english, anglais, fiction, classics, classiques, humor, humour, literature, littérature 

Never published during his lifetime, John Kennedy Toole's masterful comic novel takes its title, as well asfrom 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...

John Kennedy Toole (1937-1969) was born in New Orleans. He received a master's degree in English from Columbia University and taught at Hunter College and at the University of Southwestern Louisiana. He wrote A Confederacy of Dunces in the early sixties and tried unsuccessfully to get the novel published; depressed, at least in part by his failure to place the book, he committed suicide in 1969. It was only through the tenacity of his mother that her son's book was eventually published and found the audience it deserved, winning the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His long-suppressed novel The Neon Bible, written when he was only sixteen, was eventually published as well.

If you enjoyed A Confederacy of Dunces, you might like Kingsley Amis's Lucky Jim, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.

'A pungent work of slapstick, satire and intellectual incongruities ... it is nothing less than a grand comic fugue' 

L’histoire se situe aux États-Unis, à La Nouvelle-Orléans (Louisiane), au début des années 60. Le personnage principal est Ignatius J. Reilly, un homme intelligent mais fainéant, hypocondriaque et doté d’une logique extrêmement personnelle, réactionnaire et inspirée de la philosophie scolastique. Imprégné de la lecture de Boèce, Ignatius vit chez sa mère et se consacre à couvrir des cahiers « Big Chief » de sa vision du monde. A l’âge de 30 ans, il se trouve forcé de chercher un emploi pour la première fois de sa vie. Il tâchera lors de cette inévitable confrontation avec la réalité de rendre la société plus « géométrique et théologique », tout en prétendant « libérer le monde des demi-mongoliens et des dégénérés qui le peuplent ».