Rating: 
Summary: Maybe I Just Didn't Get It
Review: I've been accused of having a sense of humor outside the mainstream. Reading all of the reviews below makes me believe this may be true. I don't know why, but I just didn't get it! I thought the story was stupid and boring. I got about 2/3 the way through and just couldn't bring myself to finish it. Oh well, different strokes, as they say...
Rating: 
Summary: A Difficult Look at Ourselves
Review: This is a novel people either love or hate, a one star or five star book. Those who give it one star often state they don't understand why others think it so funny. I won't pretend to answer for everybody, but I can give one or two possible explanations for my rating.As revolting as we find the notion, many of us see a little bit of ourselves in Ignatius J. Reilly. All of us can be critical of others, thinking ourselves or the organizations we belong to better than, at least, SOME other person or individual out there, in a variety of areas(race, religion, politics, intelligence, morality). Also, many of us have compromised our ideals and our future hopes & directions as Ignatius has (although he thinks of himself as a profound writer, his longest-lasting job is as hot dog vendor). One of the funniest scenes of the novel is when Ignatius is negotiating his salary as file clerk. Believing himself better than the $60/week salary offered, his interest changes when he finds out his employer will include bus fare in the offer. Besides the reasons stated in the pop psychology above, I also enjoyed the novel because of the flow of the language, the glimpse into an "other class" side of life we may not be familiar with, and the idiosyncrasies of the characters brought to life by the author.
Rating: 
Summary: Quixote, Bergerac, Schweik, REILLY...
Review: When I first saw the cover of this paperback in a Georgetown, DC, bookshop a few years ago, I was hesitant to buy it. Simply put, the cover is goofy, and does not do this masterpiece any justice. I am so grateful that I ignored my initial instinct, as I don't remember ever reading a funnier book in the English language than the late John Kennedy Toole's life achievement, nor is there a more memorable character in American literature than I. J. Reilly. The work deserves a 6 star rating! "A Confederacy of Dunces" is more than just incredibly funny, however. It is unusually poignant, gut-wrenchingly sad, and an admirable observation piece on a rather decadent and seemingly lost segment of our society sitting at the mouth of the Mississippi River. I have visited New Orleans three times since 1994 for varied reasons, and the city apparently has not changed in the least since Mr. Toole's late 1960s rendition. His characters continue to stroll and struggle along Bourbon Street and Canal Street, and their troubled spirits infuse every alley and cave of the French Quarter. Just like the district surrounding St. Peter's Square in the city of jazz, Ignatius J. Reilly is out of step with the rest of America. In spite of his repulsive and grossly comical physical presence, he believes in aesthetics and real meaning, in what he perceives to be the truth. For this reason, he is a true literary hero, like Don Quixote, Cyrano de Bergerac and the Good Soldier Schweik before him. One final note: before you buy this book, think about cancelling all your appointments and engagements for the two or three days that follow. They, along with eating and sleeping, undoubtedly will be totally neglected until you finish this 400 page tour de farce.
Rating:
Summary: Dear Elmo Gallen, poor ignorant
Review: I'm sure you are the typical John Grisham's fan, or even a nobody's fan. Please stay away of Joyce, Cervantes, Kafka, Proust, Borges (I'm shure you are). And don't stop, commit suicide whenever you want it, but in the place you should go, you are not going to see John Kennedy Toole. Dear Melinda Harrison, you just put it clear. tdaneri@hotmail.com
Rating:
Summary: A Confederacy of Dunces
Review: This book is by far, one of the funniest books I've had the pleasure to read. You just can't help laughing aloud, so don't worry if people around you give you odd stares. Too bad John Kennedy Toole wasn't around to recieve his prize. This book is a 20th century classic.
Rating:
Summary: What a TERRIBLE thing to say Mr. Gallen! (previous reviewer)
Review: Imagine...someone saying such an awful thing (Mr. Gallen's review). Mr. Gallen, I am glad that you are not in charge of the publishing world! I almost never read fiction, but a close friend asked me to read "Confederacy". I laughed MORE reading this book than I did when reading "Catcher in the Rye" twenty years ago! I have since recommended this book to many people, ALL of whom would agree with me. Sophomoric, and even grotesque at times...this is truly a very funny read! I couldn't put it down and read the entire book in one day. The hardcover edition offered here is a bargain, but the softcover is a little larger size and bigger type font making it a little more comfortable to read through.
Rating:
Summary: American Masterpiece!
Review: This is a wonderful story. I laughed and laughed, but at the same time, I was horrified at the hidden truths. Toole wrote the essential American Masterpiece, creating a lunatic for a hero, a man really more sane than the crazy American society surrounding him. Some novels have the ability to change your perceptions forever, and this is one of them. Read it. Laugh. And cry that Toole is no longer among the living!
Rating:
Summary: I'd commit suicide too if I wrote this book
Review: The author of this atrocious book has given us the most annoying character in the entire history of literature. Imagine reading the story of the spoiled little brat kid who lived down the street from you when you were younger. The kid who always talked back to his mother and got everything he wanted. Who wants to read about a person like this? The story itself moves along at a terrible pace. It switches from one unfunny episode to another with a bit of difficulty, usually relying on the main character going home to go to sleep at the end of the chapter, and waking up to a new, irritating adventure.
Rating:
Summary: Montage of some of the Ugliest, Tackiest Images in history.
Review: To read this book is to see the world through the eyes of Ignatius J. Reilly. To see the world through the eyes of Ignatius J. Reilly is to strip nude and plaster yourself with maggots, do cartwheels through the streets, watch as everyone reels in horror, and then declare that they are simply jealous of your refined culture. Seriously, I think Toole expressed a lot of perceptive insight about human nature, and sad as though much of it may be, he expressed it in a very humorous way. Not to mention that after reading this, you will feel much better about yourself, because you will realize that, although they may have been just book characters, there have in history been some individuals with less dignity than you.
Rating:
Summary: Whoa!
Review: Ignatious lives! At least, he will once you've read this book. Toole has created characters that deliver some of the most hilarious dialogue I've ever read or heard. What would one-step-up from character developement be - character birth? These people are alive. One of a kind.
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