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)

Amazing Characterization

The dialog alone is worth the listen. the narrator does a tremendous job bringing the author's vision of his characters to life.

Also, the story behind the story is itself an incredible...story.

Great read. Great listen.

Hilarious.!

Really great narration, character differentiation and humorous language...very entertaining and enjoyable... perfectly unpolitically correct..lol.

A must-read comedic masterpiece

The book:
Theres not much I can say about this book that other reviews haven't covered ad nauseam. The characters are all fantastic and hilariously, stupidly, silly. Many of us that have undergone higher education have someone very similar to Ignatius in mind when reading this novel. Toole's prose and dialogue between characters is incredible. If you're on the fence about buying this book, just do it, you wont regret it, it won the Pulitzer Prize for a reason. (Its also high up on the unofficial MDE book list, the reason I read it).

The narrator:
Whitener does a fantastic performance in this book. Giving each character their own, very recognizable , voice. Ignatius voice specifically is very well done and I will always remember the way he says "OH MY GOD" or talks about his "valve." This audiobook will certainly stand in my head as a reference to exactly how I picture the voice of Ignatius J Riley.

A must read.

Not only an amazing book. The narrator lifts it to new hights by some hillarious voice acting.
A must buy for anyone looking for a real funny book.

Laugh Out Loud Funny

I love humor but rarely laugh out loud. However, with this book I laughed practically every time Ignatius spoke. The narrator was phenomenal in creating this amazing character, as well as Jones and all the others. Their voices were all distinct, and it was hard to believe one narrator was doing them all. I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much reading it in print.

Funniest hero ever

What a brilliant comedy. Ignatious O'Reilly is probably the funniest comic character I have ever encountered. His immense vocabulary and his misanthropic bombast had me reeling. Many of the other characters were almost as funny -- I especially like hard luck policeman Mancuso and Jone the vagrant turned janitor.

I am so glad I listened to this as a book on tape. The narration was superb and the comedy really came to the fore. I am also someone who likes happy endings and I found this novel tied up the many storylines in an especially sweet manner.

A huge surprise

Downloaded by my son, we have both listened and been amazed at this book. The characters are well delineated by the reader, with every nuance of accent and affect possible. It makes you laugh, but more often shake your head in amazement at the idiocy of these people. I can't recommend it to my book club (very funny, frank references to masturbation), but you gotta read this!

Not a conventional novel

What did you love best about A Confederacy of Dunces?

I would say the background of New Orleans and its residents.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

As I mentioned above, this is not a conventional novel. The story is a series of misadventures involving the main character. There is not a conventional narrative in the sense of most novels.

What does Barrett Whitener bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The bluster and arrogance of Ignatius J Reilly is well expressed by the narrator.

If you could rename A Confederacy of Dunces, what would you call it?

I would not rename it.

Any additional comments?

This is a quirky story. The characters are all deeply flawed, and blind to their own ineptitude. It can be frustrating, but it is also very funny. It's hard to like any of the characters, though, because they are so honestly depicted. I must admit, I was hoping to like it more.

A must read!

I love the performance of this book! I had never hear of this until my husband brought home a list of 100 books that everyone should read and this was on it. It was so entertaining and well written.

Fun, but a bit tedious and overrated.

Fun read, but it also felt a bit like homework. Very well written, and the character of Ignatius certainly earns its place as a literary icon. Ultimately, thought, it seems like the story of he books origin is more interesting than the book itself.