A Confederacy of Dunces

Rating:
Summary: This is the funniest book I've ever read.
Review: Avoid reading this book in public. People will think you're strange for laughing so hard alone.

Rating:
Summary: Comedy or Tragedy? Does it matter? This is a five-star book.
Review: The first time I read Confederacy, I was very ambivalent about it. I couldn't decide whether I liked it or not. So I read it again. And then again. Each time, of course, I snickered and laughed out loud in a couple of places. (Miss Trixie trying to help "Gloria" off the floor, Ignatius rallying the factory workers and becoming aroused as they lifted him onto the table, the infamous letter to Ableman...well, you get the point.) And yet--there was something immensely pathetic about the book and the characters. I gave it to my daughter to read--she has worn out four paperback copies. I have worn out three. I think this has to be one of my two or three favorite books of all time, for several reasons. First, it is so extremely well-written. Even after the first reading, when I wasn't sure I liked it, I could appreciate that it was so well-written that this in itself could have won it the Pulitzer. Secondly, the characters are real people. I have never been to New Orleans, but trust me, there are people like Jones, and Lana, and Gonzalez, and Mrs. Gonzalez, and Mrs. Reilly and her gentleman friend everywhere. With each reading, I gain new insight into one of the characters. And finally, it perks me up to realize that my life isn't so bad after all, compared to Ignatius and his valve and his complete inability to hold a job or do anything meaningful with his life--or compared to his mother, putting up with Ignatius. The pathos equals the comedy. Actually, that may be its best quality--that it can describe and detail several truly pathetic lives in a way that an outsider looking in can get past the tragedy and the pathos and laugh. And isn't that what comedy is all about?

Rating:
Summary: I loved it - I don't know why
Review: Given the fact that Ignatius J. Reilly is a pompous, flatulent git, it makes be wonder exactly why it is I loved this book so much. Ignatius shows us the worst in us, yet because he never amounts to much, he also shows us that he is not to be emulated. One of the opening paragraphs wherein Toole describes Mr. Reilly's odd and unsanitary costume, his "fleshy balloon of a head," and that fact that he scans the crowd "looking for signs of bad taste in dress" perfectly sums up Ignatius and his world view. I didn't care that I didn't agree with him at all, but rather, for some strange reason, found it interesting to follow this "working boy" (which was another paradox) in his rather mundane misadventures.

Rating:
Summary: More treasure then trash.
Review: One of the two of John Kennedy Toole's greatest and only works is A Confederacy of Dunces. I found that the words that Toole wrote seen to bring the reader into the story and lets their imagination take them right next to Ignatius and the other characters. I view this book as one of the greatest literature works of our day. Although I view some parts of the book as disturbing and disgusting, I find that I was able to see things from Ignatius J. Reilly's point of view, some of the time. I was able to laugh at the mishaps that Ignatius constantly gets in to, however, I could never fully understand where he was coming from due to the fact that I have never been to New Orleans. I couldn't help but laugh at the constant insulting that went on between Myrna Minkoff and Ignatius in their letters that they continuously sent to each other. I have seldom laughed so much while reading a book. I highly suggest this book to almost all people that ask me for their opinion. It's funny and probably one of a kind.

Rating:
Summary: Surreal, funny, and so strangely disturbing; you'll love it
Review: Not since Vonnegut's "Player Piano" has there been such a dead on, satirical commentary on the American way of life. Toole's New Orleans characters are deftly crafted; comically absurd but not cartoonish. His masterpiece is Ignatius T. Reilly, a bloated, pseudo-intellectual gas bag, who pontificates endlessly about the evils of society while consuming vast quantities of junk food and pulp entertainment. Equally interesting is Jones, a chain smoking, hip talking, black man struggling desperately to stay on the right side of the jail cell door by maintaining a janitor position in a seedy strip club. Most entertaining for me was Jones' manner of expression; a dialectic and animated version of street talk that contained absolute nuggets of truth.

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Book Ever
Review: This book is my very favorite book ever. It makes me laugh so hard every time i read it. For the people who don't like this book because the characters are obnoxious, I think that is weak criticism . Most of the people in great literature and most entertainers in general would not be welcome in my house -- it's their broad and outlandish behavior that makes them entertainers, not friends. But their flaws often, as here, create a hilarious comment on an individual's "worldviews", as Ignatius would say. I have given this book to numerous people and almost everyone thought it was absolutely hilarious. Of course, there is no work of art that is going to please everyone.

Rating:
Summary: loved this book!!
Review: i worked in a bookstore a number of years ago and each day i saw Confederacy of Dunces sitting on the shelf. the cover always intrigued me -- who was this obese man and what's with the parrot?? it wasn't until years later did i pick up a copy and read it. i began reading it in a little coffeeshop and couldn't stop laughing. i've been laughing ever since. others who reviewed this book have expressed my feelings about COD. i can't put into words how much i love this book. i haven't finished it yet and i don't want it to end.... it is truly a shame Mr. Toole did not leave us with more works. i do not think i shall ever find a book that made as much of an impact on me as COD.

Rating:
Summary: This book kept me reading non-stop!
Review: One of the best books I have ever read. Wait, I'm lying. It actually is the best book I have ever read! John Kennedy Toole embraces the culture and atmosphere of the French Quarter of New Orleans in this wonderful novel, enveloping the reader in his lavish and effective description and writing style. Not only does Toole take you there, but he gives you an eccentric guide by the name of Ignatius O'Reilly. Ignatius, while appearing to be socially inept and a babbling, egocentric, morbidly obese mama's boy, grows in front of the reader's eyes into a character that indirectly shares his view of the world, a view that by the end of the book doesn't seem that radical. To enjoy this novel, the reader cannot just sit back and let his or her eyes passively scan page after page; the reader must imagine himself or herself walking beside Ignatius, listening to his every thought. This kind of active reading makes this book fun, and once I got into the hang of it, I picked up on the subtle details that make this novel Pulitzer-prize winning material. It's a shame that this genius-writer never lived to bask in the fame this book received. In short, buy this book and be amazed.

Rating:
Summary: A good time with dynamic characters
Review: When I first picked this up at a used book place in Penn State, I read it, and read it, and read it, and I couldn't put it down. And being 13 (11 at the time I read it), the 405 pages were quite overwhelming to me but now it has become my all-time favorite book and it hasn't changed since I read "Inherit the Wind", "2001: A Space Odyssey" and other 'classic' books these last two years! It follows the mishaps and escapades of Ignatius J. Reilly, an intellectual thirty-year-old man who writes notes and numbers of reports explaining the trials and tribulations of life, constantly aggrivates himself with his pen pal Myrna Minkoff and her absurd attempts at sex education, his antics at finding the perfect job in the New Orleans area (with fate providing loads of misadventures in the Levy Jean racket and hot-dog vending! Ignatius is constantly ending up in great troubles (one with his eccentric mother who insists that he be put in the nut house which is an idea she gets from her friend lively named Santa)and having "stimulating" conversations with street derelicts. With good humor and old-fashioned American know-how, this is the great American novel that this country had been waiting for before Toole wrote it. Sadly, he commited suicide after he had written the book and thus providing no more novels of his satirical humorand cynical kicks.

Rating:
Summary: Simply The Greatest Novel Ever Written
Review: I have read this book 16 times, and laugh harder with each read. There are some passages which leave me with tears rolling down my cheeks. How anyone could read this and not laugh is beyond me. Actually, this is the book i use as my barometer for measuring the intelligence of a person. Those who don't get it are the problem. I have read this with my book club, and given perhaps 100 copies of the book to different people (students, friends) in need of a laugh or some intellectual stimulation. If you need either, grab the book, a hot dog, a Dr. Nut, and enjoy. To all of the wonderful people who reviewed this book in such a positive and amusing way, thank you. May your valve always be open. Have any of you read anything comprable to this?