John Kennedy Toole’s Followers (1,290)

John Kennedy Toole

Born

in New Orleans, Louisiana, The United States

December 17, 1937

Died

March 26, 1969

Genre

Fiction

Influences

Charles Dickens, Flannery O'Connor ...more

edit data

John Kennedy Toole was an American novelist from New Orleans, Louisiana, whose posthumously published novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981; he also wrote The Neon Bible. Although several people in the literary world felt his writing skills were praiseworthy, Toole's novels were rejected during his lifetime. Due in part to these failures, he suffered from paranoia and depression, dying by suicide at the age of 31.
Toole was born to a middle-class family in New Orleans. From a young age, his mother, Thelma, taught him an appreciation of culture. She was thoroughly involved in his affairs for most of his life, and at times they had a difficult relationship. With his mother's encouragement, Toole became a st John Kennedy Toole was an American novelist from New Orleans, Louisiana, whose posthumously published novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981; he also wrote The Neon Bible. Although several people in the literary world felt his writing skills were praiseworthy, Toole's novels were rejected during his lifetime. Due in part to these failures, he suffered from paranoia and depression, dying by suicide at the age of 31.
Toole was born to a middle-class family in New Orleans. From a young age, his mother, Thelma, taught him an appreciation of culture. She was thoroughly involved in his affairs for most of his life, and at times they had a difficult relationship. With his mother's encouragement, Toole became a stage performer at the age of 10 doing comic impressions and acting. At 16 he wrote his first novel, The Neon Bible, which he later dismissed as "adolescent".
Toole received an academic scholarship to Tulane University in New Orleans. After graduating from Tulane, he studied English Literature at Columbia University in New York while teaching simultaneously at Hunter College. He also taught at various Louisiana colleges, and during his early career as an academic he was valued on the faculty party circuit for his wit and gift for mimicry. His studies were interrupted when he was drafted into the army, where he taught English to Spanish-speaking recruits in San Juan, Puerto Rico. After receiving a promotion, he used his private office to begin writing A Confederacy of Dunces, which he finished at his parents' home after his discharge.
Toole submitted A Confederacy of Dunces to publisher Simon & Schuster, where it reached editor Robert Gottlieb. Gottlieb considered Toole talented but felt his comic novel was essentially pointless. Despite several revisions, Gottlieb remained unsatisfied, and after the book was rejected by another literary figure, Hodding Carter Jr., Toole shelved the novel. Suffering from depression and feelings of persecution, Toole left home on a journey around the country. He stopped in Biloxi, Mississippi where he committed suicide by running a garden hose in from the exhaust of his car to the cabin. After his death, his mother brought the manuscript of A Confederacy of Dunces to the attention of novelist Walker Percy, who was crucial in the book's publication. In 1981, Toole was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

...more

Combine Editions
John Kennedy Toole’s books

Average rating: 3.88 · 294,540 ratings · 20,546 reviews · 2 distinct works • Similar authors

	A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, Walker Percy (foreword) 3.89 avg rating — 286,797 ratings — published 1980 — 275 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Neon Bible 3.77 avg rating — 7,751 ratings — published 1989 — 49 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

Quotes by John Kennedy Toole (?)

“I am at the moment writing a lengthy indictment against our century. When my brain begins to reel from my literary labors, I make an occasional cheese dip.”
― John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces

tags: cheese, dip, dunce, food, history, writing

534 likes

“Apparently I lack some particular perversion which today's employer is seeking. ”
― John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces

tags: employment, job, work

292 likes

“Is my paranoia getting completely out of hand, or are you mongoloids really talking about me?”
― John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces

tags: absurd, ass, attitude, contempt, curmudgeon, hilarious, intellectual, meatsacks, mouthbreathers, pompous, pronouncements, satire, sheep

229 likes

See all John Kennedy Toole's quotes »

Polls

February Group Read (Beyond 1940):

The Grass Is Singing by Doris Lessing

4 votes, 36.4%

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

3 votes, 27.3%

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

2 votes, 18.2%

The Empress of Ireland by Christopher Robbins

1 vote, 9.1%

The Plague by Albert Camus

1 vote, 9.1%

Love Lies Bleeding by Edmund Crispin

0 votes, 0.0%

Herzog by Saul Bellow

0 votes, 0.0%

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

0 votes, 0.0%

11 total votes

1 comment

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Life of a Boo...: National Book Award 2009	6	143	Nov 23, 2009 02:30PM
The Next Best Boo...: June Group Reads ARE......	93	369	Jun 01, 2010 09:24AM
Good Beginnings: Nominations for August, September, October 2010	41	16	Jun 29, 2010 03:58AM
Reading with Style: FA10 20.5 - Freedom Season	32	103	Oct 02, 2010 02:18PM
The Seasonal Read...: Fall Challenge 2010 Completed Tasks (do NOT delete any posts in this thread)	2785	1199	Nov 30, 2010 09:03PM
Reading with Style: FA10 RwS Completed Tasks	923	426	Dec 01, 2010 06:41AM
The Rory Gilmore ...: Book Selections 2011	1	314	Dec 10, 2010 09:20AM
The Life of a Boo...: Donna's TBR 2011 Challenge List	4	21	Dec 29, 2010 06:03PM

More…

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.