Rating: 
Summary: Quite enjoyable
Review: This has to be one of the most bizzare collection of characters I have yet to run across. The characters and situations Toole conjures up are incredibly inventive, I only wish he'd lived to write more. If you don't enjoy this book you, sir, obviously lack taste and decency and should be flogged until you drop. Excuse me, I need to go clear my valve.
Rating: 
Summary: The Confederacy of Dunces
Review: This book is one of the funniest books that i've read in awhile, and I cant believe how disgusting the main character, Ignatious J Reilly is. You start out the story wondering if this guy is serious,and if he really acts this way, and by the end of it you know that yes, he does act this way, but you love to read about him. I found Ignatious to be one of those characters that you "love to hate", but I also just loved to read about what stupid thing he would do next, so although he disgusted me, I almost feel that I didnt hate him in the end.In fact at some points in the end of the story, I even felt sorry for him about the way that he was treated. I didn't give this book 5 stars for one reason: Ignatious and his valve. He constantly is talking about his "valve" which I think is one of the most disgusting things that he does, but is still quite funny at the same time. Following around Ignatious through all of his out-spoken encounters in New Orleans is so funny and I really enjoyed this book.
Rating:
Summary: What a "Toole"
Review: Toole's main character, Ignatius J. Reilly, in A Confederacy of Dunces is what makes the book so interesting. Although, Ignatius is unbelievably crude I found him to be very entertaining. He is a thrity-something year old living at home with his mother. He's had a college education, but doesn't have a job when you first meet him. Throughout the story, he took on several different jobs, including a filer at Levy Pants factory and a hot dog vendor for Paradise Vendors. At both of his jobs he caused problems. He also took notes in his Big Chief Tablets about all that he was encountering, some fact and some fiction.
The story is set in New Orleans,and involves several characters for example, Myrna Minkoff, Ignatius' ex-girlfriend; Patrolman Mancuso, Mrs.Reilly's friend; and Miss Trixie, secretary at Levy Pants. All of their lives are all very different, however, in the end all of there lives intermingle through one big scence involving Ignatius in the French Quarter. The book will catch your attention, and make you want to see what happens to Ignatius and the rest of the character's in the end.
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites!
Review: After my favorite english teacher told me this was his favorite book I decided to buy it. I put it off for a while reading other things and now wish I read it sooner because its so hilarious. I love the way Ignatius and his mother talk to each other most of all. The whole book is something you won't want to put down so this is a must read for anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: World's Longest Suicide Note
Review: If "Bridges of Madison County" is the world's longest Hallmark card, "Confederacy of Dunces" has to be the world's longest suicide note. Only someone trapped in the grip of despair could create a character, a character as near to being unredeemable as any other that I've found in literature. Perhaps Dickens's Uriah Heep comes close. At the end of "Dunces," I felt sullied, yet also sad. I feel as though I'd watched a crime take place -- no, several crimes take place -- and yet could do nothing to stop them. This book, along with "Foucault's Pendulum," perhaps the most pretentious book ever written, are the only two stories I've read that I cannot, in good conscience, recommend to anyone. Life really is too short. Having said this, any readers of this story, whether they liked it or hated it, might wish to compare it to either the comic burlesque novel "Gargantua & Pantagruel" or the play "Ubu Roi."
Rating:
Summary: News That Stays News
Review: Ezra Pound wrote that if you can keep going back to something and it has lost nothing, well then, you have Art of the first intensity on your hands. 'A Confederacy of Dunces' has this quality for me as does Widor's toccata: Symphony #5 op. 42 by a organist good enough to play it or Duvall's 'The Apostle', to name a couple of other masterpieces.
There are so many great reviews of 'Dunces' here that I won't even try. However, here's the thing, where I work [a retail chain store] we renamed 'Levy Pant', we have our Trixie, I have a sign above my desk: "Where you keep them motherf'ing broom?", maybe a sign: "Nice Wine....$3.99." when we have one on ad for $3.99. We have a Lee mother, If you shop at our store, one of our cashiers might make your change with something like, "Your change is 94 cent." etc. etc. So, I guess when a book alters the actions of your life, it must be pretty good. I know that on days when I'm feeling sunk, I can go back to it and it will snap me right out of it.
And ain't most of our corporations managed more like "Levy Pants" than anything else nowadays?
Rating:
Summary: absolutely hilarious
Review: I am so depressed now, after reading Confederacy of Dunces, I wish there were ten more novels telling about the life and adventures of Ignatius. Absolutely one of the best stories I have read in a while, I only hope the hollywood interpretaion does it justice.... in the world-view of Ignatius.
Rating:
Summary: Can't stop laughing -- Thanks again, Arte!
Review: Other reviewers have covered Toole's writing and the characters, but I have to praise Arte Johnson's reading of the audio version, now out of print. I got it ages ago, loaned it to a friend who misplaced it, and made her life so miserable that she bought me another copy. I re-listen every so often, and am currently doing so again -- at the risk of terrifying everyone on the 101 Freeway as I laugh and scream all the way to work! I'm curious about the new audio version and wonder about the movie that's been promised for years, but I never tire of Johnson's vocal characterizations -- from pompous Ignatius to the porter Jones, the gay man in the French Quarter, Mrs. Reilly, Miss Trixie, and the great Santa Battaglia -- they're all fabulous. ...I just talked myself into buying a used back-up copy. I won't lend the one I have until I do. This is a review of the abridged audio version (out of print).
Rating:
Summary: comic masterpiece
Review: This book is the greatest comic novel ever written, bar none. Imagine what John Kennedy Toole would have written had the publishing world not driven him to madness and, consequently, suicide.
Rating:
Summary: Funny, facetious, fantastic Ignatius
Review: This book is a gem. I can't describe how interesting it was to read. The main character of this book is the slob, bum, obese, yet strangely pedantic Ignatius Reilly. Ignatius is the protagonist of the story, and he is the whole mass of the story's bulk. We meet Ignatius in the beginning, described in a language that has yet to be emulated. We hear of his "supercilious blue and yellow eyes" and his mannerisms. From the beginning the reader will be entranced by this towering giant of a character. And the language that Ignatius uses! It's too good to be true. It's not English really. It's just Ignatius's language. That's one of the best things about this book. The way that the character's talk is one of the hallmarks of this book. It's what sets this apart. This quirky New Orleans story features hilarious depictions of characters in the debauche French Quarter (where Ignatius has many a wild adventure!). I am at a loss with words now, I think my valve is starting to close! If you never read this book, you will soon understand what I mean! I have no more words of wisdom save one: read.
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