A Confederacy of Dunces

John Kennedy Toole

Dec 2007 · Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

About this eBook

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize

“A masterwork . . . the novel astonishes with its inventiveness . . . it is nothing less than a grand comic fugue.”—The New York Times Book Review

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 Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times).

Ratings and reviews

This book was a very good read for me. It was smartly written and also quite funny. Toole showed how a brillant mind like Ignatius' operated amongst the limited "confederacy." The dunces thought Ignatius was to be their undoing, but instead he helped the oppressed and used the oppressors own zeal against them. It's like jujutsu even.

Dull, vapid, boring, and distasteful. This book is the worst book I have read in my life and it is safe to say that by buying the book electronically, I have saved the environment excess carbon dioxide from the bonfire I could have started with this book. For those reading it as an 11th grade summer assignment, good luck and try not to rip out your eyeballs.

I stumbled upon this book 10 years ago and it blew me away. I couldn't put it down and I have to read it again! You'll fall in love with the unique story, and it'll break your heart to learn that the author tragically died before he could share more of his genius with the world. Truly a gift and a huge loss at the same time.

About the author

John Kennedy Toole, a native of New Orleans, graduated from Tulane University and received a master's degree in English from Columbia University. He taught at Hunter College, the University of Southwestern Louisiana, and Dominican College in New Orleans. His only other novel, The Neon Bible, is also published by Grove Press.