Book 7: "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

John Kennedy Toole commited suicide in 1969, at the age of 31. It was through the persistant efforts of his mother that his manuscript was finally published in 1980; it won the Pulitzer Prize for 1981.

Toole's writing is notable for its dead-on descriptions of the time (circa 1963), the city of New Orleans, the dialects, and the characters.

"A Confederacy of Dunces" takes its title from a quote by Jonathan Swift: "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
This is the story of 30-year-old Ignatius J. Reilly, an educated, intelligent individual -- the "true genius" -- who is additionally slovenly, paranoid, and lazy to the extreme. Ignatius lives with (some might say, sponges off of ) his mother in an uptown neighborhood of New Orleans. He detests and mocks modern society and culture, declaiming it as perverse and in bad taste, and does his best to either avoid interacting with it, or to attempt to somehow sabotage it. He much prefers the Middle Ages. Ignatius never accepts responsibility for anything that occurs within his parochial little world, and generally blames his circumstances on the turning of the wheel of Fate. He obssesses about any number of things, including his deceased dog, but in particular the hated Myrna Minkoff, whom he met in college and with whom he continues to have the most bizarre, competitive long-distance relationship.
His mother, influenced by a new friend, ultimately "forces" Ignatius to find gainful employment, and this leads him on a series of adventures as first, a worker in a pants factory office, and later, as a hot dog vendor. He encounters a variety of colorful characters, fails remarkably in attempts to mount several revolutionary social movements, and unwittingly assists in breaking up a pornography ring.
Ignatius J. Reilly, in his green hunting cap, flannel shirt, and baggy pants, is obnoxious, occasionally delusional, flatulant, and thoroughly unlikeable. Reading this book was a lot like watching a train wreck -- horrible and fascinating. I can't say that I enjoyed it, but it was quite an illuminating experience!