One of the most highly praised satire novels of its age is John Kennedy Toole’s “A Confederacy of Dunces,” a book which received the Pulitzer Prize award for its excellency in satire. Originally, after an unfortunate suicide by Toole in 1969, this book was found by his mother and persistently pressed against rejecting publishers until it was finally published by one that found interest. The publisher described his experience with the book as “[starting with] a prickle of interest, then a growing excitement, and finally an incredulity: surely it was not possible that it was so good.”: a clear testament to the popularity this book has achieved among satire critics.

The novel’s main character is Ignatius J. Reilly, who is an educated man and expresses disgust at many quirks of modern culture, but is himself an unrespectable person; he leads a lazy life and is often described as a greedy sloth. The novel often follows Ignatius as he humorously performs many odd jobs (usually through his mother’s persuasion) in his hometown New Orleans, such as working in an underpaid factory that produces pants or becoming a vendor for an unpopular hot dog stand which he finds himself comically eating from. In addition, minor focus is placed on some of his acquaintances, such as his sex-promoting ex-girlfriend Myrna Minkoff or his mother, Irene, who nurtures him far beyond necessary for his own good.

One of the main reasons that A Confederacy of Dunces is such a highly praised satire novel is due to Toole’s brilliance in creation of vibrant and over-the-top characters. The main character of the novel, Ignatius J. Reilly, is a perfect character for a satire; he has an uptight personality, is critical of many things that he experiences, but is largely a hypocrite with much that he believes. This character design allows Toole to place him in many situations and create satirical humor out of the whole experience. This comes largely in the form of Ignatius’ degradation of character when throughout the book many of those that he criticises eventually come out to be more successful than him, from his mother, an increasing upriser against her son’s ways, to his ex-girlfriend, who becomes successful with her own beliefs (both of whom he hates). By mastering the necessity of interesting characters for a humorous satire, it is clear why A Confederacy of Dunces has been so highly praised.

“The novel can hardly contain burstingly funny Ignatius–and the mix of high and low comedy is almost stroboscopic: brilliant, relentless, delicious, perhaps even classic,” said reviewer Wilton Barnhardt from kirkusreviews.com.

I’d personally recommend A Confederacy of Dunces, though I’d like to make note that the novel does not focus on truthful aspects or philosophy; it is best enjoyed purely for its humor. Because of this, I would not recommend this book for those who wish to gather morals out of their reads. In addition, one must be mature when reading material from this book as it often covers explicit content, though it doesn’t affect the book’s main aspects. If these minor hurdles are breached, however, one will find A Confederacy of Dunces to be a brilliantly enjoyable satire novel.

“A Confederacy of Dunces is simply and insistently a great, perfect comedy of errors and airs, a farce of Olympic proportions,” said reviewer Sharon-Shulz Elsing from curledup.com.