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A Confederacy of Dunces is a novel written by John Kennedy Toole, published in 1980, 11 years after the author's suicide. The book was published through the efforts of the writer Walker Percy (who also contributed a revealing foreword) and Toole's mother, quickly becoming a cult classic. Toole posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for the book in 1981. It is an important part of the 'modern canon' of Southern literature. Image File history File links Confederacy_of_dunces_cover. ...
John Kennedy Toole (December 17, 1937 – March 26, 1969) was an American novelist, from New Orleans, Louisiana, best known for his novel A Confederacy of Dunces. ...
For other uses, see Country (disambiguation). ...
The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
The word comedy has a classical meaning (comical theatre) and a popular one (the use of humor with an intent to provoke laughter in general). ...
A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ...
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College at Baton Rouge, generally known as Louisiana State University or LSU, is a public, coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the main campus of the Louisiana State University System. ...
A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) book is bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with cloth or heavy paper) and a stitched spine. ...
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“ISBN†redirects here. ...
A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ...
John Kennedy Toole (December 17, 1937 – March 26, 1969) was an American novelist, from New Orleans, Louisiana, best known for his novel A Confederacy of Dunces. ...
For other uses, see Suicide (disambiguation). ...
Walker Percy (May 28, 1916 – May 10, 1990) was an American Southern author whose interests included philosophy and semiotics. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded since 1948 for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. ...
The Western canon is a canon of books and art (and specifically one with very loose boundaries) that has allegedly been highly influential in shaping Western culture. ...
Southern literature (sometimes called the literature of the American South) is defined as American literature about the Southern United States or by writers from this region. ...
The title derives 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) In literature, an epigraph is a quotation that is placed at the start of a work or section that expresses in some succinct way an aspect or theme of what is to follow. ...
Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745) was an Irish cleric, satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for Whigs then for Tories), and poet, famous for works like Gullivers Travels, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella, The Drapiers Letters, The Battle of the Books, and...
A genius is a person of great intelligence. ...
A dunce is a person incapable of learning. ...
Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting is the title of a satirical essay by Johnathan Swift. ...
The story is set in the city of New Orleans in the early 1960s. The central character is Ignatius J. (Jacques) Reilly, an intelligent but slothful man still living with his mother at age 30 in Uptown New Orleans, who, because of family circumstances, must set out to get a job. In his quest for employment he has various adventures with colorful French Quarter characters. New Orleans is the largest city in the state of Louisiana, United States of America. ...
The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ...
French Quarter: upper Chartres street looking down towards Jackson Square and the spires of St. ...
Major characters
Ignatius J. Reilly Ignatius is something of a modern Don Quixote — eccentric, idealistic, and creative, sometimes to the point of delusion. (IPA: , but see spelling and pronunciation below), fully titled (The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha) is an early novel written by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. ...
He disdains modernity, particularly pop culture. The disdain becomes his obsession: he goes to movies in order to mock their perversity and express his outrage with the contemporary world's lack of "theology and geometry." He prefers the scholastic philosophy of the Middle Ages, especially that of Boethius. However he is also seen as enjoying many modern comforts and conveniences, and is given to claiming that the rednecks of rural Louisiana hate all modern technology which they associate with progress. Popular culture, sometimes called pop culture, consists of widespread cultural elements in any given society. ...
Scholasticism comes from the Latin word scholasticus, which means that [which] belongs to the school, and is the school of philosophy taught by the academics (or schoolmen) of medieval universities circa 1100–1500. ...
The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...
Boethius teaching his students (initial in a 1385 Italian manuscript of the Consolation of Philosophy). ...
// Redneck, in modern usage, predominantly refers to a particular stereotype of people who may be found in many regions of the United States or Canada. ...
Ignatius operates under the mindset that he does not belong in the world and that his numerous failings are the work of some higher power. He continually refers to the goddess Fortuna as having spun him downwards on her wheel of luck. Ignatius is a glutton and becomes sexually aroused by thoughts of his deceased dog and when he is lifted into the air by four black factory workers. His mockery of obscene images is portrayed as a defensive posture to hide their titillating effect on him. In addition, he exhibits bizarre aversions, for example to Greyhound Scenicruiser buses, the bi-level coaches the company used at the time for its longer routes. He speaks of the horror he feels even just knowing that they are hurtling about in the night. Fortuna governs the circle of the four stages of life, the Wheel of Fortune, in a manuscript of Carmina Burana In Roman mythology, Fortuna (equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) was the personification of luck, hopefully of good luck, but she could be represented veiled and blind, as modern depictions...
Greyhounds 1954 Scenicruiser was one of its most popular buses. ...
Myrna Minkoff Myrna "The Minx" is a Jewish beatnik from New York City, whom Ignatius met while she was in college in New Orleans. Though their political, social, religious, and personal orientations could hardly be more different, Myrna and Ignatius fascinate one another. Repeated reference is made to the tag-team attack on the teachings of the professors Myrna and Ignatius engaged in during their college years. For most of the novel she is seen only in the regular correspondence which the two sustain since her return to New York, a correspondence heavily weighted with sexual analysis on the part of Myrna and contempt for her apparent sacrilegious activity by Ignatius. Officially, they both deplore everything the other stands for. Though neither of them will admit it, their correspondence indicates that, though separated by half a continent, many of their actions are taken with the intention of impressing the other. The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination...
Beatnik is a media stereotype that borrowed the most superficial aspects of the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s to present a distorted (and sometimes violent), cartoon-like misrepresentation of the real-life people and the spirituality found in Jack Kerouacs autobiographical fiction. ...
New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ...
Irene Reilly Mrs. Reilly has been widowed for 21 years. At first, she allows Ignatius his space and takes him where he needs to go, but throughout the course of the novel she learns to stand up for herself. She is fond of drinking cheap wine and is occasionally tipsy, although Ignatius describes her as a raving, abusive drunk. She falls for Claude, a fairly well-off man with a pension, and at the end of the novel she decides she will marry him, but first she agrees with Santa Battaglia (who has not only recently become Mrs. Reilly's new best friend, but also harbors a grand dislike for Ignatius) and attempts to send Ignatius to the mental hospital. A glass of red wine This article is about the alcoholic beverage. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
Other characters - Santa Battaglia is Mrs. Reilly's new best friend and aunt of Officer Mancuso. She wants to get Ignatius out of the way so she can fix up his mother with a potential new husband.
- Claude Robichaux is said potential new husband — an old man constantly on the lookout for any "Communiss" [sic] (Communists) who might infiltrate America, and who takes an interest in protecting Irene.
- Angelo Mancuso is an inept police officer, the nephew of Santa Battaglia. The sergeant in charge is angry with him, and he must somehow make a major bust to avoid being kicked off the force, being reduced to wear ridiculous disguises, and spending time in the bus station toilets in order to arrest "suspicious characters"
- Lana Lee runs a downscale French Quarter strip club, the "Night Of Joy." She employs Darlene and Jones, and runs an illegal pornographic photo ring on the side.
- George is Lana's high-school-aged partner in the pornography ring.
- Darlene is the "Night Of Joy's" goodhearted but none-too-bright stripper who has a pet cockatoo. It is Darlene's intention to better herself, moving up from getting the clients to buy watered-down beer, to dancing and having an "exotic" routine involving her pet.
- Burma Jones is the porter/janitor for the "Night Of Joy" who resentfully holds on to his job only because the police will arrest him for vagrancy if he does not.
- Mr. Clyde is the owner of Paradise Vendors, an old man frustrated with his Hot Dog Vendor Business and his vendors' growing disrepute, not at all aided by Ignatius' contemptible guise.
- Gus Levy runs Levy Pants, a family business in Bywater whose best days seem gone. He prefers to visit Levy Pants as little as possible as it reminds him of his father, from whom he inherited the business.
- Mrs. Levy is Gus Levy's wife. Having taken (and failed) a correspondence course in psychology, she attempts to apply psychoanalytic principles to her husband and Miss Trixie. She also specializes in making her husband's life miserable, often blackmailing Mr. Levy with their two daughters and threatening to show them what to what horrors Gus has exposed her.
- Miss Trixie is an aged clerk at the Levy Pants office who suffers from senile dementia. Mrs. Levy thinks she's doing a good deed by keeping Miss Trixie employed, although Miss Trixie would rather retire. Moreover, Miss Trixie is a liability to the company and repeatedly demands a holiday turkey and ham, both of which were promised to her and not given.
- Mr. Gonzalez is the office manager at Levy Pants.
- Dorian Greene is a flamboyant French Quarter homosexual who puts on elaborate parties for the counterculture. Ignatius tries to recruit him and his "sodomite friends" to infiltrate the army and thus "take down worldwide government" in his unsatisfying failure at eclipsing Myrna Minkoff's political endeavors.
A stripper using a stripper pole to dance around. ...
Subfamily Microglossinae Calyptorhynchinae Cacatuinae A cockatoo is any of the 21 bird species belonging to the family Cacatuidae. ...
John Everett Millais The Blind Girl: vagrant musicians See also vagrancy (biology) for an alternative use of the term. ...
For other uses, see Family Business (disambiguation). ...
The Bywater is a neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. ...
Since its coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ...
In sociology, counterculture is a term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. ...
Minor characters - Frieda Club, Betty Bumper, and Liz Steele are a trio of aggressive lesbians who run afoul of Ignatius, and who figure belligerently in the climactic French Quarter brawl.
- Dr. Talc is a sub-mediocre college professor at Tulane University that had the misfortune of teaching Myrna and Ignatius in separate classes one semester. He still feels the effects years later.
- Miss Annie is the disgruntled neighbor of Irene and Ignatius Reilly who has a severe addiction to headache medication due to the Reillys' constantly noisy domestic activities.
A lesbian is a woman who is romantically and sexually attracted only to other women. ...
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana. ...
For other uses, see addicted. ...
Confederacy and New Orleans The book is famous for its rich depiction of New Orleans and the type of dialogue spoken there. Many locals and writers think that it is the best and most accurate depiction of the city in a work of fiction. [citation needed] Not all locals are enamored of it, however; some New Orleanians think it portrays the city and its inhabitants in an unfavorable light. [citation needed]
The city described in the novel differs in some ways from the actual New Orleans. The first chapter mentions the sun setting over the Mississippi River at the foot of Canal Street. As this direction is to the south-east, this is clearly impossible in our world. Possibly this is a joke by Toole related to the fact that the area across the river is known as the "West Bank," despite the fact that because of the twists of the river it is actually to the south or east from parts of central New Orleans. Such details are not likely to be noticed by people who are not familiar with New Orleans. Sol redirects here. ...
For the river in Canada, see Mississippi River (Ontario). ...
Canal Street may refer to: Canal Street, Manchester – a street in Manchester, England Canal Street, New Orleans – a street in New Orleans Canal Street, Manhattan – a street in New York City This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise...
 The statue of Ignatius J. Reilly stands under the clock at 800 Iberville on the Canal Street entrance of the Chateau Sonesta Hotel in New Orleans. A bronze statue of Ignatius J. Reilly can be found under the clock at the Chateau Sonesta Hotel in the 800 block of Canal Street, New Orleans, the former site of the D.H. Holmes Department Store. The statue mimics the opening scene: Ignatius waits for his mother under the D.H. Holmes clock, clutching a Werlein's shopping bag, dressed in a hunting cap, flannel shirt, baggy pants and scarf, 'studying the crowd of people for signs of bad taste.' The statue is modeled on New Orleans actor John "Spud" McConnell, who portrayed Ignatius in a stage version of the novel. As of August 22, 2007 the statue has been temporarily removed for repair. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (528 × 704 pixel, file size: 79 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Rivers Langley, http://www. ...
Image File history File links Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (528 × 704 pixel, file size: 79 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Rivers Langley, http://www. ...
New Orleans is the largest city in the state of Louisiana, United States of America. ...
Assorted ancient Bronze castings found as part of a cache, probably intended for recycling. ...
A platform clock at Kings Cross railway station in London A clock is an instrument for measuring and indicating the time. ...
Canal Street is a major thoroughfare in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. ...
A young man wearing a tartan flannel shirt. ...
John McConnell, also known as John Spud McConnell (born November 13, 1958) is an actor and a radio personality in New Orleans, Louisiana. ...
Structure The structure of Confederacy of Dunces reflects the structure of Ignatius's favorite book, Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy. Like Boethius' book, the Confederacy of Dunces is divided into chapters that are further divided into a varying number of subchapters. Key parts of some chapters are outside of the main narrative. In Consolation, sections of narrative prose alternate with metrical verse. In Confederacy, such narrative interludes vary more widely in form and include light verse, journal entries by Ignatius, and also letters between himself and Myrna. A copy of the Consolation of Philosophy within the narrative itself also becomes an explicit plot device in several ways. This early printed book has many hand-painted illustrations depicting Lady Philosophy and scenes of daily life in fifteenth-century Ghent (1485) Consolation of Philosophy (Latin: Consolatio Philosophiae) is a philosophical work by Boethius written in about the year 524 AD. It has been described as the single most important...
A plot device is a person or an object introduced to a story to affect or advance the plot. ...
Certain aspects of this novel mirror author John Kennedy Toole's real-life experiences. For instance, Ignatius' two main jobs through the course of the novel are pants factory worker and hot dog vendor. For a brief time after graduating from Tulane, author Toole worked at a pants factory. During free time, he spent days in New Orleans' French Quarter, where he helped a friend sell food from a stand. Post-college degree, Toole also lived with his mother, who was thought to be over-protective. However in other aspects the author was quite unlike his most famous character. Toole enjoyed travel unlike the phobic Ignatius, and was known for being neat and well dressed in contrast to the slovenly protagonist. John Kennedy Toole (December 17, 1937 – March 26, 1969) was an American novelist, from New Orleans, Louisiana, best known for his novel A Confederacy of Dunces. ...
This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...
This article contains a trivia section. ...
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian university headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana. ...
New Orleans is the largest city in the state of Louisiana, United States of America. ...
French Quarter: upper Chartres street looking down towards Jackson Square and the spires of St. ...
Influences People who have cited A Confederacy of Dunces as their favorite book of fiction include Poppy Z. Brite,[1] Tucker Max,[2] Bill Hicks, Slash, Mischa Barton, Faris Rotter, Augusten Burroughs, Neil Berro, Anibal Lugo and Artie Lange (who cites it as the only book he's ever read).[citation needed] and Stephan Pastis Photo of Poppy Z. Brite by J.K. Potter. ...
Tucker Max is an American fratire writer known for chronicling his sexual and drunken exploits on his website, Tuckermax. ...
This Section does not cite any references or sources. ...
Saul Hudson (born July 23, 1965), more widely known as Slash, is an English/American guitarist best known as the former lead guitarist of Guns N Roses and as the current lead guitarist of Velvet Revolver. ...
Mischa Anne Barton (born January 24, 1986) is an English-born American actress and fashion model, best known for her role as Marissa Cooper on the former Fox television teen drama series // Barton was born in Hammersmith, London, England, to Nuala (Quinn), a photographer, and Paul Marsden Barton, a stockbroker. ...
The Horrors are a five-piece band who formed around the Junk Club night (known as Junk) in the basement of the Southend, Essex Royal Hotel. ...
Augusten Xon Burroughs (born Christopher Robison on October 23, 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American writer noted for his New York Times best-selling memoir Running with Scissors (2002), which spawned a feature film of the same name written and directed by Ryan Murphy and starring Joseph Cross as...
Arthur Steven Lange, Jr. ...
Stephan Pastis Stephan Thomas Pastis (born January 16, 1968) is the creator of the comic strip Pearls Before Swine. ...
The difficult path to publication The book would never have been published if Toole's mother had not found the manuscript lying around the house and demanded Walker Percy read it. Percy, an author and college instructor at Loyola University New Orleans, reluctantly read through the manuscript, becoming more captivated with each page. Eventually, the book would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Toole, who committed suicide in 1969 at age 31, did not live to receive the award. The original manuscript is currently at Tulane University in New Orleans. Walker Percy (May 28, 1916 – May 10, 1990) was an American Southern author whose interests included philosophy and semiotics. ...
Logo of Loyola University New Orleans Loyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational Jesuit university in the United States with 5,000 students (3,000 undergraduates). ...
The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical composition. ...
Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ...
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana. ...
Film adaptations Given the book's cult status, there have been repeated attempts to turn the book into a film, although these efforts appeared to be as "cursed" as Toole's efforts to publish the book in the first place had been. At various times, John Belushi, John Candy and Chris Farley were touted for the lead, leading many to ascribe a curse to the role. John Adam Belushi (January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an Emmy Award-winning American actor, comedian and musician, notable for his work on Saturday Night Live, National Lampoons Animal House and The Blues Brothers. ...
John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian comedian and actor. ...
Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian. ...
Look up Curse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
A version adapted by Steven Soderbergh and Scott Kramer, and slated to be directed by David Gordon Green, was scheduled for release in 2005. The film was to star Will Ferrell as Ignatius and Lily Tomlin as Ignatius's mother. A staged reading of the script took place at the 8th Nantucket Film Festival, read by Ferrell as Ignatius, Anne Meara as his mother, Paul Rudd as Officer Mancuso, Kristen Johnston as Lana Lee, Mos Def as Burma Jones, Rosie Perez as Darlene, Olympia Dukakis as Santa Battaglia and Miss Trixie, Natasha Lyonne as Myrna, Alan Cumming as Dorian Green, John Shea as Gonzales, Jesse Eisenberg as George, John Conlon as Mr. Clyde Robichaux, Jace Alexander as Bartender Ben, Celia Weston as Miss Anne, Miss Inez & Mrs. Levy and Dan Hedaya as Mr. Levy. However, due to difficulties pertaining to the publisher's rights, the film never actually began production.[3] Steven Andrew Soderbergh (born January 14, 1963 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and Oscar-winning director. ...
David Gordon Green (born April 9, 1975) is an American filmmaker. ...
This article or section may contain excessive or improper use of copyrighted images and/or audio files. ...
Lily Tomlin (born Mary Jean Tomlin on September 1, 1939), is an Academy Award-nominated American actress and comedian. ...
Anne Meara (born September 20, 1929) is an American comedian and actress. ...
Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American film, television, and stage actor. ...
Kristen Johnston - Promo picture from 3rd Rock from the Sun Kristen Johnston is an American stage, film and television actress born on September 20, 1967 in Washington, DC. She may be most famous for her role in the television series 3rd Rock from the Sun. She also starred as Wilma...
Mos Def (born Dante Terrell Smith on December 11, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York City, USA), is an American rapper. ...
Rosa Maria Perez (born September 6, 1964) is an Academy Award-nominated American actress, dancer, choreographer and director. ...
Olympia Dukakis (born June 20, 1931 in Lowell, Massachusetts) is an Academy Award-winning American actress. ...
Natasha Lyonne (born April 4, 1979) is an American actress, perhaps best known for her role as Jessica in the American Pie movie and its sequel. ...
Alan Cumming (born 27 January 1965) is a Scottish actor best known for his film roles of Boris Grishenko in GoldenEye, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United and on the stage with his Tony Award-winning performance as the Emcee in the highly successful revival of Cabaret. ...
John Shea as Lex Luthor. ...
Jesse Adam Eisenberg (born October 3, 1983 in New York City) is a Jewish-American actor. ...
Jace Alexander (born April 7, 1964) is an American television director and former actor. ...
Celia Weston (b. ...
Dan Hedaya Dan Hedaya is a prolific character actor who was born on July 24, 1940, in Brooklyn, New York to a Sephardic Jewish family. ...
British performer and writer Stephen Fry was at one point commissioned to adapt Toole's book for the screen.[4] Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English comedian, writer, actor, novelist, filmmaker and television personality. ...
See also The following is a list of works that were published or distributed after the parties involved in its creation died. ...
This early printed book has many hand-painted illustrations depicting Lady Philosophy and scenes of daily life in fifteenth-century Ghent (1485) Consolation of Philosophy (Latin: Consolatio Philosophiae) is a philosophical work by Boethius written in about the year 524 AD. It has been described as the single most important...
A smart, darkly comic novel about a man who is dragged into the media spotlight because he believes wearing tin foil keeps him safe from harmful gamma rays away, becoming a media sensation and marketing a successful line of foil hats to Chicago. ...
References
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