Goodreads Choice Awards 2025
Bob Berry asked this question about A Confederacy of Dunces:
Do you think that Toole "pulls off" a the major black character without cartoonish stereotyping ?
Deb Of all the characters, Jones comes closest to subverting the cartoon by being acutely aware of the racism he is surrounded by. The dialect is cartooni…moreOf all the characters, Jones comes closest to subverting the cartoon by being acutely aware of the racism he is surrounded by. The dialect is cartoonish and offensive, but so is all the dialect. You don’t see many contemporary writers using dialect, perhaps because they realize it is distracting, often offensive, and just hard to pull off. The “cartoonish stereotyping” of all the characters is one of the reasons I did not enjoy the book. It just did not tickle my funny bone. (less)
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A Confederacy of Dunces
by John Kennedy Toole
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