A Confederacy Of Dunces
In the sweltering streets of New Orleans, Ignatius J. Reilly — an obese, flatulent, and magnificently self-righteous medievalist — wages a one-man war against the indignities of the modern world, armed with nothing but a Big Chief tablet, a malfunctioning valve, and an unshakeable belief in his own genius. John Kennedy Toole's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece chronicles the chaotic misadventures of this utterly unforgettable antihero as he lurches from one disastrous job to the next, dragging a cast of brilliantly drawn eccentrics — hustlers, strippers, policemen, and long-suffering mothers — into his orbit of spectacular failure. Toole writes with a savage comic precision that places A Confederacy of Dunces firmly in the tradition of great satirical novels, skewering mid-century American culture, consumerism, and complacency with every turn of the page. The novel's posthumous publication — championed by Toole's tireless mother after his tragic death — adds an almost mythological dimension to its legacy. A book that rewards rereading with new layers of wit and pathos, it leaves the reader wondering: in a world full of dunces, who, ultimately, is the joke on?
Author: John Kennedy Toole
Format: Paperback
Published: 2011, Penguin
Genre: Modern fiction
In the sweltering streets of New Orleans, Ignatius J. Reilly — an obese, flatulent, and magnificently self-righteous medievalist — wages a one-man war against the indignities of the modern world, armed with nothing but a Big Chief tablet, a malfunctioning valve, and an unshakeable belief in his own genius. John Kennedy Toole's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece chronicles the chaotic misadventures of this utterly unforgettable antihero as he lurches from one disastrous job to the next, dragging a cast of brilliantly drawn eccentrics — hustlers, strippers, policemen, and long-suffering mothers — into his orbit of spectacular failure. Toole writes with a savage comic precision that places A Confederacy of Dunces firmly in the tradition of great satirical novels, skewering mid-century American culture, consumerism, and complacency with every turn of the page. The novel's posthumous publication — championed by Toole's tireless mother after his tragic death — adds an almost mythological dimension to its legacy. A book that rewards rereading with new layers of wit and pathos, it leaves the reader wondering: in a world full of dunces, who, ultimately, is the joke on?