A Confederacy of Dunces was published in 1980 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981. Toole's novels remained unpublished during his lifetime. Some years after his death by suicide, Toole's mother brought the manuscript of A Confederacy of Dunces to the attention of the novelist Walker Percy, who ushered the book into print.
Even with all the accolades, I really had a hard time getting into this novel about Ignatius J. Reilly, an obese overbearing slob who disdains almost everything about modern society. He lives with his obnoxious mother in New Orleans and tries to his utmost to get by without working even though he has a master's degree. Eventually his mother makes him get a job after she is in an auto accident causing $1000 damage to a building. He gets a job at a pants factory as a file clerk and ends up inciting a riot when he wants the workers to strike. While there he also writes a fraudulent letter which results in a $500,000 lawsuit against the company. He then later gets a job as a hot dog street vendor which also ends up badly. Along the way he has that idea that homosexuals should run the country and tries to get them to go into politics. He also gets involved with some lowlifes at a local strip bar involving pornography and prostitution. He is obviously deranged and in need of help.
I admit that the novel contained many comic episodes but I couldn't really identify with the characters. I plodded along eventually getting to the end wondering why I had read this one.
Even with all the accolades, I really had a hard time getting into this novel about Ignatius J. Reilly, an obese overbearing slob who disdains almost everything about modern society. He lives with his obnoxious mother in New Orleans and tries to his utmost to get by without working even though he has a master's degree. Eventually his mother makes him get a job after she is in an auto accident causing $1000 damage to a building. He gets a job at a pants factory as a file clerk and ends up inciting a riot when he wants the workers to strike. While there he also writes a fraudulent letter which results in a $500,000 lawsuit against the company. He then later gets a job as a hot dog street vendor which also ends up badly. Along the way he has that idea that homosexuals should run the country and tries to get them to go into politics. He also gets involved with some lowlifes at a local strip bar involving pornography and prostitution. He is obviously deranged and in need of help.
I admit that the novel contained many comic episodes but I couldn't really identify with the characters. I plodded along eventually getting to the end wondering why I had read this one.
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