A Confederacy of Dunces Audiobook By John Kennedy Toole cover art

A Confederacy of Dunces

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A Confederacy of Dunces

By: John Kennedy Toole
Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
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Winner of the Pulitzer Prize

“A masterwork . . . the novel astonishes with its inventiveness . . . it is nothing less than a grand comic fugue.”—The New York Times Book Review

A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head. The green earflaps, full of large ears and uncut hair and the fine bristles that grew in the ears themselves, stuck out on either side like turn signals indicating two directions at once. Full, pursed lips protruded beneath the bushy black moustache and, at their corners, sank into little folds filled with disapproval and potato chip crumbs.

So enters one of the most memorable characters in recent American fiction.

The hero of John Kennedy Toole's incomparable, Pultizer Prize–winning comic classic is one Ignatius J. Reilly, an obese, self-absorbed, hapless Don Quixote of the French Quarter, whose half-hearted attempts at employment lead to a series of wacky adventures among the lower denizens of New Orleans. This book has become an American comic masterpiece.

©1980 Thelma D. Toole (P)1997 Blackstone Audiobooks Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Pulitzer Prize World Literature Funny Witty Feel-Good Thought-Provoking

Critic reviews

"Barrett Whitener strikes just the right note." (AudioFile)

"A Confederacy of Dunces has been reviewed almost everywhere, and every reviewer has loved it. For once, everyone is right." (Rolling Stone)

"What a delight, what a roaring, rollicking, footstomping wonder this book is! I laughed until my sides ached, and then I laughed on." (Chicago Sun-Times)
Hilarious Satire • Eccentric Characters • Brilliant Dialogue • Rich Language • Converging Storylines

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Who paid Barrett Whitener to read this book? Fool. John Kennedy Toole must be spinning in his grave.

How can I possibly rate the audiobook?

The book is a guilty pleasure with subtleties that some readers don't appear to appreciate, but Whitener's rendering keeps me wincing throughout. Too fast. Who talks that fast, certainly not the narrator. And where did the accents originate? Walker Percy gave the reader great direction, but Whitener ignored it altogether. I had misgivings after listening to the sample of Whitener reading, so more the fool am I.

I pray that a New Orleanian re-records this book before the City homogenizes into bland and the neighborhood accents blur.




ABOMINATION!

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There's something about Ignatius J Reilly ... He'll make you guffaw with laughter, choke with repulsion and, thanks to the remarkable talent of John Kennedy Toole, you might even find pity for him.

This novel is astounding. It's such a tragedy that there were no more novels by Toole, who could have been a prodigious talent. However we have this title, and Ignatius is his gift to the world, and the world is much richer for it.

You won't regret a moment spent listening to this brilliant audiobook; the narration is spot on, and the characterisations marvellous. Best enjoyed while eating a hot dog. Happy listening.

Sublime. A perfect telling of this remarkable tale

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Would you try another book from John Kennedy Toole and/or Barrett Whitener?

The narrator does a good job of bringing life to the characters and distinguishing between the different voices. I only wish they had found someone who actually knows New Orleans accents or had at least been coached in how to pronounce the place names. Once you get used to the inauthentic accents, it's a pretty good listen, until a street name comes along, and then it's like nails on a chalk board.

Lively but inauthentic narration

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I was facinated by this audio book - hating to turn off my MP3 player each morning and go to work. Each night on the commuter train ride back home, I was transported to the New Orleans of my youth. At times, laugh out load funny, but always utterly riveting.

Facinating

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Would you try another book from John Kennedy Toole and/or Barrett Whitener?
yes and yes

Who was your favorite character and why?
Crazy Ignatius, who else?

How did the narrator detract from the book?
People who know the New Orleans accent say he got it all wrong, but I don't so I don't care!

What character would you cut from A Confederacy of Dunces?
Nobody. It's a masterpiece.

Any additional comments?

The book's joking comments about the danger of communists and homosexuals, well, it turned out to be prescient!

I love this book

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