"A Confederacy of Dunces"

[RagAss]

by John Kennedy Toole.

I never planned to read this book every 2 years or so since I first read it in 1982....it just seems to work out that way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confederacy_of_Dunces

[XemaSab]

1. One of the best books I have ever read

:D

[KamaAina]

2. A genuine New Orleanian once suggested I should play the role of Ignatius

in fact, Mom never could finish the book; she said he reminded her too much of me!

Wonder what our favorite medievalist would make of NOLA today? First a Biblical flood, now the city gone insane over some spectacle called "football". :-)

[Burma Jones]

17. You are obviously a person who appreciates theology and geometry

Now, where's my Dr. Nut?

[KamaAina]

18. Ooo woo! You call a po-lice a cawmniss?!

:hi:

[Heidi]

3. One of my favorite books EVER.

:thumbsup:

[LuckyLib]

4. Stumbled on it years ago, and laughed out loud -- truly a great read.

[REP]

5. I read it about once a year

It never gets old. I just wish he were still alive.

[EastTennesseeDem]

6. My all-time favorite book. And there is no close second.

I have to read it in private though. Otherwise I will look like a complete nut laughing hysterically nonstop for several hundred pages.

J.K. Toole should be sainted for writing that book. It is that good.

[nuxvomica]

13. I made the mistake of reading it on an airplane

I'm afraid I couldn't hold in the laughter at one point -- IIRC, it was a passage about finger impressions in some coconut covered pastry.
It was recommended to me by my boss at the time, a voracious reader who told me about it when I asked him what was the best novel he had ever read.

[dixiegrrrrl]

21. close second...his Neon Bible.

[Solly Mack]

7. One of my favorites

[enigmatic]

8. One of the 10 greatest books written in the 20th Century

Easy.

And if the film they've been threatening to make ever comes to pass, I want Paul Giamatti as Ignatious J. Reily, dammit!

[XemaSab]

23. You know of the curse?

Jim Belushi, John Candy, and Chris Farley have all been proposed for the role. :o

[proteus_lives]

9. It's a good book.

[Bucky]

10. It's a great book, really biting humor.

For someone who was born in New Orleans in the 60s, the mood and descriptions of the locale are just eerily dead on.

[Courtesy Flush]

11. I'm overdue for a re-read nt

[PassingFair]

12. It has never been made into a movie.

I think John Candy would have been the ultimate Ignatius.

I once read somewhere that Johnny Depp owns the movie
rights to the book.

I don't know if it's true.....

[Tuesday Afternoon]

14. John Candy, Chris Farley, and Will Ferell among other names

http://www.slate.com/id/2155500/

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/2286/confederacy-cancelled-by-dunces

[hfojvt]

15. I tried to read it once, but didn't get very far

I don't remember why, but I must not have found it interesting or amusing.

[Burma Jones]

16. Oooo-weee

My user name bespeaks my love of this wonderful book.......and my love of New Orleans.......

[semillama]

19. The book contains the best line of movie criticism ever penned:

"Who is responsible for this technicolor abortion?!"

[Redstone]

20. Dang, now I have to go read it again. And buy lute strings!

Redstone

[myrna minx]

22. It's one of my favorite books.

:hi:

[EastTennesseeDem]

25. How would one ever know?

:P

[RagAss]

27. LOL !.... I bet it is Myrna.

[nolabear]

24. My valve!!

I have loved this book since the first time I read it. And the story of its publication, of John Kennedy Toole's mother harrassing editors with the story of her (by then dead by suicide) son's genius until it was published, the controversies over their relationship and her love of the spotlight once the book and the story came out (and its psychological implications) is a fascinating topic. And if you really want to have some fun, read "Managing Ignatius", the story behind the Lucky Dog salesmen in New Orleans, where Toole got much of his inspiration for Ignatius' character--or at least his outfit.

I saw the first-ever stage production of ACofD in Seattle a few months ago. So much could have gone so wrong, but it was terrific! Since I grew up in the area that Toole did, I've always been fascinated by the particular flavor that the mother-son relationship has in that book. Plus, it's just plain funny!

[Taverner]

26. Funny book. Sad book.

Read a biography on John Kennedy O'Toole after reading it if you don't beleive me

[MrCoffee]

28. I've never been able to finish it

At some point, Ignatius starts writing a letter or an op-ed or something and it goes on for 400 pages and I get tired of it and I put it down.

I've stalled out in that same section three times.