"It was written by John Kennedy Toole, who committed suicide and then posthumously won a Pulitzer prize after his mother got his discovered manuscript published," she explained. This further cemented my belief that the only reason classics are called so is because some committee agreed and the public thought the committee must be right. By Gail Collins. Spread this to the Internets: Email; Print; Facebook; Twitter; Pinterest; Tumblr; Reddit; LinkedIn; Pocket; Continue reading » 3. Following it is like unraveling a giant ball of yarn wrapped around a very fat man with a moustache and a funny hat who keeps falling over. My dear, minx-like friend, Doveta Jefferson, enthusiastically recommended that I read Confederacy of Dunces. "A Confederacy of Dunces has been reviewed almost everywhere, and every reviewer has loved it. BWW Review: A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES Weighs in at Boston's Huntington Theatre by Jan Nargi. I'm afraid my lingering disillusion with this book prevents my ability to form any more specific of an analysis. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 February 2019. This so-called "farce" and "classic" was more frustrating to me than entertaining. But Christ... That this book is so popular with people in my age bracket and not so popular with people older or younger really makes me wonder if it is part of the problem or a reflection of the boring, whiny apathy of my generation. I'm afraid my lingering disillusion with this book prevents my ability to form any mor. . a confederacy of dunces by John Kennedy Toole ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1980 A masterpiece of character comedy finally published more than ten years after its writing, thanks to novelist Walker Percy—who furnishes a foreword. But run and insist we must, for the temporal setting of the novel — like the fact of Toole’s suicide in 1969 — becomes an unavoidable aspect of its meaning in 1980. I dislike leaving a book unfinished and the only reason I continued to read it was the hope that my effort would be paid off in the end. A Confederacy of Dunces is an American comic masterpiece that outswifts Swift, whose poem gives the book its title. Share. Ignatius J. Reilly statue. The New York Times Book Review. This so-called "farce" and "classic" was more frustrating to me than entertaining. They live according to an improbable cosmic law that declares human personality to be an unalterable given, incapable of undergoing any development or improvement. ”, PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Nominee (1981), Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for Fiction (1980). Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2017. Somewhere between Portnoy's Complaint and Don Quixote, this is a true modern masterpiece and well-worth the read. A Confederacy of Dunces is an American comic masterpiece that outswifts Swift, whose poem gives the book its title. Truly, I've never read anything like it. Truly, I've never read anything like it. A Confederacy of Dunces ought to be read based on the title alone. The dreaded Myrna arrives in the nick of time to shuttle Ignatius out of the state in her car. For once, everyone is right." I dislike leaving a book unfinished and the only reason I continued to read it was the hope that my effort would be paid off in the end. I love A Confederacy of Dunces, one of the funniest, most empathetic looks at misfits and outsiders ever written, that blessedly never dips into sentimentality.Ignatius P. Reilly is a vexing, troubling, brilliant character who represents the late author’s alter ego, ultimately triumphant. In separate episodes, Ignatius (another Catholic) improbably organizes black workers at the jeans factory and homosexuals in the French Quarter, for improbable anarchist reasons of his own; both schemes, partially designed to provoke Myna Minkoff in turn, predictably end in madcap disasters. I was moved to repost this review by the generous recent reference to it made by Sam Jordison in the Guardian. You aren't my type, sorry. Do they not "get" it or find it boring? See James Evans’ Commentary and Book Review Questions, below: A Confederacy of Dunces was published in 1980 by the Louisiana State University Press. This is the book that almost broke my book club. The end that I’d anticipated was much more quixotic and bleak: Ignatius undergoing shock treatments (which is literally the fate that Myrna saves him from, after his mother, now engaged to Robichaux, is persuaded by a friend to phone the hospital). His mom discovered it, and later gave it to an English professor who got it published. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole . But if this book has any redeemable aspects. 21 questions answered. So, at the worst, one domesticates one’s problems by proxy, resigns oneself to their status as spoiled pets, and chuckles at their semi-permanence, rather than make any effort to solve them. A Confederacy of Dunces follows Ignatius J. Reilly, a 300-pound waster who lives with his mother and spends his time belching, watching films, and penning frantic letters that lie unread. We all know people like this -- the over-educated, miserable, socially dysfunctional outcast who is so cut off from the world that he ma. Do you think that Toole "pulls off" a the major black character without cartoonish stereotyping ? I almost gave up after the first 20 pages, but I decided to stick with it and give it a chance. That's what's wrong with this book. In the mid-20th century, America was engaged in the Cold War—a large-scale nuclear stand-off—with Russia, a communist country which America viewed as a significant threat to democratic freedom. April 7, 2010 ; April is the cruelest month. The character of Ignatius Reilly will haunt me. A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole, 1980 Grove/Atlantic 416 pp. Hopes grow even higher when you hear the story about Toole’s mother who, after his suicide, finally gets the thing published, then sits back to watch the prizes pour in. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. "A corker, an epic comedy, a rumbling, roaring avalanche of a book." Book Review: A Confederacy of Dunces. I got through a few pages about their experience in a bar - then tried a few other spots in the book to see if it got better. Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2019. To OP: can you believe that people are still responding to this? By contrast, Mancuso and Robichaux, the ostensible right-wingers in the book, are depicted as lovably harmless and ineffectual creatures — sweety-pie stooges. Long Distance Book Club was created out of a desire to analyze works we admire with people we don’t often see in person. I thought the book was ok. One of my old boyfriends recommended it to me, and while I was reading it I told him what an asshole I thought Ignatius J. Reilly was, and that I was sick of hearing about his valve. I'm very curious about how close this book was to his own life, as you could not draft these characters without some very specific models. The parrot on his shoulder reminded me of the Mexico episode in Bellow's Augie March (which I also loved and reviewed here). 5 Shares. But Christ... That this book is so popular with people in my age bracket and not so popular with people older or younger really makes me wonder if it is part of the problem or a reflection of the boring, whiny apathy of my generation. Is it their favorite book ever, omg? Toole's Ignatius is intellectualism gone wrong. We hope you enjoy. With very few exceptions, I've found that how much I like someone is strongly correlated with how much they enjoy the book. By John Kennedy Toole. What I mean by Reactionary Humor is the boring literary schemes of Tom Sawyer, not the expedient escape tactics of Huck Finn. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. It could be, too, that I’m just not predisposed to dysfunctional characters, all bloated wi. ← The Other Side of the Argument: First Thoughts on Orson Welles’ Demonic Fugue. This was my second read of this unbelievable masterpiece from John Kennedy Toole who committed suicide 21 years before this book was rediscovered and published by his mother (he was thus the only person to receive a posthumous Pulitzer in 1981). This was my second read of this unbelievable masterpiece from John Kennedy Toole who committed suicide 21 years before this book was rediscovered and published by his mother (he was thus the only person to receive a posthumous Pulitzer in 1981). He got pissed off at me and told me that I didn't get it. Some of the most beloved novels ever written marked the beginning and end of a literary career. Tweet. the novel astonishes with its inventiveness . He’s decidedly offbeat, which is all well and good, but I just didn’t think he was funny. John Sutherland. Has Then there are the gay characters, whom Toole seems to fear even more than his female leftists — beer-can-crushing lesbians who threaten to beat Ignatius to a pulp, males who emit an “emasculated version of an Apache war cry” when he unplugs a phonograph playing Lena Horne. The diverse New Orleans inhabitants of a sleazy nightclub, city street, police station, factory office, and classy gay party vibrate with the same celestial ineptitude: a mainly unemployed fat slob with an MA who’s never gotten further away from home than Baton Rouge (the hero); his dimwitted mother and her dimwitted friends, including a pathetic cop named Patrolman Mancuso and an elderly suitor called Claude Robichaux who blames everything on “the comuniss”; and an assortment of other grotesques that what the hero calls Fortune keeps throwing in his bumbling path. Santa, Claude, and Mrs. Reilly are sitting around chatting.