Why a Booktrail?
1960s: A Don Quixote for the modern age
A Confederacy of Dunces
What you need to know before your trail
John Kennedy Toole’s masterful comic novel takes its title from Jonathan Swift. A monument to sloth, rant and contempt, a behemoth of fat, flatulence and furious suspicion of anything modern – this is Ignatius J. Reilly of New Orleans, noble crusader against a world of dunces. The ordinary folk of New Orleans seem to think he is unhinged. Ignatius ignores them, heaving his vast bulk through the city’s fleshpots in a noble crusade against vice, modernity and ignorance. But his momma has a nasty surprise in store for him: Ignatius must get a job. Undaunted, he uses his new-found employment to further his mission – and now he has a pirate costume and a hot-dog cart to do it with.
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BookTrail Travel to New Orleans
New Orleans is very proud of her native son, Ignatius, and so there is a statue of him under the DH Holmes department store clock.
The text of the plaque is one of the first lines of the book and describes Ignatius…
“In the shadow under the green visor of the cap Ignatius J. Reilly’s supercilious blue and yellow eyes looked down upon the other people waiting under the clock at the D.H. Holmes department store, studying the crowd of people for signs of bad taste in dress.
John Kennedy Toole”
The city comes to life in this book – from the ever colourful Bourbon street where the infamous bars in the book are located, to the nicer parts such as the French quarter and cobbled squares. There’s also a lot of history in the book. Most famously the mention of the Hibernia National Bank whose HQ you can still see at 812 Gravier St.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: A Confederacy of Dunces
Destination: Lousiana, New Orleans Author/guide: John Kennedy Toole Departure Time: 1960s
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