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A Confederacy of Dunces
A Confederacy of Dunces
Dec 30, 2025 12:00 AM

Author:John Kennedy Toole,Walker Percy

A Confederacy of Dunces

ONE OF THE BBC'S 100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD

'This is probably my favourite book of all time' Billy Connolly

A pithy, laugh-out-loud story following John Kennedy Toole's larger-than-life Ignatius J. Reilly, floundering his way through 1960s New Orleans,beautifully resigned with cover art by Gary Taxali

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'This city is famous for its gamblers, prostitutes, exhibitionists, anti-Christs, alcoholics, sodomites, drug addicts, fetishists, onanists, pornographers, frauds, jades, litterbugs, and lesbians . . . don't make the mistake of bothering me.'

Ignatius J. Reilly: fat, flatulent, eloquent and almost unemployable. By the standards of ordinary folk he is pretty much unhinged, too. But is he bothered by this?

No. For this misanthropic crusader against an America fallen into vice and ignorance has a mission: to rescue a naked female philosopher in distress. And he has a pirate costume and hot-dog cart to do it with . . .

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'I succumbed, stunned and seduced, page after page, vocal with delight. A masterwork of comedy' New York Times

'A fine funny novel. This is the kind of book one wants to keep quoting from' Anthony Burgess

Reviews

I succumbed, stunned and seduced, page after page, vocal with delight. A masterwork of comedy

—— New York Times

A fine funny novel. This is the kind of book one wants to keep quoting from

—— Anthony Burgess

Every reviewer has loved it. For once, everyone is right

—— Rolling Stone

Rich in reserves of humour and irony...the book is a delight

—— Mail on Sunday

Gripping . . . splendidly conjures up the sounds, sights, and smells of Dark Age Britain

—— HARRY SIDEBOTTOM, author of the "Warrior of Rome" series

A magnificent portrayal of how a beautiful young girl might become the first woman ever to win the Grand National

—— Spectator

Classic Cooper: either the perfect beach read or else something to curl up on the sofa with to keep out the encroaching autumn chill

—— Sunday Express

Jilly has given more pleasure to more girls and women than anyone else alive today... Cooper's familiar warmth and irrepressible humour

—— The Lady

Warmed by the tender characterisation that has made Jilly Cooper a national treasure

—— Countrylife

Just the thing for a wet winter weekend

—— Independent

Unrivalled joy

—— Tatler

A classic romp through the world of horse racing. Guilty pleasures rarely come as delicious as this

—— Elle

Jilly's descriptions of the glorious Cotswold countryside are some of the most lyrical ever written and her comedies of manners rival Nancy Mitford, if not Jane Austen

—— Daily Mail

As plots go you can't get more charming than this

—— Daily Express

The narrative zips along, pierced with her characteristically brilliant ear for dialogue and empathy for human relationships of all kinds... You won't be able to put it down once you get going

—— Daily Mail

A rollicking fantasy

—— Horse and Hound

I loved it

—— Rosie Boycott

Sit back and enjoy the ride as the queen of the bonkbuster, Jilly Cooper, delivers another fabulously entertaining saga

—— Good Housekeeping

Sharp, funny and touching

—— Times Literary Supplement

The Spoiler - set in the halcyon days before phone hacking - was one of the funniest and sharpest fleet street novels in years.

—— David Robson , Sunday Telegraph Seven

McAfee - herself a former journalist - evokes two distinct eras and styles of journalism, that of fearless frontline reportage and that of its successor: style-oriented, celebrity-obsessed features coverage... This is a pacy read that leaves little doubt in the reader's mind that one school of journalism deserves more mourning than the other

—— Alex Clark , Guardian

Marvellous satire...the novel is cunningly plotted and satisfyingly nuanced

—— Independent on Sunday

If the peek into the world of newspaper journalism afforded by the Leveson inquiry has you gasping for more, then this timely paperback release is perfect...a fiendishly funny (and frighteningly plausible) world of fiddled expenses and suspect tactics

—— Shortlist

Thoroughly enjoyable behind-the-scenes expose of an ambitious celebrity journalist's attempt to nail the scoop of her life

—— Metro

This is the paperback edition. The hardback appeared before the News Corporation bosses were dragged into the Commons. McAfee was either very prescient or close to the action, holding her fictional hacks to account for printing false stories gleaned from disreputable sources

—— Julia Fernandez , Time Out
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