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Summary: trailer trash Don Quixote
Review: This book is a combination of slapstick and the driest humor imaginable. It's a "Spinal Tap" for the well read and over-educated.
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Summary: Yes, it is that good
Review: To respond to some of the less than enthusiastic responses to this novel, to each his own. But it is very difficult to understand how anyone can read this masterpiece and not laugh out loud. It is that funny. No book before or since has been able to capture the dialogue and situations that Toole did. It is a shame he took his own life, but he left behind some of the best writings in American history. Im very serious. This is a comic masterpiece is every way.
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Summary: Did I really read the same book as these other people?
Review: Based on the reviews contianed at this web site, I bought this book as a summer read.While the characters are fascinating, the humor is practically non-existant. It seems that this book has become a sort-of "cult classic". And like most cult classics, it's really not as good as most people make it out to be. I mean, is the Rocky Horror Picture Show that good? No. But it is a cult classic. There are indeed some colorful characters in the French Quarter and in this book, and Toole captures their idiosyncratic behavior pretty well. And he does an exceptional job of capturing the language spoken by the locals. But to call this collection of semi-humorous vignettes a comic masterpiece is a cruel hoax on readers. In my opinion, this is another example of a person becoming famous for his work by dying, preferably in a tragic (Toole commited suicide) way. To qoute another reviewer, "This is an example of how a nondescript work can become so inflated by the great American hype-machine as to finally emerge as some sort of accepted masterwork, never to be equalled, unparalleled. I'm surprised Toole wasn't posthumously awarded the Nobel as well." Fortunately, the Nobel prize is never awarded posthumously.
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Summary: My Favorite Book
Review: This book is fantastically funny. It gets funnier every time you read it. It is a serious shame that this writer only put out two books. I find myself ready for more of his books, but unfortunately he is gone.
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Summary: Not what I expected, but fun(ny) nonetheless.
Review: This book was recommended to me by a highly intelligent person who previously had turned me on to "Atlas Shrugged" and "the Fountainhead." So when she told me about a novel entitled "A Confederacy of Dunces," I envisioned the story of a rugged, heroic individualist's trek to find worthy comrades in the world. This thought was reinforced by the Jonathan Swift quote on the opening cover page- "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign- that the dunces are all in confederacy against him." Was I ever shocked to discover that this "genius" would be Ignatius J. Reilly, scumbag-at-large- and that the whole book is merely a play on the hero theme and a delve into the psyche of a man who believes himself to be misunderstood, but who is in fact just a loser. Ignatius Reilly is an overeducated, underworked, completely unhygienic slob whose musings about the world and arcane references to the Fortuna-worshipping, Roman chronicler/philosopher Boethius underscore his superiority complex. Graduate school has not prepared Ignatius very well for the job market, and his main purpose in life is to earn just enough money to a) keep his mother off his back (he gets his first job at age 30) and b) pay admission to the movies so that he can jeer the latest Debbie Reynolds flick. Of course, the world of employment will also prove to be a treasure chest of material for Ignatius's treatise on the history of the world (whose thesis is that we were better off as medieval serfs), a work which will finally vanquish his nemesis (or is she?), the hippie Myrna Minkoff. The workplace misadventures are wilder than any I've heard in life and hysterically funny... you may never trust the new employee with your filing again. Also, I always take a second look at the Shea Stadium hotdog vendors before buying one these days. Jones made me crack up, and Miss Trixie is hilarious, especially in that I once worked with a woman who must be her twin sister, separated at birth. Say what you want about the book's candidacy as a literary classic, but it made me laugh (out loud, and in a public place), made me think, and drew me in deeply enough to constantly curse at Mrs. Levy, the woman who thinks that enrolling in (and failing) a correspondence course in psychology qualifies her as an expert on human behavior. Overall, it's a good book which I will read again. I recommend it to anyone with enough intelligence to realize that humor can still be very funny without being highbrow.
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Summary: Exceptionally written comical genius...
Review: John Kennedy Toole killed himself because nobody would publish this book. His efforts had gone unnoticed, thought he; he was a failure. History proves him wrong, as we have seen A Confederacy of Dunces go on to win the Pulitzer and has reached and entertained countless readers. The book itself is sheer genius, as was the man behind it. There is not a moment where this book lags. Every sentence keeps popping fresh bubbles. The imagery is hilarious and the word choice and sentence structure is exquisite! Some parts of the book make you laugh outright at the sheer insanity of the writer's humor. The characters seem to come alive as you read. Ignatius Reilly is a 300 lb. lovable goof who lives with his mother. Throughout the book, we see him combatting every thing and every person he encounters. He is a martyr to non-conformity and to his ego. Very set in his ways, he goes from job to job, angering people to the point of insanity! Yet, he simply doesn't care. His poor mother! All you think about during this book is what will Ignatius do next? John Kennedy Toole was a also martyr, not only to his art but, like Ignatius Reilly, also to his own ego. He breathed life into his characters and it was too much for him to bear that nobody could see them alive and performing right before our very eyes, and so the tragedy occured which planted the seed for a generation of readers to harvest his great humor and style. While he is not alive to reap the benefits he so desired, the book is a gift to a multitude of readers. One can only hope that the John Kennedy Toole's of today are not overlooked.
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Summary: Top Five
Review: This is one of my Top Five books of all time. I first read this book in High School and have been giving it as gifts and harrassing people to read it ever since. It is such a fresh story, so different from anything I've ever read. It is entertaining, and tells several different stories which all tie in together at the end like some sort of miracle. It is one of those books that each time you read it there is something new you missed. It is hilarious, but also sad, because the book is haunted with the memory of John Kennedy O'Toole, who took his life while still very young.
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Summary: A great and enjoyable book
Review: I'd heard this book described as social satire told from the perspective of an educated man reduced to selling hot dogs on the streets of New Orleans' French Quarter. I knew the author committed suicide and I was expecting bitter commentary on the absurdity and corruption of the world that later drove him to it. I was very pleasantly surprised. CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES is NOT a suicide note. It's actually rather gentle at times. Despite undertones of desperation and tragedy, it presents a world in which even misfits have their role because the chaos surrounding them is necessary to disrupt complacency and pretense. It's more a New Orleans novel than a French Quarter novel. The quixotic hero, Ignatius Reilly, lives uptown with his mother in a middle class neighborhood. His pathetic pre-hot dog employer, Levy Pants, is in industrial Bywater. Both those environments receive comic examination along with the French Quarter. There is a delightful complex of subplots involving a well-intentioned policeman, a neglected business, a pirate costume and Ignatius' enthusiasm for founding outlandish political movements. Almost every character introduced gets a larger role. Ignatius' shortcomings are as serious as those of the people complicating his life and suspense arises from concern that he will be ruined when the various subplots' inevitably collide. However, there are also surprise saviors here. The gay party in the French Quarter is the weakest part, constructed from once daring stereotypes that now seem dated and narrow-minded. This slows the novel's last half somewhat but not enough to wreck Toole's narrative. Don't let phrases like "literary masterpiece" put you off. (It is that- there's some G. B. Shaw, Jonathan Swift and especially Oscar Wilde behind this, I think.) It's a great book because it's the work of a master storyteller. This tale can capture anyone.
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Summary: If you enjoy the wacky people on Seinfeld...read this!
Review: He's obnoxious...he's opinionated...he's dysfunctional...yet under it all he is brilliant. Who is he? He's Ignatius J. Reilly, the absurd modern day philosopher who's mission is to crusade for moorish dignity and to teach the human race his worldview. One evening in New Orleans, Ignatius and his dim-witted mother go to the Night of Joy Bar for a few drinks. On the way home, with Ignatius riding in the back seat of their 1946 Plymouth and a tipsy Mrs. Reilly behind the wheel, they crash into a building leaving it damaged and the owner furious. Mrs. Reilly is liable for payments yet has no money. The solution? She demands that her over-weight unemployed 30 year old son Ignatius, who has never held down a job get one. Reluctantly, Ignatius hits the streets of New Orleans in search of employment. When he gets his first job working in the office of Levy Pants Factory he describes himeself in his journal as a pacifist working boy. When chaos strikes around every corner, you know Ignatius is there. First he gathers all the factory workers at Levy Pants to stage a protest against poor working conditions. Things get out of hand, a short-lived riot ensues and Ignatius's big plan backfires. He gets fired from his job and is then forced to make a living as a hot dog vendor. His mother becomes very distraught that her beloved son must stoop to, "selling weenies." One mishap after another happens as the new weenie man comes into contact with the vivid characters that rome the french quarter of the city. I admit, I was a bit skeptical when I first picked up this book. It took a few chapters before I really got absorbed but then...WHOA! The wild storyline took off like an F-14 Tomcat cruising down the runway for a takeoff. What really makes this novel so original and comical is its colorful array of characters. There is Miss Trixie, the senile secretary for Levy Pants who refers to Ignatius as Gloria. There's Mrs. Levy, whom believes she is the next Sigmund Freud because she took a correspondence course in psychology. Also there is policeman Mansuco, a rookie cop who is assigned to work undercover in the streets of the city wearing outrageous costumes. Let's not forget Myrna Minkoff, Ignatius's female friend from college who now resides in New York City and corresponds regularly with him. Myrna is a sex-crazed hippy who is given to anti-government protests and whose ultimate goal is to see Ignatius lose his virginity. The list of lively people that cross Ignatius's path is too ample to state. Ignatius even befriends a homosexual man and unknowingly finds himself at a gay party that he thinks has been organized as a new political movement to spread his philosophical cause. All in all, this bustling novel is definitely worth a read. Fasten your seat belt and get ready to be taken on a frenzied journey!
Rating:
Summary: By far, my all time favorite
Review: It's so sad to lose such a great author without knowing what could have been. I have talked with people who have read this book and (myself included) cannot get Ignasis J. Reily out of our heads! I find myself walking down the streets of Manhattan scowling at "offensive" people who remind me of the abundant man. This is definitely one of those books you'll never get sick of and laugh (or even cringe) when you think of our pal Reily.
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