Rating: 
Summary: There's a damn good reason it won the Pulitzer
Review: This book is nothing short of absolute genius. True, it's hilarious. However, it's hard not to notice the ominous parallels between the life of Ignatius and that of the author. John Kennedy Toole saw through his eyes daily, the famed "Great Folly of Man", and it made him sick. Sadly,he took his own life to save himself from the barrage of corruption and blindness of the Truth. After a second reading, I came to a great realization. Ignatius isn't Toole. He's everybody whether they admit it or not. Deep down we are ALL eccentric, and not that different from the "crazies" we shun. We're all in the same boat, and nobody has ever expressed this in words better than Toole. One thing's for sure: Toole is in a much better place now. It's up to us to see through all the bulls*** we call "normal". Peace.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Bad You Can't Give Negative Stars
Review: The people who award the Pulitzer prizes must have had some sort of collective madness when they chose this abomination. If a few hundred pages on farting are your idea of great literature, then by all means, buy this book.
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Summary: Best American novel this century
Review: It is hard to imagine the sensibilities of the reader who dislikes this book. True, Ignatius and most of the other characters are not admirable, but since when is that a legitimate criterion for a first-rate novel? The characters absolutely come to life and inhabit the mind of the reader. One laughs at them but with some misgivings. As for the plot, it is ingenious. The ending is perfect, because it lets the reader decide just how far from New Orleans the Renault went before the explosion occurred. Moreover, the book is universal. It could be set in any country, any city, at any time in history. There have always been characters such as Ignatius, Mancuso, Miss Trixie et al. I can only pity the drab and wretched lives of those who failed to enjoy this book, the best comic novel since Huck Finn and certainly one of the best Ameican novels.
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Summary: In every page you will burst in laughter
Review: Its such a fantastic book that you will on laughing for several weeks after you finished it reading. Its not easy to find such creativity. I just regret that the author is dead so that we can not get any more ot its marvelous works.
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Summary: So unapoligitically "in your face", you won't put it down.
Review: Vividly drawn characters of the lower class locals in New Orleans, LA don't stand a chance against the gargantuan size, wit and appetites of Mr.Ignatius J. Reilly. He's a comically tragic man/child who lives life with mother in repulsively breathtaking self-absorbed abandon. His days are spent ralling against ALL offenses to his reason (real or imagined). Results range silly to serious and are every bit as offensive as Mr. Reilly himself. The ending is a cliff-hanging surprise (in tune with the unpredictability of the characters) leaving the reader wanting for more. THIS IS A MUST READ. Rarely does anything come along that so richly deserves the description "unique."
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Summary: I love this book and I couldn't put it down
Review: I loved it!!!!!! To put it bluntly, this has to be one of my favorite books. All of the characters were beautifully described, and with each scene, the reader felt that they were there. I wish that the author could realize how much joy he brought into our lives by writing it.
Rating:
Summary: not worth finishing
Review: The writing was ok, but the characters were all pitiful and sad. I just couldn't make myself finish this book. I have an acquaintance who everyone considers quite annoying, and who has a very rude and unintelligent sense of humor -- I gave him the book, and just as I thought, he absolutely loved it. Still quotes from it, months later. Ugh.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful descriptions of amusing characters
Review: I first discovered this book almost ten years ago while in high school. I even managed to choose it for a history book report as the teacher obviously thought the story was about the war. Toole is a greater writer and it is a shame that we will never be able to read any other of his potential works. The main character is a sad, pathetic man who lives at home but looks at the world as if he is the only normal one around. He spares no expense in puting down his poor Mama and her cohorts. Really, this books is full of humor and you have to like Ignatious even though he is a pompous, gas-bloated recluse. Set in New Orleans, we get a glimpse of just some of the odd-balls that run into our narrator. I've read this book many times and each reading brings more laughs.
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Summary: Without a doubt the funniest book I've ever read.
Review: I think the funniest aspect of this book is how the author portrays someone who thinks he's a lot smarter than he really is. The opportunities to spot and appreciate that disparity are legion. This book didn't just make me laugh out loud, it made me howl. I laughed myself silly to the point of tears. The images conjured up by Kennedy's masterful descriptions are so ridiculous that if you ever saw it in real life, you'd piss yourself. The only author that has ever come close to evoking the same reaction from me is P.G. Wodehouse, and even he just gets hearty chuckles, nothing like the put-the-book-down-tilt-your-head-back-and-squawk reactions that this book delivers. This book capitalizes on the subtle quirks of simple people and the skewed logic with which they view the world around them. And while you laugh at these people, you occasionally have to check yourself for doing and thinking some of the exact things the characters do. That is what drives the humor home. Do yourself a favor and buy this book.
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Summary: It's all about visualization.
Review: I noticed more than one customer review that claimed, in not so many words, that it takes a certain intellect or at least a very refined sense of humor to appreciate or even understand this book. I only partially agree. I've been told my more than a few people over the years that I have a good sense of humor. I'm also a word person. I guess I qualified pretty well to be someone who might like this book. The book was easily the funniest book I've ever read. No less than three times it sent me into an uncontrolable laughing frenzy (other books have made me laugh out loud but this was scary). Ignatius' use of language was so perfectly crafted it made me wonder how many re-writes Toole must have gone through to get it just right. Back to the visualization thing. Whether or not one can fully apprecaite what Toole did isn't the only determinate as to if someone will find it funny (or as funny as some of us had). At the risk of sounding mystic, if the reader can literally plant themselves near or next to Mr. Reilly during any of his proclaimations, misdadvetures or diatribes, they might also be a victim of runaway and painful laughter
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