“Clean, hard-working, dependable, quiet type.” Good God! What kind of monster is this that they want. I am afraid that I could never work for a concern with a worldview like that.” (p. 54). a confederacy of duncesJohn Kennedy Toolenew orleansphilosophical literature
Biographer extraordinaire Corey MacLauchlin reports that a typescript of COD was sold. Check out the Sotheby’s website. Confederacy of DuncesJohn Kennedy Toolenew orleansphilosophical literature
“I refuse to ‘look up.’ Optimism nauseates me. It is perverse. Since man’s fall, his proper position in the universe has been one of misery” (p. 52). a confederacy of duncesJohn Kennedy Toolenew orleans
I may have some valuable insights which may benefit my employer. Perhaps the experience can give my writing a new dimension. Being actively engaged in the system which I criticize will be an interesting irony in itself (p. 46). a confederacy of duncesJohn Kennedy Toolenew orleansphilosophical literature
“You realize, of course, that this is all your fault. The progress of my work will be greatly delayed. I suggest that you go to your confessor and make some penance, Mother. Promise him that you will avoid the path of sin and drinking in the future. Tell him what the consequence of your moral…
“I also told the students that, for the sake of humanity’s future, I hoped that they were all sterile. I could never have possibly read over the illiteracies and misconceptions burbling from the dark minds of these students. It will be the same wherever I work” (p. 45). a confederacy of duncesJohn Kennedy Toolenew orleans
” . . . Some poor white from Mississippi told the dean that I was a propagandist for the Pope, which was patently untrue. I do not support the current Pope. He does not at all fit my conception of a good, authoritarian Pope. Actually, I am quite opposed to the relativism of modern Catholicism…
“Employers sense in me a denial of their values” (p. 44). Check out the lovely work of Matt Dawson, the artist behind the featured image. a confederacy of duncesJohn Kennedy Toolematt dawsonnew orleans
“Ignatius, what’s all this trash on the floor?” “That is my worldview that you see. It still must be incorporated into a whole, so be careful where you step.” “And all the shutters closed. Ignatius! It’s still light outside.” “My being is not without its Proustian elements,” Ignatius said from the bed, to which he…
Here is the intro to a review essay: Butterfly in the Typewriter: The Tragic Life of John Kennedy Toole and the Remarkable Story of A Confederacy of Dunces. Cory MacLauchlin. Boston and New York: Da Capo Press, 2012, 319 pages, $26.00 hardcover. The book is not autobiography; neither is it altogether invention. While the…
manwithoutqualities 