A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole

On Christmas Eve my cousin Mark told me this book was really funny. So, I put it on my list of books to read in 2007.

I don't have much energy for a long review, but I will say it's a very funny book. Ignatius Reilly was the reactionary/idealist/lazy/deluded/gluttonous hero of the story. Physically, he was immensely overweight and always wore a red hunting cap. Philosophically, he looked down in disdain on the 20th century, preferring the Middle Ages. And yet on a personal level he was utterly under the control of various petty vices. At one point he organized a Moorish Worker's Revolt in a factory with a large minority population. He spent much of the story as a hot dog vendor dressed up in a pirate costume, peddling weenies in the French Quarter.

I don't want to give anything away, but if you ever read it, I almost guarantee you'll laugh out loud at the "Woof! Woof!" line.

I loved the fact that it had a happy ending too. Great book!