Hilarious Read: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

This book is a must read. The dialogue is superb; it's sharp and witty and its authenticity jumps off the page, and sucks you in. I'm not sure why the last few books I've recommended are by authors who have committed suicide. (See: Fantastic Read: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath) Maybe, they wrote with a clarity and honesty that is difficult for many to achieve, and instead of morbid outpourings, we get upbeat writing, which inspires and delights.

John Kennedy Toole's life and death is as extra-ordinary as his writing. He wrote this in 1967, but it wasn't published until 1980 - 11-years after his suicide in 1969, when his mother discovered his hand-written manuscript amongst all his papers. The Lost Soul Companion Project - an organization which helps emerging artists, writers, musicians, and actors to navigate the road less travelled - explains the background and the circumstances surrounding his death, the best. This is fascinating stuff and definitely worth a read. I only found this site today and thumbs up to them.

The story is about Ignatius J. Reilly and his efforts to find his first job at thirty, whilst still living with his mother, in Uptown New Orleans. This is such a wonderful book; it's just such a travesty that Toole didn't live long enough to enjoy the success of winning the Pullitzer Prize in 1981. Instead, he died thinking he was a complete and utter failure. The excellent title - A Confederacy of Dunces - comes from the book's epigraph by Jonathan Swift: "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him." (Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting).

Here's what readers at Amazon had to say about A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.

Check out Spike Magazine's take on it: The End is Wry.


For more info on Toole read Ignatius Rising: The Life of Kennedy Toole.