A Confederacy of Dunces is an American comic masterpiece. John Kennedy Toole’s hero, one Ignatius J. Reilly, is “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, incredibly true-to-life dialogue, and the zaniest series of high and low comic adventures” (Henry … (Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times).
more
LOVED THIS BOOK. It made me laugh out loud.
Everything a cult classic should be but rarely is – unique, speculative, thought-provoking and stupidly funny.
It’s a bizarre book in many ways, let me start by saying that. Not being a native of New Orleans but one of Louisiana, I have to chuckle at the many “characters” Toole created in his story. If you’ve ever spent any amount of time in New Orleans, you will have met people like those in the story. It’s well written and moves along. It only gets four …
I read this book ages ago, and still can see the main character in people. Loved the book, very original, sad the author did not write more, and live to see how well received this timeless book is. Thankful his Mother saw the book published, her son was a genius.
Well-written, but I did not like the story
One of my all-time favorites. It taught me as a writer that you can break a lot of rules and it can still work. Humor is hard, but this makes it looks easy.
A comic classic, a modern Gargantua. Flawed as the protagonist might be, his vision of the world and of other people is flawless. This book made for favorite bedtime reading to my daughter, full of rich language and much laughter.
I am sad that this was Toole’s only book. He would have been one of the greatest authors. This book is hilarious! It is one of my top five favorite books.
Ignatius is one of the most unforgettable characters you’ll ever meet.
You will never read another book like this. As a resident of New Orleans for 13 years back in the 70’s and 80’s, I can say that even the most whimsical of its characters and events ring true.
Knowing the history of the book and author, extremely sad
My favorite Southern novel.
My favorite book – ever. Heartbreaking that the author committed suicide before his book became famous. I have stood next to the statue of his main character in New Orleans. I reread this book almost every year, and still laugh out loud at the characters and scenes.
Hilarious! Well worth the time spent reading it.
One of my favorite books. I’ve read it three times and it cracks me up every time. Beat character development ever
one of the only books I couldn’t finish reading.
This book is hysterical! I am from Louisiana and have spent time in NOLA. I know people similar to those written about in the book. This is truly a classic!
One of my all-time favorites. I had to have it in my library to re-read every once in a while. And amazing work of genius
obnoxious, I threw the book away
This is a one of a kind book. I dare say that either you’ll love it or hate it. I forced myself to read it because it was a gift and the giver loved it. I had to force myself through it until it began to be amusing. It’s a classic and the only book written by the author. It’s worth reading, but it’s definitely different!