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)

Never been to New Orleans

This is a Pulitzer Prize Winner. An excellent story that I have read many times. I still chuckle at parts of it and never tire of the adventures of Ignatius,
The reader is good and easy to understand but has no idea how New Orleans people speak. Also, he has the accent down, but Jones speaks too fast.
I live in Louisiana. Overall, I’m happy with the Reading.

aggravating and alluring at the same time

the premise of the book and the characters are extremely interesting. I wish the portrayal of the main character had been somewhat different,

Marvelous performance

A great work of satirical story telling and foreshadowing of modern society. The art of word is phenomenal but the delivery by the narrator is astoundingly entertaining and enlightening. Highly recommend.

Fantastic Performance

This was a great “read” made even more enjoyable by the wonderful performance of the reader.

Mamas boy causes big time mayhem

Everybody knows someone (usually an only child, usually male) that was so spoiled by their parent when young, that never leaves home for long, and sponges off of their mother into adulthood,

And their mothers allow it, encourage it, thrive off it, take care of them far into their adulthood. I’ve known several in my life.

This takes mama’s boy to the extreme and is one of my favorite books ever.

It’s also a love letter to New Orleans. I’ve visited New Orleans multiple times a year all my life. It so wonderful to hear the way he captures the look and feel of parts or the city in words. I can see Officer Mancuso riding under the live oaks on St. Charles every time I read it/hear it. I can see Dorian’s 3 story home with courtyard. I’ve stayed there or in a building that fits the description to a T. I’ve stood under the clock of D.H. Holmes when it was open.
I’ve seen artwork hung on the fence along Pirate’s Alley behind St. Louis Cathedral. I’ve seen the tin hot dog carts being pushed through the French Quarter.
I’ve met a few suspicious characters and “preverts” as Officer Mancuso would say.


So it’s a personal book for me. It makes me laugh, makes me smile, it makes me cringe at some elements that didn’t age well for our delicate society. After all, though published in the 80’s it was written in the early 60’s.

I would love to see this as a limited cable network series.

In my top 3 favorite books ever.

A true treasure

A great tale of how academia can break your brain in the most beautiful way

A reading that begs for multiple actors to narrate

The narrator did well. This story, with multiple story lines, with characters of different ethnicities, generations, genders and orientation, would have benefited from different readers who actually represent the voice in actuality. It is a bit cringe when a non-black person tries to speak like a 1970's black man, or a man imitates an elderly woman's voice. No knock on the narrator, but the brain behind the casting should have broadened the readers.

Why God made audio books.

What a wonderful experience! A delightful book and so expertly read. Listening to this book reminded me of something we used to call "radio". I've listned to many books and in this one each character was expertly rendered and captured.
And the story itself is captivating. It has humor galore and a bit of suspence as well. I fully agree with the opening narration that the loss of the author is a double tragegy: for his own death and for the world to lose any future books. I'd read more in a flash.

The funniest book I've listened to in a long time

You may not like this book if you are offended by ethnic stereotypes (Black, Catholic, Jewish, southern, police,intellectuals), but I found the book hilarious. The author skewers everyone including the police and the city of New Orleans. it is too bad this is his only book.

A more splendid bit of reading I shall ne'r hear

Barrett Whitener presents this work with such a thorough mastery that it must be truly love. From the first syllable Jones speaks, with a voice that must have been considered for long weeks before performing, he becomes real. I have an easy time voicing roles while reading, but I could never have imagined a more fully dimensioned character than the one iterated in this piece.

The voice acting is only enhanced by the fact that the text is also very good.