Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

An interesting book. Published 11 years after the author's suicide in 1969 at age 32. Toole was a successful and popular professor, but, maybe triggered by the rejection of this book, he sank into paranoia and psychosis which lead to him killing himself by inhalation of car fumes. How quickly can lives change and forever. Reminds me of my own episode, which, thanks God, didn't end in permanent damage.

The book is about Ignatius Reilly, a 30 year old, Master of Arts in History, medieval-Boethius-obsessed, giant, overweight lazy ass. The Pulitzer prize was awarded posthumously and mostly for the detailed descriptions of New Orleans in the 60s and the New Orleans downtown accent of various ethnic groups.  It is a very faithful imagination of the city during that time period. 

It is a satire humor, hinging on understanding of context and mentioned events and literary works and pop culture references.  Ignatius starts the book by waiting for his mother (who drinks) in front of a department store in his green hunting hat (in Tropical New Orleans) and attracting the attention of policeman undercover, office Mancuso.  His mother, drunk, crashes their car (old Plymouth) and Ignatius needs to find a job to pay for the damages she caused to the building in which she crashed. 

After lots of unsuccessful attempts, Ignatius gets a job at Levy Pants, but loses it after trying to start a black riot to impress his university girlfriend Myrna. Then he becomes a hot dog seller and has many adventures which eventually land him in a hospital and with his mother wanting to put him in a mental institution. 

The book is not laughing-out-loud funny, but more of a grunting-funny, yet it still manages to be an interesting read.