Writing style
Descriptive · Dialogue-driven · Witty
Apple BooksA Confederacy of Dunces
Literary fiction · Farce · Picaresque · Satire
- First published
- 1980
- Print length
- 394 pagesGrove Press, 2006
Description
Ignatius J. Reilly is a thirty-year-old medieval-history graduate who lives with his mother in early-1960s New Orleans, refuses employment, and regards modern society as an offense against taste and theology. After his appearance provokes a confrontation with a policeman, Ignatius loudly diagnoses corruption while other residents reveal how readily the city’s authorities target inconvenient people. Then his mother causes a drunken car accident and incurs a debt large enough to force her son into the working world. As Ignatius carries his grand theories into jobs he considers beneath him, his schemes collide with people facing harsher forms of economic and official coercion, including Burma Jones. The picaresque novel uses its misanthropic hero’s self-importance to drive a broad satire of work, prejudice, authority, and urban life.
Reading profile
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
- Writing
- How much attention the sentences and language require.
- Ideas
- How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
- Structure
- How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
- Background knowledge
- Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
- Emotional intensity
- Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Pace
Brisk
Tone
Absurdist · Humorous · Irreverent · Satirical
Structure
Linear
Focus
Atmosphere · Character · Plot
Emotional intensity
3 / 5
Reading complexity
1–5 · higher means more demanding- Writing
- 3 / 5
- Ideas
- 3 / 5
- Structure
- 3 / 5
- Background knowledge
- 2 / 5
Themes
Book details
For the print edition listed above.
- Publisher
- Grove Press
- Language
- English
- ISBN
- 9780802130204
Keep your books and notes in Collected for iPhone.
Apple Books is a service mark of Apple Inc. iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.