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7 unusual facts about A Confederacy of Dunces


12th Ward of New Orleans

Constantinople Street was the home of the fictitious New Orleans character Ignatius J. Reilly in John Kennedy Toole's novel A Confederacy of Dunces.

Big Chief tablet

In John Kennedy Toole's novel A Confederacy of Dunces, the protagonist Ignatius Reilly pens his philosophical ramblings on Big Chief tablets.

Cassian of Imola

In the novel A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, protagonist Ignatius Reilly informs one of his professors that "St. Cassian of Imola was stabbed to death by his students with their styli." (Grove Press edition, p. 128).

Dr. Nut

The drink was made famous to a new generation in John Kennedy Toole's novel A Confederacy of Dunces, in which it is a favorite drink of the main character Ignatius Reilly.

Idiots in the Machine

Savio was inspired to write Idiots after stumbling upon John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces.

Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting

It contains the quotation "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him." which is the source for the title of A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.

Turkey in the Straw

In the novel A Confederacy of Dunces, Ignatius J. Reilly bemoans America's love of "Turkey in the Straw", complaining that "grimy undergraduates and grammar school children are always chanting it like sorcerers!"


PD-4501 Scenicruiser

The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole, includes many obsessively sarcastic references by his main character to a trip in a Scenicruiser coach, which he recounts as a traumatic ordeal.


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