A Confederacy of Dunces

One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World''My favourite book of all time... it stays with you long after you have read it - for your whole life, in fact' Billy ConnollyA 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... This stunning clothbound edition of John Kennedy Toole's savagely funny, satirical masterpiece is designed by the acclaimed Coralie-Bickford Smith. 'A pungent work of slapstick, satire and intellectual incongruities ... it is nothing less than a grand comic fugue'The New York Times

Penguin Clothbound Classics are bound in cloth and not paper. The design is stamped on in foil, and each cover repeats one small icon taken from the story. The series was designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith, who took her inspiration from Victorian bookbinding. Each book has coloured endpapers and a ribbon bookmark. They make beautiful presents.

The foil can rub off if the books are stacked tightly, so give them a little room on the shelf.

Author: John Kennedy Toole

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Published on 6 Oct 2016 by Penguin Books Ltd.