A Confederacy of Dunces

By: John Kennedy Toole

Narrated by: Barrett Whitener

Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

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

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)

Excellent and entertaining

This work won the Pulitzer Prize for 1981, sadly the author unable to face rejection of this novel ended his life in 1969. Where he gave up on life, his mother who believed in him preserved to have this novel read and published. The literary world owes her a debt of gratitude for this is a wonderfully written poignant novel. For me, the work is about relationships. The author creates a protagonist who is considered an adult, but as the story unfolds we find a not to likeable overgrown child who uses manipulation and when his schemes don't pan out his way cries “victim”. A mother who enables him for the most part but she herself is totally lacking in the domestic department, much easier to pacify him than deal with him. As the story progresses his antics grow out of control and as different characters are brought into fray we have quite a lot of scenarios being tossed into the pot, be sure to duck when it starts to boil over. I found it delightful, quite humorous and even sadly disturbing. I listened to the Audible of this work, performed by Barrett Whittener and he was simply brilliant in bringing the characters and the story to life and highly entertaining.

Hilarious

So entertaining. I couldn't stop listening. Really enjoyed this one.
If you're looking for an entertaining listen, this is perfect.

A Masterpiece! I've already Listened to it Twice!

What did you love best about A Confederacy of Dunces?

The story, the characters, the performance. Everything was perfect!

What did you like best about this story?

Ignacious Riley is just such a great character. So obnoxious and clueless but lovable and hilarious!

What about Barrett Whitener’s performance did you like?

His voice characterizations are perfect. He painted clear pictures of every character through his accents and delivery.

Who was the most memorable character of A Confederacy of Dunces and why?

Good Grief!!! Ignacious Riley of course. One of the great characters of 20th Century literature!

Superb enchantment

Thank you PBS “great American read” for bringing this work to my attention. I laughed with exuberance and was throughly appalled at the slurs and insults prodigiously expounded by the outlandish characters. A book I will remember for years.

Wonderful!

I love the book and was thrilled that you chose such an incredible reader/actor for the book. He made the characters come to life. You made a great book greater.

entertaining story, horrible narration

the book was great but the narrator was absolutely terrible. I found his ethnic accents to be very distracting. all the black characters and the one Latina all sounded like an offensive cliche of a Chinese accent for some reason. I believe ibwill skip any books that are read by this hack in the future. he very nearly ruined what was supposed to be a funny and satirical tale by turning the characters into crude stereotypes.

One of my all time favorite books

A Confederacy of Dunces is one of my all time favorite books. I read it every couple of years. This year, I decided to buy the Audiobook, and I am so glad I did! The performance was amazing, and there were things I noticed listening to the book that I had not noticed reading it. You don't ever skim when listening, so you hear every word. I would highly recommend this audiobook!

Why didn’t I read this sooner?!?

It is honestly difficult to describe this book...It is a masterfully written comedy where you will love to hate the main character, Ignatius, but then weirdly understand him and recognize him as someone from your life. Just read the book, it’s worth it.

Slow start but once it gets you, you're hooked!

This story is a slow start but the characters are just kooky enough to be compelling. I thought I was gonna hate it but I've got to admit it's a gem of a find.

Great reader for a fun read

I still don’t know why this is considered such a great book, but the reader helped me enjoy it more than reading it on my own. It is a fun book even if none of the characters are particularly likeable.