A Confederacy of Dunces (1980) by John Kennedy Toole is a riotous, Pulitzer Prize-winning satire set in 1960s New Orleans, following the misadventures of Ignatius J. Reilly, an obese, medieval-minded eccentric who still lives with his long-suffering mother. With his flapping hunting cap, disdain for modernity (“geometry is the work of demons”), and delusional self-importance, Ignatius careens through a series of absurd jobs—from filing clerk to hot-dog vendor—leaving chaos in his wake.
Toole’s posthumously published masterpiece (he died by suicide in 1969) is a carnival of grotesque yet endearing characters: a flamboyant gay bar owner, a beleaguered beat cop, and Ignatius’s long-suffering mother, who dreams of psychiatric intervention. The novel’s farcical plot and scathing humor mask a deeper critique of hypocrisy, capitalism, and cultural decay.
A cult classic and literary landmark, A Confederacy of Dunces is a love letter to New Orleans and a timeless ode to the glorious absurdity of human folly.
