A Confederacy of Dunces - Hardcover

Toole, John Kennedy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807126063 ISBN 13: 9780807126066

Publisher: Louisiana State University Press, 2000

Synopsis

Toole's lunatic and sage novel introduces one of the most memorable characters in American literature, Ignatius Reilly, whom Walker Percy dubs slob extraordinary, a mad Oliver Hardy, a fat Don Quixote, a perverse Thomas Aquinas rolled into one - who is in violent revolt against the entire modern age. Ignatius' ire explodes when his mother backs into an automobile. The owner of the damaged vehicle insists on payment; and Mrs. Reilly demands that her son stop watching television and writing in his Big Chief tablet and get a job.

About this title

Review:

It's been hailed as a masterpiece and reviled as trash, but A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole has never been lightly dismissed. By creating Ignatius J. Reilly, a bigger-than-life bag of wind stuffed with some of the most comically outrageous and disturbingly insightful opinions ever put to paper, Toole made an indelible mark on the landscape of American literature--a feat recognized with the posthumous publication of this novel, followed by a Pulitzer Prize. Forced to wade the lower depths of New Orleans society, the gargantuan Ignatius, his poor mother in tow, takes us on a tour de force through the back alleys and juke joints of the French Quarter of New Orleans as he implores the gods, railing against the hypocrisy of contemporary politics and the crushing weight of late capitalism. "The luminous years ... dimmed into dross; Fortuna's wheel had turned ... Having once been so high, humanity fell so low. What had once been dedicated to the soul was now dedicated to the sale." Toole's suicide at 32 silenced a uniquely promising literary voice, denying his critics and fans the opportunity to determine whether his talent was a flash in the pan or a first spark of genius. Read A Confederacy of Dunces and you'll no doubt have formed your own inflexible opinion, which you'll defend tenaciously against all reason. --George Laney, Amazon.com

Review:

"A Confederacy of Dunces has been reviewed almost everywhere, and every reviewer has loved it. For once, everyone is right".

-- Rolling Stone

About this edition

• Publisher: Louisiana State University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0807126063
• ISBN 13: 9780807126066
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 338