Search - A Confederacy of Dunces

I have found that readers of this book fall into one of two categories: you love it or you hate it. Most of my book club hated it. I loved it.

The main character, Ignatius J. Reilly, is a haughty, self-centered, self-seeking, self-proclaimed genius who lives with his mother. There is absolutely nothing redeeming about his character, so don't expect him to stumble across any epiphanies or enlightenment. And yet in spite of everything unlikeable about him, he still makes for very interesting and entertaining reading. Most readers probably won't be able to identify with him. I could not, but that didn't make his story any less appealing.

The story is set in New Orleans and I think that John Kennedy Toole did a really wonderful job of capturing the essence and attitude that is New Orleans.

Once finishing the book, you might ask yourself, "What was the point?" It's not that the book doesn't go anywhere or that the story doesn't progress... I see this book more as a snapshot of a certain time in Ignatus's life and because of that there is no hard and fast conclusion. Perhaps that is why some people are left a little disappointed. The book simply ends, and Ignatius remains Ignatius. But the time you get to spend inside of the fairly off-center mind of Ignatius makes the semi- anticlimactic ending worth it because it's quite the ride in getting there.

In all I found the story to be entertaining and quirky in a way that was refreshing and even a little unique. If you approach this book with the attitude that you won't learn anything useful (and neither do the characters, really) then you shouldn't be disappointed.