Rating: 
Summary: Ignatius,unique among all characters, ever!
Review: I read this book when it was first published and and haven't gotten over it yet! I have given it to all of my friends and am jealous each time, knowing they are going have the incredible experience of reading this book for the first time. I am to A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES what middle-aged, beehived, pointy boobed women are to Elvis! I've read thousands of books in my life, but this one will stay with me forever. It's a tragedy that Toole did not live to receive the acclaim he deserves.
Rating:
Summary: Pure genius
Review: Amazon does not provide enough stars on the scale for this book. A true American literary masterpiece. Goodman or Candy as Reilly does his character no justice. I think Robin Williams (admittedly in a fat suit) could better convey the underlying poignancy associated with the character. I pray they don't King Ralph it.
Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious Satire
Review: It's Ignatius J. Reilly versus the French Quarter. It's Ignatius J. Reilly versus the erotic Myrna Minkoff. Ignatius is a severely overweight man with an intolerable problem with his pyloric valve. One wrong emotion and it clasps shut and traps odoriferous gases inside his gigantic body. A wheel of fortune spins to define Ignatius' next move. He is forced, for the first time, to work for his money in lieu of sponging off of his poor mother. The real world is cruel to him, but eventually he finds his calling as a hot dog vendor, pushing a cart with the words "Twelve inches to paradise" scribbled on it. This is the story of man who cannot be accepted and therefore cannot except. John Kennedy Toole was a genius of the novel. He writes as a contemporary Charles Dickens. His satirical style is serious yet hilarious at the same time. A Confederacy of Dunces is by far the greatest representative of society in the United States of America. One can do nothing but laugh out loud.
Rating: 
Summary: ho-hum humor
Review: Can't resist adding a note of dissent to the overwhelming chorus of praise this book has received over the years. "Humorous," I suppose, but in a very broad, Vaudevillian way, where you see the joke coming from so far away that when it lands it causes a groan of impact, not a laugh. If you enjoy slapstick--the verbal equivalent of "Police Academy" movies--this may be the book for you, but I found it tired, strained, banal.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious!!
Review: I have just finished reading this book for the second time (back-to-back), and found it even funnier the second time around! I LOVED EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER portrayed in the book, and I only wish Mr. Toole had lived long enough to have written a sequel. Can you just imagine the trouble poor Ignatius would have gotten into while trying to adjust to life in NEW YORK?! BOY! HIS POOR VALVE WOULD HAVE CLOSED UP ON HIM PERMANENTLY! A movie version of this book, with the late John Candy in the starring role as Ignatius would have been GREAT! I recommend this book highly!
Rating:
Summary: A FANTASTIC JOURNEY INTO THE DEPTHS OF NEW ORLEANS!!!
Review: This book is GREAT. But, to fully appreciate the location and the characters go to New Orleans. I would suggest that those who have given low ratings to "Dunces" have not made the travel. Walk the streets where Ignacius prowled. See the statute of him on Canal Street at the site of the D. H. Holmes department store. It doesn't do him justice. And how many times have we read this book and said "I know someone who is just like that guy". Folks-this is a FUNNY book-very entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Damn Funny
Review: The voice this book is written in, the writers choice of words, the Pulp Fiction-esque intertwining of so many different lives, all make this book a great read. The only irritating thing I found was the Quixote-esque way that Ignatius keeps getting away with everything he attempts, and talks his way out of every situation. But read it, you'll love it.
Rating: 
Summary: Tragically Hip?
Review: This book was well written enough to keep my attention -- barely. However, I wish I had not been informed of Mr. Toole's demise until afterward. I couldn't comprehend that this work, as good as it was, was worthy of one's life. Knowledge of Toole's suicide and his mother's quest to get the work published was a compelling story worthy of its own book. Unfortunately, the foreword cast a pall over the book that suggested the novel had to be so great that the author's death was more than it really was -- a tragic suicide -- and therefore worthy of a Pulitzer, no less. I wish Toole had developed the Levys more in my opinion. They were more fascinating than Ignatius, his mom, Santa Battaglia, Angelo and Claude put together. Furthermore, is anyone else of the impression that the comic book store owner on the cartoon show The Simpson's was modeled after our friend Ignatius?
Rating:
Summary: Toole's no Tool
Review: A brilliantly hilarious frolic through the colorful streets of New Orleans. Toole's (a definite INFP) prose flows with the literary acumen associated with the giants of American letters. Even Ignatius might aprove. Treat yourself right and read this book!
Rating:
Summary: terrific
Review: If you suffer from a valve inopportunely slamming shut, this is the book for you. There is a two page section which made me laugh so uncontrollably I passed out. I reread it five more times, and although I didn't pass out, I laughed very heartily. Fortuna's wheel brought this to us, so buy it and read it. It is terrific.
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