Confederacy of Dunces
By John Kennedy Toole
Feeling in the need of a little humor, I turned to Mr. Toole’s
Confederacy of Dunces for the right mix of misanthropy and
satirical insight – and he did not disappoint. The
theme of the novel is summed up nicely by the Jonathan Swift
quotation from which the author found his title: "When
a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this
sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him." Ignatius
J. Reilly, the fleshy, loathsome, slothful anti-hero is that
genius. Like all good satires, it exposes basic human truths
through a slew of undeniable characters and hilarious scenarios
that mock those truths. John Kennedy Toole committed suicide
in 1969 and never saw the publication of his novel. Ignatius
J. Reilly is what he left behind. Well worth a gander. Nancy
Williams Faris
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