A Confederacy of Dunces

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Summary: Toole's Genius and Drama are Ignatius
Review: If you can't find the book funny, there is something wrong with you. Eiher you think yourself of too serious and sophisticated a person, or you have no sensibility towards troubled people. Ignatius is a tormented genius full of ego, but Oh God, full of wit. Clearly Toole's life and experience is ignatius, the unreconized genius, but it is tragic that our society of stupid envious people destry these types of rare geniuses, whom all they need is understanding, and to be taught not to depend on people's aceptance. It is a very funny book, but it is sad, for they are heavy characters, but few people if ever in the history of literature have been able to shine so brightly under a ton of garbage. It is a book for those who do not loath and spite society's poor, depressed and unsophisticated, for they too have the capacity of genius that must endure its own hell. No wonder a mother Toole's mother after his suicide, kept 'till her eighties going from publisher to publisher to get the book on print. That my friends was the REAl confederacy of the dunces, and I can't but thank my mother whom introduced me to it! Hail Mama! Hail Toole and her Mama and HA HA HA !!!

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Summary: Fantastic! One of the funniest, smartest books written.
Review: Hilarious, witty, and overwhelmingly enjoyable. THe characters and situations in this novel grabbed me, seduced me and won't let me go. I loved New Orleans before I read this and now I love it even more!

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Summary: A "Must Read" book for all Americans
Review: One of the funniest and most creative books I've ever read. I've now signed up to join the "Crusade For Moorish Dignity." A must read!

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Summary: It was better the second time around!
Review: I first read Dunces in 1982 when I was in college. Needless to say, I never saw that copy again as it got passed to every one of my friends! Coming across it after so many years was like meeting a long-lost friend who had improved with age! Mr. Toole has deprived us of a wonderful, hilarious character.

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Summary: Funniest Book I Ever Read
Review: That's just what it is. Before I got through the first six pages, I used to think laughing out loud when reading silently was something only crazy people did. Kennedy's creation of Ignatius and his mother is the greatest, most tragic and most authentic depiction of familial love in all of American literature.

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Summary: hilarious!
Review: This is one of the funniest book I've ever read - the characters are just unbelievably pathetic. That J.K.Toole managed to invent a protagonist as absurd yet convincing as Ignatius is reason enough for me to consider him - contrary to other opinions - worthy of the Pulitzer Prize.

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Summary: Laff riot
Review: I read ten pages every time I go to visit my mother and sister. It is so good I do not want it to end. I am one-third through it. I have to stop from laughing out loud and disturbing the tranquility of the house. If I bought my own copy and read it in my own home, I would finish it too soon and the dream/nightmare would be over. Reading the reviews would open that valve wide on Mr. Ignatius. If only there were more like him. Funniest book I ever read. Catch-22 is not on this level of absurdity. And the crudity works.

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Summary: Good therapy?
Review: There are few joys more special than laughing uncontrollably in places you really shouldn't. This book wasn't just a great read, it was great medicine.

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Summary: Wonderful, Madcap, Insightful Characterizations
Review: Jones is my favorite character--Ooo-wee! Jones sees all, and tells it like it is. I found it interesting that our protagonist--the ultra-critical Ignatious-- held such disdain for Mark Twain, whose characterizations I find as insightful and engaging as those in this book. Definitely worthy of the PP.

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Summary: An hysterically funny, laugh out loud, truly memorable book.
Review: This is such a fabulous and funny book I bought it for all my close friends, wanting to share its specialness with them. Ignatius Reilly has to be one of the most memorable fictional characters ever invented, alternately physically gigantic and buffoonish but somehow strangely sad and pitiable. The supporting characters, from the "minxish Myrna Minkoff" to the watering hole "Night of Joy" are equally finely etched. The wacky series of adventures Ignatius experiences makes me wonder how John Kennedy Toole could think of such extraordinarily funny situations that finally dovetail in a hilarious conclusion. I was sad when the book ended because I wanted to keep sharing the lives of these amazing characters. If you haven't read Confederacy of Dunces, do so at once!