Rob Errera

Writer. Editor. Publisher. Musician. Autism Dad.

  • Home
  • Autism Dad
  • Books
  • Music
  • Book Reviews
  • Custom Guitars
  • Contact
  • Store

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

August 30, 2015 by Bob Leave a Comment

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

 A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole is funny, wise, and as close to a perfect novel as you’re likely to find.

Protagonist Ignatius C. Reilly is a bloated buffoon, a man-baby who lives with his mother, has a troubled digestive valve that causes him to burp and fart with great frequency, and possesses one of the most “unique” worldviews you’re likely to find.

Ignatius is loaf completely at ease with his loafishness:

“I dust a bit,” Ignatius told the policeman. “In addition, I am at the moment writing a lengthy indictment against our century. When my brain begins to reel from my literary labors, I make an occasional cheese dip.”

Ignatius is like a giant child when he considers his career options and argues with his mother:

I suspect that something like a newspaper route would be rather agreeable.

“I dare you to come out in that shredded nightgown and get me!” Ignatius answered defiantly and stuck out his massive pink tongue.

Above all, A Confederacy of Dunces is funny. Laugh out loud is an overused phrase, but COD will make you LOL for realz, yo. The situations are so absurd, the characters so odd, and the dialogue veers between biting satire punctuated by unexpected blasts of pee-your-pants profanity.

“Go dangle your withered parts over the toilet!” Ignatius screamed savagely. Miss Trixie shuffled away.

No mater what the problem, Ignatius always finds a way to blame others.

“Employers sense in me a denial of their values.” He rolled over onto his back. “They fear me. I suspect that they can see that I am forced to function in a century which I loathe.

You must realize the fear and hatred which my weltanschauung instills in people.

He twisted his face into a mask of suffering. There was no use fighting Fortuna until the cycle was over. “You realize, of course, that this is all your fault. 

“You’re full of bullshit.”

“I? The incident is sociologically valid. The blame rests upon our society.”

Sometimes COD goes for screwball comedy and slapstick. Taken as a whole, COD is the mother of all farces.

When he’s not avoiding work or fighting with his mother, Ignatius plots against Myrna, a radical student he once attended classes with. The romantic ending of COD is anticipated but still manages to be unexpectedly satisfying.

Dr. Talc idly wondered if they (Iggy and Myrna) had married each other. Each certainly deserved the other.

Through Myrna’s letters we see she has true insight into Ignatius’ personality:

This “automobile accident” is a new crutch to help you make excuses for your meaningless, impotent existence.

A good, explosive orgasm would cleanse your being and bring you out of the shadows.

Great Oedipus bonds are encircling your brain and destroying you

Ignatius, a very bad crack-up is on the way. You must do something. Even volunteer work at a hospital would snap you out of your apathy,

The valve closes because it thinks it is living in a dead organism. Open your heart, Ignatius, and you will open your valve.

 

Behind his absurdity, Ignatius is sad and lonely, a sorrow that stems from his isolationism:

We both exist outside the inner realm of American society. Myrna was, you see, terribly engaged in her society; I, on the other hand, older and wiser, was terribly dis-engaged.

I really have had little to do with them, for I mingle with my peers or no one, and since I have no peers, I mingle with no one.

I don’t dance. I never dance. I have never danced in my life.

COD is also a love letter to Toole’s native New Orleans:

Patrolman Mancuso inhaled the moldy scent of the oaks and thought, in a romantic aside, that St. Charles Avenue must be the loveliest place in the world.

New Orleans is, on the other hand, a comfortable metropolis which has a certain apathy and stagnation which I find inoffensive. At least its climate is mild.

The balconies of the old buildings hung over my head like dark branches in an allegorical forest of evil.

I won’t get into the tragic personal history of author John Kenndy Toole. The story behind his career and the publication of COD is itself an impossible tale of heartbreaking genius. But the toxic mother-son relationship at the heart of this novel certainly is rife with autobiographical elements.

Ms. Reilly laments Ignatius’ weak work ethic.

“My heart’s broke.”

“Ain’t he writing something?”

“Some foolishness nobody never gonna feel like reading.”

Fortunately, the real-life Thelma Toole felt differently about her son’s work.

-30-

Share the love!

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Bestsellers, Book Review, Literary Fiction, Novels, Personal Favorites Tagged With: A Confederacy of Dunces, book review, comedy, farce, funny, John Kennedy Toole, love story, mother vs son, perfect novel, Pulitzer Prize, sadness

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Home
  • Autism Dad
  • Books
  • Music
  • Book Reviews
  • Custom Guitars
  • Contact
  • Store

New Thriller! The Mud Man!

Born of mud.

Made for murder.

New! Autism Dad 3: Life Skills and Life Lessons!

Get A Job, Son!

Rob Rants About…

age of apology amateur writing autism Autism Dad blogging book review Brian Keene C. L. Holmes College Conjure Wife debut novel digital ban digital literature digitize classics digitize Salinger education Edward Lee family fatherhood Fritz Leiber future of publishing horror horror fiction Jack Ketchum Joe Hill John FD Taff journalism love story Lucky McKee memoir musical fiction mythology near-death experience new book no Salinger ebooks now available Our Great Abbess revenge tale Salinger Estate satire self publishing sensual nightmares short stories Stephen King weird

“Spine-Tingling Tales of Musical Terror!”

New Release! Autism Dad 2!

Autism Dad 2—'Tween Edition: Continuing Adventures in Autism, Adolescence & Fatherhood 
Get it @ Amazon!
   kindle
Get it@ Barnes & Noble!  nook
Get it@ Smashwords!   smashwords
Get it @ Createspace! Autism Dad 2: Autism, Adolescence & Fatherhood by Rob Errera

“Bloodcurdling Historical Horror!”

Our Great Abbess by C.L. Holmes

Get it @ Amazon!   kindle
Get it@ Barnes & Noble!  nook
Get it@ Smashwords!   smashwords

Dig The Enzertones!

Like It! Click It!

Like It! Click It!

Follow Rob!

Tweets by @haikubob

RSS

  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments

“Informative, poignant and engaging!”

Autism Dad: Adventures in Raising An Autistic Son
Autism Dad: Adventures in Raising An Autistic Son, $9.95 trade paperback / $3.99 ebook.
@ Amazon! kindle

@ Barnes & Noble! nook

@ Smashwords! smashwords

@ Createspace! Autism Dad: Adventures in Raising An Autistic Son by Rob Errera

More great posts!

A Head Full Of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

Paul Tremblay’s A Head Full Of Ghosts is a beautiful novel, a post-modern tale of demonic possession that leaves you questioning where truth lies in our surreal/unreal world. Publisher William Morrow sums up A Head Full Of Ghosts: The lives of the Barretts, a normal suburban New England family, are torn apart when fourteen-year-old Marjorie […]

The Sleepless by Graham Masterton

I wanted to like this book, because I like Graham Masterton. This British wordsmith has been cranking out tales of horror, mystery and suspense for close to four decades. The Manitou is a classic in the horror genre, and Masterton always crafts his stories with folklore, fairytales, and gritty characters. All those elements are in […]

Wool Omnibus Edition (Wool 1 – 5) (Silo series) by Hugh Howey

We all want to be Hugh Howey when we grow up. Howey is a folk hero to those of us who dip our toes in the waters of self-publishing. After publishing Wool with a small press, Howey self-published his post-apocalyptic sci-fi series on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, where it found a huge audience. The following […]

“This book rocked my world!”

Hangman's Jam, A Symphony of Terror by Rob Errera

Buy it at Amazon! Hangman's Jam: A Symphony of Terror by Rob Errera.

Buy it at Barnes and Noble! Hangman's Jam: A Symphony of Terror by Rob Errera.

Buy it at Smashwords! Hangman's Jam: A Symphony of Terror by Rob Errera.

Buy it at Createspace! Hangman's Jam: A Symphony of Terror by Rob Errera.

Copyright © 2023 · News Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in