A Confederacy of Dunces

Toole's lunatic and sage novel introduces one of the most memorable characters in American literature, Ignatius Reilly. Ignatius' ire explodes when his mother backs into an automobile. The owner of the damaged vehicle insists on payment; and Mrs. Reilly demands that her son stop watching T.V.

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Toole's lunatic and sage novel introduces one of the most memorable characters in American literature, Ignatius Reilly, whom Walker Percy dubs "slob extraordinary, a mad Oliver Hardy, a fat Don Quixote, a perverse Thomas Aquinas rolled into one - who is in violent revolt against the entire modern age". Ignatius' ire explodes when his mother backs into an automobile. The owner of the damaged vehicle insists on payment; and Mrs. Reilly demands that her son stop watching television and writing in his Big Chief tablet and get a job. Set in New Orleans, "A Confederacy of Dunces" outswifts Swift, one of whose essays gives the book its title. Its characters leave the region and literature forever changed by their presence - Ignatius and his mother; Miss Trixie, the octogenarian assistant accountant at Levi Pants; inept, wan Patrolman Mancuso; Darlene, the Bourbon Street stripper with a penchant for poultry; Jones, the jivecat in spaceage dark glasses. This 20th anniversary edition will include a new introduction looking back on the history of this modern-day classic.