A Confederacy of Dunces

Rating:
Summary: Terribly Funny
Review: By far, one of the funniest books I've ever read. Ignatius has a screwed-up viewpoint of the world or so it seems. The things he tried (the worker's rebellion, Sodomites for World Peace, among others) are incredibly and painfully funny. As a friend of mine who borrowed my copy said, "It gets out of control in the first page and gets worse and worse as it goes." The humor isn't for everyone and it is definitely _not_ politically correct (and was never meant to be). If you don't like irreverent humor, or you require warm-fuzzy's when you read a novel, don't bother. But if you like to read and laugh out loud, go for it.

Rating:
Summary: Ignatius Is a One Off
Review: A very funny and humane book. As an evocation of New Orleans it is unsurpassed and it introduces us to one of fiction's great one-offs, Ignatius J. Reilly. Where else in American fiction does a hero proclaim the only true form of government is the devine right of kings?

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic ! Exhilarating !
Review: One of my bedside books. If you are in bad moods, just read a few lines...it's better than Prozac ! I read it in spanish (good translation) and in french (awful translation !) but it's always great !

Rating:
Summary: One of my WORST reads!!
Review: Perhaps its me, pehaps not. That notwithstanding, I found the characters to be two dimensional not the least bit likeable. I had to 'slugg' my way thru this book on the hopes it would just get better, and the ending was perhaps the most dissapointing of all!! I wouldnt recomend it to anybody...

Rating:
Summary: Funny, sad vision of a money-hungry world and its dissenters
Review: I just finished teaching this book to a freshman English class (college), and saw many things I never saw before. I've always seen it as hilarious, absurd and have laughed out loud each time I've read it. But this time I began with the quote from Swift in the beginning, about a man of genius appearing and the dunces being in confederation against him, seeing how Ignatius is the genius, and seeing that it's because only he (and Myrna) recognize that their society is a tawdry one based on money and the business world. He chooses to secede, and isn't allowed, so his selfish obnoxiousness actually seems like an heroic act in a world that won't understand his need to be different. Even his mother, an object of sympathy, is to blame, and she become the leader of the forces against him. A great book, one that gives something new on each reading.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book
Review: It has been about ten years since I read the book and upon my first visit to New Orleans I was thrilled to see the copper statue of Ignatius J. Riley on Canal Street. All the great memories from the book came back and I have started reading it for the second time. One of the better books I have ever read.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Arguably one of the great books, and certainly one of the funniest. Highly recommended, but with one caveat: The lesbian assault in the prison cell struck me as gratuitous, mean-spirited and singularly un-funny -- it just didn't fit in with the book's tone. I wonder if anyone agrees with me?

Rating:
Summary: The BEST, Jerry, the BEST!!!
Review: I've read this book 6 times, including out loud once for a friend. I need this book on tape!!

Rating:
Summary: One can not put this book down
Review: A Confederacy of Dunces, with the exemption of the Hitchikers guide to the Galaxy, is simply the funniest book i have ever read. Toole details his characters right down to the last neurosis. The characters that revolve around the life of Ignatius J. Reily will be embeded in my mind for ever. this is a must read!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: What a Novel Strives to Be
Review: If only John Kennedy Toole was alive.... He might very well be a contemporary of Garrison Keillor, or a latter-day PG Wodehouse. Such is the brilliance of this book. It is exactly what a novel should be, allowing you to laugh and ponder within a few moments' time. I am left to wonder what sort of book the detractors of this work would amuse themselves with. As for me, I think I'll give this one a second read instead.