A Confederacy of Dunces cover art

A Confederacy of Dunces

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

A Confederacy of Dunces

By: John Kennedy Toole
Narrated by: Reginald D. Hunter
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World'

A 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....

Never published during his lifetime, John Kennedy Toole's hilarious satire A Confederacy of Dunces is a Don Quixote for the modern age, now brought to life by the comedy legend, Reginald D. Hunter.

©2000 John Kennedy Toole (P)2021 Penguin Audio Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Satire Comedy Witty Funny New Orleans Crusade

Critic Reviews

"My favourite book of all time...it stays with you long after you have read it—for your whole life, in fact." (Billy Connolly)

"A pungent work of slapstick, satire and intellectual incongruities...it is nothing less than a grand comic fugue." (The New York Times)
All stars
Most relevant  
Wasn’t sure what to expect but I was hooked from the beginning. Wait fully read.

Loved it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Narrator excellent.
Descriptive colour in the writing as the characters engage in various scenarios is I think without peer.
1960s setting should be noted.

One of a kind.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I read this book many years ago and had forgotten much of it. It’s not as hilarious as I remembered but much more interesting in its portrayal of several flawed characters. Hunter brings the characters and New Orleans alive. The criticism of his narration in other reviews is unfounded. It doesn’t take long to pick up on his speech patterns and cadence, after which it’s a very enjoyable experience.

Wonderful reading of a fascinating book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great phraseology and humour. Recommended by Billy Connolly for good reason +4 more words ok

A singular view of the world

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A tale of stupid people living with their own kind. It's not a deep book but it is entertaining. If you want a shallow read, enjoy it for what it is. The narrator has done well.

A quirky book with great dialogue.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
One of my favourite books of all time. Weird, funny, a bit out there in sections. And very good.

Love it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The narrator was fantastic and brought to life the characters and setting. Highly recommended.

A rollicking ride, both tragic and laugh out loud funny.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I’d been looking forward to this one appearing on Australian Audible for years and was so excited when it was eventually available. But it is almost bad. I don’t know how you take a funny and outrageous book like this and drain any humour from it to the point where it is simply boring. I am persevering with about one third to go but no sign that the reading is going to improve at all 😢😢😢. Really bad.

What a disappointment. Great opportunity wasted by the reading :-(

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The characters are somewhat interesting at times and the humour can be enjoyable for its ridiculousness, but it never seems to get to any real point and listening has become a chore. Just can’t take it anymore, halfway through and I’m giving up

Amusing at times but overall long and pointless

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.