Posted on 03/26/2019 12:14:18 PM PDT by Borges
On March 26, 1969, John Kennedy Toole used a garden hose to pump exhaust fumes into his car. He wouldn’t live to see the success of his novel, “A Confederacy of Dunces,” which he had tried and failed to get published.
The book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981, but it also became beloved by audiences who connected with the romp of a picaresque, a dialect-driven New Orleans yarn about a gaseous, garrulous, non-fool-abider, would-be philosopher named Ignatius J. Reilly who lives with his mother.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
“Oh, Fortuna, blind, heedless goddess, I am strapped to your wheel...”
Great book. Remember reading it back in the day.
What a lousy decision on his part.
The story of how the book came to be published, with Toole’s mother toting his manuscript from publisher to publisher, and then from college English professor to college English professor, is almost incredible.
John Kennedy Toole was already in his grave when she set off upon her mission.
I read it 35 years ago. Did not get it. Too gross and grotesque for me.
Great book. I reread it every few years, or just when I need a laugh. In fact, I like it so much that my screen name comes from it.
It is a shame that it has never been made into a movie.
I found it hilarious. The whole dental phobia stuff was great. I still might have my paperback somewhere in the house.
Agreed. It was interesting to me because I knew a guy just like Ignatius in real life. It was a depressing book to slog through.
Any way to read WashPo without a subscription?
I’m with you - a friend lent it to me and said it would be difficult to read through the tears of laughter.
I just didn’t get it.
Me too. It really made me laugh out loud. I've got to re-read it.
Add me to those who loved the book.
Read it. Loved it. Many moons ago.
It's been tried several times. It seems no actor has been found who can really play the part. John Belushi, John Candy, Chris Farley, and John Goodman (among others) have all been proposed as possibilities; all ended up not being able to do it, for reasons not related to no longer being alive.
My favorite scene is at the end, when Myrna Minkoff comes to rescue Ignatius from the Men in White Coats; as they tear off in her Volkswagon, the ambulance from the loony bin passes them with its flashing red lights on and siren wailing, going in the opposite direction. Ignatius, in the back seat, plants a kiss on her down-hanging pony tail.
At Tulane University in New Orleans they have a John Kennedy Toole award. It is like a Pulitzer prize for college students. My son won it when he was there.
I have a number of copies of the book here but I don’t believe I ever read it all they way through. It’s a weird book.
“What a lousy decision on his part.”
Suicide is a permanent solution to what are usually temporary problems.
As disappointed as I am that it has not made it to the big screen, I would probably be more disappointed if they screwed it up. It would have to be made by someone who gets the book and why it is funny. A traditional comic actor wouldn’t necessarily be the best choice for Ignatius.
Still my favorite novel. I still have my first edition, and it’s the one thing I’ll never sell.
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