Books

First Edition, First Printing with no indication of later printings on the copyright page. This original dustjacket has the publisher's $12.95 printed price present on the front flap and the Walker Percy quote on back panel. The book is bound in the publisher's cloth and is in wonderful shape with minor wear to the edges. The pages are clean with the previous owner's name neatly written on the top endpaper. A lovely copy.

A Confederacy of Dunces is a picaresque novel by American novelist John Kennedy Toole, published by Louisiana State University Press in 1980, 11 years after Toole's suicide. The book's title refers to an epigram from Jonathan Swift's essay, 'Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting': 'When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.' Set in New Orleans, the novel bursts with rich and vivid characters, especially the protagonist, Ignatius J. Reilly, whose comedic misadventures are a highlight of the narrative.