First things first: A Confederacy of Dunces was written by John Kennedy Toole, a writer and professor from New Orleans. He expected Dunces to be published as originally written, and was quite broken up when it wasn't. An editor informed him that the book "[wasn't] really about anything" and that it wouldn't be published without significant revision. Toole committed suicide at 31 before this happened, and his mother pushed to get the novel published. In '81 Toole was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer.
I'm not some Toole expert; this is all fairly common knowledge and can be found on Wikipedia. But I think it's important to know going in, because in some ways this book isn't about anything. It's far from perfect and a little surprising as a Pulitzer winner. However, the portrayal of New Orleans and its people is so accurate, so sharp and unflinching, that I understand the accolades.
Ignatius J. Reilly is our protagonist and boy if he isn't an anti hero. He is disgusting, rude, clueless, and completely self absorbed. He is 30, eats like a pig, lives with his mother, and complains about everything he finds distasteful or inappropriate, so...everything. You love to hate him, or you just hate him.
He's surrounded by a cast of characters who are all flawed but at least slightly redeeming. They are down on their luck and so quintessentially New Orleans. The descriptions of the neighbors yelling at each other from their windows, of the shady bars with dolled up yet unappealing dancing girls in the Quarter, of the ineffective police force, are all palpable. And I've experienced many of them in the short two months I've lived here.
The highlight of the book is certainly the New Orleans setting and characters. As mentioned above, the plot isn't exactly scintillating. In fact, there were many times I didn't want to pick the book back up. But the laugh-out-loud-at-the-absurdity moments are unmatched and the satire is spot-on. This city truly is an anomaly. The people here are loud and alive and blunt and a little unsettling to a reserved Kansas girl like me. I have already dealt with enough inefficiency to last me a lifetime (example: it's 2 months in and we still don't have a properly working air conditioner...in New Orleans...in July...). And sometimes the things people say shock and offend me. But they mostly have good hearts and intentions. It's just culture shock.
Some stand out moments for me that aren't spoiler-y:
- Everything with Miss Trixie. That woman was hilarious.
- Ignatius' mother's habit of hiding her wine in the oven. My mother was always storing things in the oven growing up, to the point where I still check my oven before preheating out of habit.
- His distaste of Mark Twain. Mark Twain is a genius, so of course Ignatius hates him. Of course he does.
- The factory "rebellion"
- Quotes like "Myrna's psyche is only capable of dealing with water in an oral context" that are so ludicrous I couldn't help but laugh out loud
I guess I should mention the dialects, which are...accurate? I guess? A white writer tackling AAVE is a touchy subject and I'm unfit to give input on it. There's really only one named black character, which is problematic in itself for a novel that is lauded as so accurately New Orleans. It's certainly not the only issue I had with the book, but the rest of my complaints are largely based on reader preference.
Apparently New Orleans itself is happy enough about Toole's work...they put a statue of Ignatius on Canal St. I imagined him bigger, but I love that they included his ridiculous hat.
Though it wasn't my favorite, I'm so glad I read it.
All in all, I give A Confederacy of Dunces 6.5 out of 10 functional air conditioners.
