A Confederacy of Dunces

This book!
Even though I don't know how people in New Orleans speak or how the people are, the descriptions, the vernacular captured brings out a fascinating and hysterical set of characters. Toole's descriptions are vivid and hilarious. Fatty's physical and ideological descriptions are repugnant and funny. A lot of 'ewwwww hahahaha' moments.

I really wanted the Gypsy Queen to get arrested. Personal wish but alas, Fortuna spun her wheel towards the sky and chose to be a dame instead of a viscious whore.

Let's discuss this people or just share what everyone liked/disliked about the book.

Ignatius Reilly is the most unlikable protagonist I've ever seen in literature. His bizarre misadventures, where he sweeps everyone he meets into a storm of legal trouble, headache-inducing rants, and hygiene problems, are enthralling. I could barley put the book down.

The story is a great example of how to write a disgusting protagonist. I think it works because of how much effort is put on the larger world. Virtually every character in the story is an awful person, with the most relatable characters being people who have been dumped on by society. Even then, the prime focus of the story is blasting every aspect of the human race. It's scathing, it's crude (in the most articulate way possible), and it has a strange heart to it.

For most of the story, I felt almost bad for enjoying it. It had that "dirty" quality because it delves headlong into the gutter, but writes with a style that made me actively need to think in order to get down to that level. Then, suddenly, the story hit me with a heart. For a brief moment, even, I saw Ignatius as a human being. A disgusting, miserable excuse for a human being, but a human being nonetheless.

The line "You learned everything except how to be a human being" will stick with me for a long time.

This is the only book I have ever read that made me laugh out loud in certain spots where I literally had to put the book down and just give in to the chuckles. This happened multiple times all through the book. The main character is so utterly useless and lazy, yet still posseses a animalistic cunning that serves him in his quest to avoid any kind of labor or spending any of his own money. His shameless pursuit of not doing anything for anybody and the lucky breaks that come his way actually end up endearing you to this totally unlikeable and almost villainous character. I definitely recommend this book to anyone with a dark or offensive sense of humour.

Absolute hoot of a novel. I’d heard a lot of good things about it and it mostly lived up to my expectations.

I think how much you enjoy this novel will depend on your tolerance of its protagonist. Igantius J Reilly is essentially a stereotypical Redditor - a lazy, neurotic, judgmental, smug and self-righteous goblin lacking in self-awareness and blaming the world for all his problems. As irritating as he is, following his misadventures around New Orleans and the wacky cast of characters is pretty damn hilarious. There are some genuinely gut-busting sequences (the hot dog cart section being a particular highlight, as well as Ignatius somehow becoming a model employee at Levy Pants) that cross over into surreal absurdity.

And as annoying and frustrating as Ignatius is, there’s something about him that’s also kind of tragic and depressing. There’s an underlying self-loathing that I feel like John Kennedy Toole was trying to portray in Ignatius, hidden under a veneer of arrogance and assurance in his intellectual superiority over others around him.

I will say though, that I wasn’t as compelled by some of the side stories. I honestly didn’t care too much about Burma Jones and the Night of Joy sideplot.

Overall though, it’s an entertaining read and a fascinating insight into the mind of a repulsive human being. Toole honestly seemed way ahead of his time in terms of portraying a character like Ignatius.

I first heard of this book on a TV show called 'The Will' discussing the estate of John Kennedy Toole, I enjoyed the episode but never really considered reading the book (the breif summary given on the show didn't interest me). Then I randomly came across a copy of it and thoroughly enjoyed it. I found it to be an incredibly original and hilarious piece of literature. The devil is in the details and in the case of this book so was the hilarity, Toole tickled my funny bone with broad strokes through his outlandish characters and ironic plot but also in the details through the directness of his prose. This is the first book I've read that openly claims to make you 'laugh out loud' so I was surprised at how it delivered on all cylinders. The brilliance of this book really emphasizes the sadness of John Kennedy Toole dying believing this effort to be a failure.

I find this book completely enthralling from front to back. What are your thoughts on Ignatius and where do you think he would be in todays culture? I suspect he would be bed ridden with fear of “big brother” and plotting a very counter intuitive series of journals to keep himself protected until his death - due to unkept health.

Hello all,

That's the TL;DR, as it were, in the title. I finished A Confederacy of Dunces yesterday, and I feel so many folks have misinterpreted it -- and some don't appreciate just how sublime it is.

I've seen, here on and on Goodreads, plenty of people trying to explain the book as an indictment of higher education, or the throes of a misunderstood genius, or even as a pretty silly and pointless farce. I can't agree. I think what this book has done is so much more than that.

What is an epic? By my reckoning (and the reckoning of the Encyclopedia Britannica etc.), and after a bit of interpretation, it is a tale with larger-than-life characters that exemplify and encapsulate an entire society. That is perfectly what A Confederacy of Dunces has done. True, Ignatius isn't a glorious hero -- but he's so far on the other side of the spectrum, such a misanthropic antihero, I feel there are powerful parallels. In fact, EVERYONE in the novel is basically a perversion of a longstanding heroic archetype, and all of their actions eventually impacting each other in one grand finale is par for the course in epics like Beowulf.

The novel, in its characterizations, its scene-setting, its ambiance, its events, are so much more like Beowulf, or even Independent People by Halldor Laxness (often called a modern epic of Iceland), than other, highly esteemed 'satirical' books (like Terry Pratchett's Discworld, which I cherish, don't get me wrong), that I feel it's missing the grandeur of the book to say they are of the same genre. Their purpose is different; Pratchett tells a story, lampoons a particular subject, in each of his excellent Discworld novels; JKT has crystallized an entire society into one tragic, hilarious, and powerful set of characters and scenes.

Anyway, that's all -- just wanted to say, sublime. Absolutely sublime.

Edit: So this has become by far my most successful post of all time -- just wanted to say thank you to everyone reading and discussing; awesome to see folks talking about a book I enjoyed so much. Happy reading!

I had been debating reading this for probably 10 years. But every time I would be reminded of it, I would look up some reviews or comments and see just enough shade to put me off the idea until I forgot about it. A recent post on here convinced me to finally pick it up and give it a go.

I’m not sure whether to be pissed at myself for not reading it 10 years ago or delighted that I gave myself the gift of being able to read it for the first time right in this moment. This is outstanding. I honestly doubt I’ve ever laughed out loud, repeatedly, while reading any other book the way I have with this one. What a delight. I’m only about 1/4 of the way through it, and I don’t care if it really “goes anywhere” or not (one of the criticisms I had read); Toole created a phenomenal character in Ignatius.

Just astounding.

I haven't been this engaged in book in a while. Anything out there you can recommend that might be similar?

So one of my best friends has been trying to get me to read this one for years and years. He'd talk about its greatness for a while, then I'd get online and check out the book cover and see that morbidly obese mustached man with the sausage fingers and giant yellow bird, and I'd judge that book by its cover and just not read it.

I mean, how can a book with such a repulsive looking character as its cover art be any good? Why do I wanna read about that chump?

Well, I don't know how he's done it, but the author (Toole) has managed to take a character that is somehow even worse than his cover art and make one of the most hilarious and absurd novels ever written. Like... this is the good shit right here.

So sausage fingers has the grandiose and fitting name of Ignatius Jacques Reilly and is a 30 year old "working boy" who still lives with his mom while pursuing his virginal revolutions while... entertaining nostalgic... fantasies of his poor perished pet Rex (who looked so lifelike, arf arf!).

It's so very weird, but so very good. Definitely my style of humor, and I enjoyed every moment I read of Ignatius billowing out on his latest mission or conquest... to the movie theater where he loudly heckles the films. Good times.

I think he’s more suited to play this character than any other person on the planet and I think it suits him better than any other role. He’s my favorite character in literature and it’s the funniest book I have ever read. The author also won the Pulitzer posthumously.

If you’re not familiar, here’s the first paragraph of the book:

A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head. The green earflaps, full of large ears and uncut hair and the fine bristles that grew in the ears themselves, stuck out on either side like turn signals indicating two directions at once. Full, pursed lips protruded beneath the bushy black moustache and, at their corners, sank into little folds filled with disapproval and potato chip crumbs. In the shadow under the green visor of the cap Ignatius J. Reilly’s supercilious blue and yellow eyes looked down upon the other people waiting under the clock at the D. H. Holmes department store, studying the crowd of people for signs of bad taste and dress. Several of the outfits, Ignatius noticed, were new enough and expensive enough to be properly considered offenses against taste and decency. Possession of anything new or expensive only reflected a person’s lack of theology and geometry; it could even cast doubts upon one’s soul.

This book is never mentioned anywhere but it deserves more credit and is truly best experienced with Whitener’s performance of it. The book is a little off the beaten path compared to most novels but generates a lot of entertainment and humor from the farcical characters that populate the story. For being written in the 60’s it was ahead of it’s time by making the main character what we’d call today a “Neckbeard”; a fat, unemployed, man in his 30’s who lives with his mother and yet sees himself as being above everyone and everything. I found myself delighting in his failures and his rantings on everyday life. But what really makes this audiobook pop is the Narrator. I loved the voices he gave the characters, the accents he used, his timing on the jokes in the writing was perfect. Anyone in the mood for original, lighthearted, theater of the absurd, please check out this audiobook.

I read it years ago in highschool, but I recall really thoroughly enjoying it. I also recall the characters and scenes being over the top. Maybe people could find it a poor representation of the city and its people.

I recently finished reading "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole, and I was absolutely captivated by how the book brought New Orleans to life. The vivid descriptions of the city's streets, people, and overall atmosphere made it feel like an essential character in the story. It got me thinking: are there other books out there that do a similar job of capturing the essence of different cities?
I'm on the hunt for novels that not only take place in specific cities but also weave the streets, neighborhoods, and local culture into the fabric of the story. Books that make you feel like you're walking the streets alongside the characters, experiencing the city's unique charm or quirks.
Have you come across any books that provide a similar experience to "A Confederacy of Dunces" but for different cities? I'm open to exploring any location, whether it's Rome, Barcelona, Paris, Athens, New York, London, Tokyo, Paris, or even smaller towns with distinct personalities. I want to be transported to these places and fully immerse myself in their essence.
Additionally, if you have any thoughts on what made "A Confederacy of Dunces" so remarkable in capturing New Orleans, I'd love to hear your insights. What aspects of the book do you think contributed to its successful portrayal of the city?

Just finished John Kennedy Toole's A Conferecy of Dunces and it's one of the best comic novels I have ever read. Such a shame he didn't see it published and receive the Pulitzer. Couldn't get enough of Ignatius J. Reilly and his tilt at the windmill of the modern age. I was laughing out loud constantly. Loved with a capital L.

Any one else read? What did you think of the characters and satire?

I recently finished reading "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole, and I was absolutely captivated by how the book brought New Orleans to life. The vivid descriptions of the city's streets, people, and overall atmosphere made it feel like an essential character in the story. It got me thinking: are there other books out there that do a similar job of capturing the essence of different cities?
I'm on the hunt for novels that not only take place in specific cities but also weave the streets, neighborhoods, and local culture into the fabric of the story. Books that make you feel like you're walking the streets alongside the characters, experiencing the city's unique charm or quirks.
Have you come across any books that provide a similar experience to "A Confederacy of Dunces" but for different cities? I'm open to exploring any location, whether it's Rome, Barcelona, Paris, Athens, New York, London, Tokyo, Paris, or even smaller towns with distinct personalities. I want to be transported to these places and fully immerse myself in their essence.
Additionally, if you have any thoughts on what made "A Confederacy of Dunces" so remarkable in capturing New Orleans, I'd love to hear your insights. What aspects of the book do you think contributed to its successful portrayal of the city?