John Kennedy Toole is best known for A Confederacy of Dunces, a comic novel set in New Orleans. The book follows Ignatius J. Reilly, an overeducated, unemployed man whose certainty about his own intelligence clashes with almost everyone he meets as his mother pressures him to find work. Jobs selling trousers and hot dogs, encounters with police and political schemes, and a large cast of local characters create a sprawling social comedy around him. Toole's prose is energetic, satirical and strongly voice-driven, with Ignatius's grandiose language contrasting with the practical chaos he causes. His work fits comic literary fiction, New Orleans fiction and character-driven social satire. Read more Less
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