A Confederacy of Dunces

Rating:
Summary: HIstory repeats itself, BUY NOW!
Review: Synopsis

A monument of sloth, rant and contempt, a behemoth of fat, flatulence and furious suspicion of anything modern - this is Ignatius J Reilly of New Orleans, noble crusader against a world of dunces. In magnificent revolt against the twentieth century, Ignatius propels his monstrous bulk among the flesh posts of the fallen city, documenting life on his Big Chief tablets as he goes, until his maroon-haired mother decrees that Ignatius must work.
First lines

A Confederacy of Dunces is a novel written by John Kennedy Toole, but not published during his lifetime. Through the efforts of the writer Walker Percy and Toole's mother, the book was published in 1980; it quickly became a cult classic and won a Pulitzer Prize a year later.

The title is a reference to a saying by the classic master of satire, Jonathan Swift: "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him." (Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting)

The story is set in New Orleans, Louisiana at the start of the 1960s. The central character is Ignatius J. Reilly, an intelligent but slothful man still living with his mother in Uptown New Orleans who, because of family circumstances, must set out to get a job for the first time in his life at age thirty. In his quest for employment he has various adventures with colorful French Quarter characters.

Major characters


Ignatius J. Reilly

Ignatius is something of a modern Don Quixote - eccentric and creative, sometimes perhaps to the point of being delusional. He tries to find jobs requiring little or no work which will allow him at the same time to further his plans to somehow achieve greatness.

He disdains modern civilization, especially pop culture, but gets a perverse delight in immersing himself in order to mock its vapidity and express his outrage with its lack of philosophy and geometry. He prefers the enlightened philosophy of the Middle Ages, especially that of Boethius.


Myrna Minkoff

Myrna "The Minx" is a beatnik Jew from New York City whom Ignatius met while she was in college in New Orleans. Their political, social, religious, and personal orientations could hardly be more different, but Myrna and Ignatius have a fascination with each other. For most of the novel she is seen only in the regular correspondence which the two keep up since her return to New York. Officially, they both deplore everything the other stands for. Though probably neither of them would admit it, their correspondence indicates that, though separated by half a continent, many of their actions are done with hopes to impress the other.

Irene Reilly

Mrs. Reilly is Ignatius's long-widowed mother. She still thinks of Ignatius as an adolescent, encouraging him to think of himself that way. She is fond of drinking cheap wine and is generally tipsy.


FOr once these critics were spot on!

Published reviews

A masterwork of comedy ... A dozen characters bounce off each other, physically and verbally, through a plot of such disarming inventiveness that it seems to generate itself effortlessly ... A pungent work of slapstick, satire and intellectual incongruities ... it is nothing less than a grand comic fugue.
The New York Times

Witty, exuberant and addictive, a mocking eulogy of life in New Orleans by a modern Rabelais.
The Times

If a book's price is measured against the laughs it provokes, A Confederacy of Dunces is the bargain of the year.
Time

The hero of John Kennedy Toole's incomparable comic classic is one Ignatius J. Reilly, "huge, obese, fractious, fastidious, a latter-day Gargantua, a Don Quixote of the French Quarter. His story bursts with wholly original characters, denizens of New Orleans' lower depths, incredible true-to-life dialogue, and the zaniest series of high and low comic adventures." --
Henry Kisor in the Chicago Sun-Times

An astonishingly good novel, radiant with intelligence and artful high comedy.
Newsweek

A brilliant and evocative novel.
San Francisco Chronicle

A gem-one of the funniest books ever written.
New Republic

Rating:
Summary: Slapstick For Readers
Review: A Confederacy of Dunces basks in the same limelight as the acting of Laurel and Hardy or The Three Stooges through John Kennedy Toole's character Ignatius Reilly. A Confederacy of Dunces truly is an American novel whose characters are over the top, who all like to hate the quasi(?) intellectual protagonist, fat and flatulent Ignatius Reilly. Self-absorbed and flat-out wrong most of the time, Ignatius pinballs his way through life comically messing up anyone and everyone (who has the misfortune to run into him) through his bungling, over-bearing thought process. A great read, a great book. Kudos to John Kennedy Toole.

Rating:
Summary: Flat Out Funny!... If You Like Slapstick Comedy
Review: Ignatius J. Reilly is perhaps the funniest character in literature, and I don't say that lightly, because he has no idea that he is a complete loser. Horribly fat, lacking in any social graces, and oblivious to any consequences of his actions, he considers himself an educated scholar, immune to the mundane things the rest of us need to do, such as work. Unfortunately, he is forced into this world when his mother pulls the rug out from under him.

Every character in this book is a caricature to some degree, and ridiculous because of it -- yet, they are instantly recognizable as similar to people you've met in some part of your life. There is a Joseph Heller-esque humor here, but without the political overtones. I'd compare this humor to a Kurt Vonnegut or Douglas Adams, except that it is grounded much more in reality -- it's just that the humor within this text is silly humor in that same vein.

Much like many great books, this takes a few pages to get into, but it really is a laugh-out-loud book. It's the kind of book that when you see strangers reading it, you feel compelled to start talking about it with them. This is slapstick humor with an advanced degree -- it's silly event after silly event, but done so intelligently that you can't help but read this book with a wry grin on your face. Try this book! If you like slapstick you will enjoy it. Another book I need to recommend -- completely unrelated to Toole, but very much on my mind since I purchased it "used" off Amazon is "The Losers' Club" by Richard Perez, an exceptional, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.

Rating:
Summary: Not amused
Review: The first chapter of this novel bored me to tears. But, since it is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, I pressed on. I thought it would get better.

It didn't.

Most of the characters in this book are not even relatively believable. They are so absurd and unordinary that you can't for one second take any of them seriously. Which, I guess, was supposed to make the book humorous. In my opinion, it was just ridiculous.

The worst part of the book was the lack of plot. The story seems to be going nowhere until you get a hundred pages into the book--even then, the plot is questionable. It is really very, very boring.

I really don't see how this book won a Pulitzer Prize.

Rating:
Summary: Well-written, but hard to sympathize with the characters
Review: This book is incredibly written, and it's hard not to appreciate its clever dialogue, interesting characters and crazy story. The protagonist is Ignatius J. Reilly, a 30-year-old man who lives with his mother in New Orleans. Ignatius basically wastes time and takes advantage of his mother all while constantly complaining that he has been mistreated by others. Ignatius manages to get into all sorts of complicated situations, from getting arrested to selling hot dogs to working at the Levi company. The whole story is a fantastical masterpiece and you have to marvel at the author's creativity.

That said, I wasn't as engaged in this book as I thought I would be, and I think it's because it's difficult to sympathize with almost any of the characters. They all have good qualities, but sometimes I found myself getting annoyed at their irritating foibles and habits. It's a funny story, but when you're not invested in the people involved it's tough to care about what happens to them.

Rating:
Summary: Ignatius is an aquired taste
Review: This book is often cited as a classic, expecially by people who live in New Orleans. It is the story of the adventures of one Ignatius J. Reilly, a social misfit from Uptown New Orleans, and his interactions with a bunch of stereotypical New Orleans characters.

This book is one of four books often mentioned as mandatory reading for anyone wanting to understand New Orleans ( Incidentally, the other three are TN Williams' Streetcar Named Desire, Walker Percy's the Moviegoer, and Kate Chopin's The Awakening). Many people love Confederacy, and many people, though probably not as many, don't. After a second reading I confirmed my initial reaction and again firmly place myself in the "don't" category. Undoubtedly, the book has some major things going for it ( as do most Pulitizer Prize winning novels ). Toole nails New Orleans cold. The dialogue is great.
One might enjoy the novel if for no other reason than listening to Ignatius' mama and her friend, Santa, pass the time of day in conversation. His depiction of Uptown New Orleans and the French Quarter are again right on the money. As someone who lives in the Quarter, I especialy enjoyed his depiction of my neighborhood. The plot comes together quite well. But, God, I found the characters, especially Ignatius, just horrible people without many redeeming social values at all. And, after two readings with very few chuckles, I just don't get how so many readers think this is not only a laugh out loud novel, but maybe the greatest such novel ever written.

But what do I know ? What I do know is that my views are in the minority of New Orleanians. If you are planning to live in New Orleans, you better be familiar with this book, or else you won't be able to get a visa.