A Confederacy of Dunces

A Confederacy of Dunces is a picaresque novel that tells the story of Ignatius J. Reilly, an overweight, unemployed, and intellectually arrogant man living with his mother in New Orleans.

The novel is a rich satire that critiques modern society through Ignatius's interactions with a diverse cast of characters, including his mother Irene, his girlfriend Myrna Minkoff, and various eccentric figures from New Orleans.

Written in the early 1960s while Toole was in the army, the book was published posthumously in 1980 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981.

It is celebrated for its witty and absurd portrayal of life in New Orleans and its memorable protagonist, Ignatius J. Reilly.