posthum...more

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Quotes from A Confederacy of Dunces

“I am at the moment writing a lengthy indictment against our century. When my brain begins to reel from my literary labors, I make an occasional cheese dip.” — 151 people liked it

“It smells terrible in here.'

Well, what do you expect? The human body, when confined, produces certain odors which we tend to forget in this age of deodorants and other perversions. Actually, I find the atmosphere of this room rather comforting. Schiller needed the scent of apples rotting in his desk in order to write. I, too, have my needs. You may remember that Mark Twain preferred to lie supinely in bed while composing those rather dated and boring efforts which contemporary scholars try to prove meaningful. Veneration of Mark Twain is one of the roots of our current intellectual stalemate.” — 65 people liked it

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