Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion
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John Kennedy Toole
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John Kennedy Toole
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Katie ATX
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Dec 19, 2008 09:55AM
I find it fasinating that he died at such a young age (32, suicide) and that his books were not actually published until AFTER his death. I am about to finish Confederacy of Dunces and I had attepted a few times without ever getting very far, but I felt compelled to look him up. Now that I am almost finished with it, I'm glad I gave it another chance.
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Katie, my understanding is that Dunces was rejected by many publishers and it was Toole's mother who was successful in getting it published later after her son's death. Nice having a mother who believes in you. Glad you stuck with it! I think it's brilliant.
that's true.I believe the same is true with his other work, the Neon Bible.
Confederacy is definately a classic of American literature in my opinion and should get more attention than it does. The sad story of Toole is just another fascinating aspect of the overall story. I seem to recall that Toole's mother tried for several years to get it published and it wasn't until she finally harassed Walker Percy into reading it that she finally found a champion for it to get it published.
Yes, the side story of its publication is fascinating too. This work (Confederacy) is shaping up to be a great classic and is one of my all time favorites.
