A Confederacy of Dunces

John Kennedy Toole’s novel A Confederacy of Dunces was written in the 1960s but only published years after the author’s death. It depicts the adventures of Ignatius J. Reilly, an academic but lazy man who, at age 30, lives with his mother in New Orleans in the early 1960s. Forced to find a job, he encounters a string of colorful characters endemic to the city of the time.

The novel begins outside the D. H. Holmes department store. While waiting for his mother, Ignatius is almost arrested by a police officer named Mancuso, who takes away an old man named Robichaux instead amid a chaotic scene. On the way home, they stop by the Night of Joy and order drinks. Robichaux meets an African American man named Burma Jones at the police station while the sergeant criticizes Mancuso for making a scene. At the bar, Ignatius and his mother are thrown out by Lana, the owner. On the way home, they crash their car and collapse a balcony.

At home, Ignatius writes his book, pausing only to belch and masturbate. Jones takes a severely underpaying job at the Night of Joy, where Lana is still complaining about Ignatius and his mother.