Download or read book A Confederacy of Dunces written by John Kennedy Toole and published by Grove/Atlantic, Inc.. This book was released on 2007-12-01 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Pulitzer Prize “A masterwork . . . the novel astonishes with its inventiveness . . . it is nothing less than a grand comic fugue.”—The New York Times Book Review A Confederacy of Dunces is an American comic masterpiece. John Kennedy Toole's hero, one Ignatius J. Reilly, is "huge, obese, fractious, fastidious, a latter-day Gargantua, a Don Quixote of the French Quarter. His story bursts with wholly original characters, denizens of New Orleans' lower depths, incredibly true-to-life dialogue, and the zaniest series of high and low comic adventures" (Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times).

Download or read book The Neon Bible written by John Kennedy Toole and published by Open Road + Grove/Atlantic. This book was released on 2007-12-01 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A moving evocation of the small-town South in the mid-twentieth century” that “belongs on the shelf with the works of Flannery O’Connor, Carson McCullers, and Eudora Welty” (Orlando Sentinel). John Kennedy Toole—who won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for his best-selling comic masterpiece A Confederacy of Dunces—wrote The Neon Bible for a literary contest at the age of sixteen. The manuscript languished in a drawer and became the subject of a legal battle among Toole’s heirs. It was only in 1989, thirty-five years after it was written and twenty years after Toole’s suicide at thirty-one, that this amazingly accomplished and evocative novel was freed for publication. “Heartfelt emotion, communicated in clean direct prose . . . a remarkable achievement.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times “John Kennedy Toole’s tender, nostalgic side is as brilliantly effective as his corrosive satire. If you liked To Kill A Mockingbird you will love The Neon Bible.” —Florence King “Shockingly mature. . . . Even at sixteen, Toole knew that the way to write about complex emotions is to express them simply.” —Kerry Luft, Chicago Tribune

Download or read book Ignatius Rising written by René Pol Nevils and published by LSU Press. This book was released on 2005-04-01 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The phenomenal success of John Kennedy Toole's comic masterpiece, A Confederacy of Dunces, is now legendary, a story that has long beckoned a deeper exploration into the life, imagination, and demise of the writer responsible for one of American literature's most memorable characters -- Ignatius J. Reilly. In Ignatius Rising, René Pol Nevils and Deborah George Hardy present the first biography of Toole, drawing upon scores of interviews with contemporaries of the writer and acquaintances of his influencing mother, Thelma, as well as unpublished letters, documents, and photographs. Frank yet sympathetic, Ignatius Rising deftly describes a life that is dark, tragic, bizarre, and amazing -- but luminous with the gift of laughter, a life not unlike those of Toole's beloved characters, now loved the world over.

Download or read book Theology and Geometry written by Leslie Marsh and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-01-29 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection, the first of its kind, brings together specially commissioned academic essays to mark fifty years since the death of John Kennedy Toole.

Download or read book Ken and Thelma written by Fletcher, Joel and published by Pelican Publishing. This book was released on 2005-03-31 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Ken has a real gift for mimicry and a refined sense of the absurd . . . the English faculty . . .both fear and court Ken because of his biting comic talent." --from Joel L. Fletcher's journal John Kennedy Toole's first published novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, which Walker Percy called a"gargantuan tumultuous human tragi-comedy," became a publishing phenomenon, with almost two million copies in print worldwide in eighteen languages. The book's outrageous protagonist, Ignatius Reilly, is an icon of contemporary American fiction. Now Ken and Thelma sheds new light on the tragic life story of the author, known as 'Ken' to his friends. Drawing on his own journals and personal letters, Joel L. Fletcher recreates his friendship with Ken in the early 1960s and his long association with Ken's indomitable mother, Thelma Ducoing Toole, after the book's publication. Ken and Thelma features personal photographs, many never before published.

Download or read book A Cornucopia of Dunderheads written by John Kennedy Toole and published by . This book was released on 2015-12-01 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED TO IGNATIUS J. REILLY? In this parody of A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES by John Kennedy Toole, John Kennedy Toole Jr. plunges Ignatius J. Reilly into a New York City winter wonderland, where our Falstaffian hero inadvertently becomes vice president of the Charlie Chan Chinese Fortune Cookie Company, and where he finds a recently unearthed slip of paper that contains an occult secret for overthrowing the governments of the world (in a most unusual way, of course). Ignatius's parodic adventures would not be complete without his nemesis-friend, Myrna Minkoff. Add to the mix her parents, Mr. Minkoff and Mrs. Minkoff, two inept government agents (is there a redundancy here?), Ignatius's mother, his mother's fiance, a virago or two, John Kennedy Toole, Ed Sullivan, and Myrna's concupiscent grandmother, Grandmother Horowitz, and you have the ingredients for a parody unlike any other ever written. With a foreword by Franz-Heinrich Katecki."

Download or read book The Lost Soul Companion written by Susan M. Brackney and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2001-09-04 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ultimate survival guide for starving artists, writers, performers — and anyone whose dreams can’t be contained by an office cubicle. Filled with down-to-earth advice and sustenance for your most far-flung dreams, The Lost Soul Companion is the perfect guide for anyone grappling with the darker side of creativity. A source of support when your day job gets you down, a refreshing reservoir of humor when you’re knee-deep in rejection slips, this remarkable little book offers both inspiration and compassion, plus surefire strategies for surviving in what can sometimes seem like “a world of meanies.” From the anti-procrastination “chopstick plan,” to the importance of staying well nourished (toaster-oven-snack recipes included), The Lost Soul Companion will speak to anyone with big dreams and creative spirit who nonetheless finds it tough some days just to get out of bed.

Download or read book A Confederacy of Dunces Cookbook written by Cynthia LeJeune Nobles and published by LSU Press. This book was released on 2015-10-12 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In John Kennedy Toole's iconic novel, Ignatius J. Reilly is never short of opinions about food or far away from his next bite. Whether issuing gibes such as "canned food is a perversion," or taking a break from his literary ambitions with "an occasional cheese dip," this lover of Lucky Dogs, café au lait, and wine cakes navigates 1960s New Orleans focused on gastronomical pursuits. For the novel's millions of fans, Cynthia LeJeune Nobles's "A Confederacy of Dunces" Cookbook offers recipes inspired by the delightfully commonplace and always delicious fare of Ignatius and his cohorts. Through an informative narrative and almost 200 recipes, Nobles explores the intersection of food, history, and culture found in the Pulitzer Prize--winning novel, opening up a new avenue into New Orleans's rich culinary traditions. Dishes inspired by Ignatius's favorites -- macaroons and "toothsome" steak -- as well as recipes based on supporting characters -- Officer Mancuso's Pork and Beans and Dr. Talc's Bloody Marys -- complement a wealth of fascinating detail about the epicurean side of the novel's memorable settings. A guide to the D. H. Holmes Department Store's legendary Chicken Salad, the likely offerings of the fictitious German's Bakery, and an in-depth interview with the general manager of Lucky Dogs round out this delightful cookbook. A lighthearted yet impeccably researched look at the food of the 1960s, "A Confederacy of Dunces" Cookbook reaffirms the singularity and timelessness of both New Orleans cuisine and Toole's comic tour de force.

Download or read book American Philosophy written by John Kaag and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2016-10-11 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The epic wisdom contained in a lost library helps the author turn his life around John Kaag is a dispirited young philosopher at sea in his marriage and his career when he stumbles upon West Wind, a ruin of an estate in the hinterlands of New Hampshire that belonged to the eminent Harvard philosopher William Ernest Hocking. Hocking was one of the last true giants of American philosophy and a direct intellectual descendent of William James, the father of American philosophy and psychology, with whom Kaag feels a deep kinship. It is James’s question “Is life worth living?” that guides this remarkable book. The books Kaag discovers in the Hocking library are crawling with insects and full of mold. But he resolves to restore them, as he immediately recognizes their importance. Not only does the library at West Wind contain handwritten notes from Whitman and inscriptions from Frost, but there are startlingly rare first editions of Hobbes, Descartes, and Kant. As Kaag begins to catalog and read through these priceless volumes, he embarks on a thrilling journey that leads him to the life-affirming tenets of American philosophy—self-reliance, pragmatism, and transcendence—and to a brilliant young Kantian who joins him in the restoration of the Hocking books. Part intellectual history, part memoir, American Philosophy is ultimately about love, freedom, and the role that wisdom can play in turning one’s life around.

Download or read book Please Stop Laughing at Me written by Jodee Blanco and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-04-19 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In this timely update of the seminal classic, author and activist Jodee Blanco reveals how she simply set out to share her story-and ended up igniting a grassroots movement in the nation's schools. The first survivor of school bullying to look back on those experiences as an adult, Jodee brings you up to speed on her life and work since the book's initial release with a new chapter, all-new Letter to My Readers, and Reader's Guide. She also offers the latest information on digital and cyberbullying, the Adult Survivor of Peer Abuse, her in-school antibullying program, INJJA (It's NOT Just Joking Around!), and provides discussion questions for schools. While other children were daydreaming about dances, first kisses, and college, Jodee Blanco was trying to figure out how to go from homeroom to study hall without being taunted or spit upon as she walked through the halls. This powerful, unforgettable memoir chronicles how one child was shunned-and even physically abused-by her classmates from elementary school through high school. It is an unflinching look at what it means to be the outcast, how even the most loving parents can get it all wrong, why schools are often unable to prevent disaster, and how bullying has been misunderstood and mishandled by the mental health community"--

Download or read book A Conspiracy of Dunces written by Bill Shaw and published by Author House. This book was released on 2012-08-27 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Conspiracy of Dunces, the third in Shaw's Pistol Thicket trilogy, is a rollicking send-up of John Kennedy Toole's 1980 Pullitzer Prize winning A Confederacy of Dunces. Ignatius P. Reilly, a product of Ignatius J's New Orleans neighborhood, is a 270 pound college star whose NFL destiny is sidetracked by a football injury. Not to be diminished, I.P. is sped upon a godly mission by his church, Trinity Baptist of Pistol Thicket, La., to install an evangelical president in the White House. Along the way, he is assailed by two liberal Marxist Occupy-DC beauties -- Lizza Sachs and Myrna Minkoff -- who make his life a political hell until . . . love happens. Ignatius P stretches his luck and his madcap schemes about as far as can be done as he works himself into the Bachmann campaign while countering the vicious assaults from Lizza and Myrna. Ignatius P. is supported by Tim Sorenson, a Marine veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, and Jim Loughlin, a Bachmann operative. But wait . . . but wait . . . there's a big election night party, November 6, 2012, in Charleston. Readers will be overwhelmed by the unexpected!!!

Download or read book Alligator Zoo park Magic written by C. H. Hooks and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fiction. Is Jeffers an Alligator Zoo-Park magician or the Messiah? Two friends live unapologetically on the edge of poverty in the rugged, un-decorous part of the South. Jimmy, a single father with an addict ex, and Jeffers, a magician whose tricks are closer to miracles--both are immersed in a place where trailers and Hot Pockets dominate the landscape, and alligators roam free. When Jimmy witnesses "losing" his best friend to his biggest trick gone awry, he reflects on their lifelong friendship and what it really means to escape. "C.H. Hooks' mesmerizing novel, ALLIGATOR ZOO-PARK MAGIC, hovers in the boundaries between city boys and country boys, businessmen and truck drivers, a van named NAILR and a radiator-busting deer drinking beer. The world is both nature untamed and twisted in a theme park of mermaids and crispy-fried reptile bites. Yet, Hooks does so much more than create a new spin on the mystical, mythical South. This fascinating debut delves into the true nature of the heart: everyone's need to belong to someone, to some place, and, most importantly, to oneself."--Erica Dawson "Mr. Hooks has produced a magic show of the highest order."--Jensen Beach "I've died and been born anew! C.H. Hooks is a damned wizard, and ALLIGATOR ZOO-PARK MAGIC is a holy hell of a book."--Harrison Scott Key "AZPM is in the best tradition of Southern literature--it's fast and funny, dark and desperate."--Shane Hinton "Draw a direct line from Larry Brown and Harry Crews to Chris Hooks."--Jeff Parker

Download or read book The Hazards of Good Fortune written by Seth Greenland and published by Europa Editions. This book was released on 2018-08-21 with total page 503 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An entertaining tale rich in schadenfreude as bad things happen to a hapless billionaire” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). Jay Gladstone was born to privilege. He is a civic leader and a generous philanthropist, as well as the owner of an NBA team. But in today’s New York, even a wealthy man’s life can spin out of control, no matter the money or influence he possesses. Jay sees himself as a moral man, determined not to repeat his father’s mistakes. He would rather focus on his unstable second marriage and his daughter, Aviva, than worry about questions of race or privilege. However, he moves through a sensitive and aware world: that of Dag Maxwell, the black star forward, and white police officer Russell Plesko, who makes a decision that has resonating consequences—particularly for a DA whose hopes for a future in politics will rest on an explosive prosecution. Set during Barack Obama’s presidency, this artful novel illuminates contemporary America and does not shy away from questions about our scalding social divide—why is conversation about race so fraught, to what degree is the justice system impartial, and does great wealth inoculate those who have it?—and explores the aftermath of unforgivable errors and the unpredictability of the court of public opinion. “Greenland takes a Dickensian delight in letting the plot sprawl with parallels, digressions, false leads, and twists.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “A wild and funny page-turner of a novel that grabs you and doesn’t let go.” —Larry David

Download or read book The Roxy Letters written by Mary Pauline Lowry and published by Simon & Schuster. This book was released on 2020-04-07 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meet Roxy. For fans of Where’d You Go, Bernadette and Bridget Jones’s Diary comes “just the kind of comic novel we need right now” (The Washington Post) about an Austin artist trying to figure out her life one letter to her ex-boyfriend at a time. Bridget Jones penned a diary; Roxy writes letters. Specifically: she writes letters to her hapless, rent-avoidant ex-boyfriend—and current roommate—Everett. This charming and funny twenty-something is under-employed (and under-romanced), and she’s decidedly fed up with the indignities she endures as a deli maid at Whole Foods (the original), and the dismaying speed at which her beloved Austin is becoming corporatized. When a new Lululemon pops up at the intersection of Sixth and Lamar where the old Waterloo Video used to be, Roxy can stay silent no longer. As her letters to Everett become less about overdue rent and more about the state of her life, Roxy realizes she’s ready to be the heroine of her own story. She decides to team up with her two best friends to save Austin—and rescue Roxy’s love life—in whatever way they can. But can this spunky, unforgettable millennial keep Austin weird, avoid arrest, and find romance—and even creative inspiration—in the process?

Download or read book A Country of Ghosts written by Margaret Killjoy and published by AK Press. This book was released on 2021-11-23 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dimos Horacki is a Borolian journalist and a cynical patriot, his muckraking days behind him. But when his newspaper ships him to the front, he’s embedded in the Imperial Army and the reality of colonial expansion is laid bare before him. His adventures take him from villages and homesteads to the great refugee city of Hronople, built of glass, steel, and stone, all while a war rages around him. The empire fights for coal and iron, but the anarchists of Hron fight for their way of life. A Country of Ghosts is a novel of utopia besieged and a tale that challenges every premise of contemporary society.

Download or read book Now We Shall Be Entirely Free written by Andrew Miller and published by Europa Editions. This book was released on 2019-09-10 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A British soldier flees to the Hebrides for reprieve from war while something else hunts for him in this historical thriller by the author of The Crossing. When Cap. John Lacroix returns home from Spain, wounded, unconscious, and alone, he believes that he has seen the worst of what men may do. It is 1809, and in England’s wars against Napoleon, the Battle of Corruna stands out as a humiliation: a once-proud army forced to retreat, civilized men reduced to senseless acts of cruelty. Slowly regaining his health, Lacroix journeys north to the misty isles of Scotland with the intent of forgetting the horrors of the war. Unbeknownst to him, however, something else has followed him back from the war—something far more dangerous than a memory . . . A New York Times Notable Book of 2019 “Miller’s writing is a source of wonder and delight.” —Hilary Mantel Praise for New We Shall Be Entirely Free “Mr. Miller strikes an impressive balance between adventure and atmosphere.” —The Wall Street Journal “Miller acutely imagines the war-scarred psychology of his characters . . . and uses the historical setting to great advantage.” —TheNew Yorker “Miller is in fine form here, mixing an unforgettable cat-and-mouse chase with a moving love story.” —Kirkus Reviews

Download or read book The Memory of Running written by Ron McLarty and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2005-12-27 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Smithy is an American original, worthy of a place on the shelf just below your Hucks, your Holdens, your Yossarians." —Stephen King Every so often, a novel comes along that captures the public’s imagination with a story that sweeps readers up and takes them on a thrilling, unforgettable ride. Ron McLarty’s The Memory of Running is this decade’s novel. By all accounts, especially his own, Smithson "Smithy" Ide is a loser. An overweight, friendless, chain-smoking, forty-three-year-old drunk, Smithy’s life becomes completely unhinged when he loses his parents and long-lost sister within the span of one week. Rolling down the driveway of his parents’ house in Rhode Island on his old Raleigh bicycle to escape his grief, the emotionally bereft Smithy embarks on an epic, hilarious, luminous, and extraordinary journey of discovery and redemption.