  Though I started volume eight of The Works of Thomas Goodwin , as well as Justification Vindicated by Robert Trail, I have decided to pick up a good piece of fiction. The latest book I take with me to work, the bathroom, the living room, study, and bedroom is A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.
The book is about a thirty year old man, Ignatius Reilly, who lives in New Orleans with his mother, Mrs. Reilly. Ignatius is the epitome of an arrogant dunce, though not to exclude his intelligence and creativity. His efforst are slothfulness to the Nth degree. He has a flare for overdramatics at every point. It is quite hilarious to read about his life, especially in the dialogue. He is a large and obese man of thirty years of age; lives with his mother; doesn't have a jog; graduated with a masters, though; is a slob; a pig; and an absolute repugnant person.
It is a classic. A Confederacy of Dunces is a pulitzer prize-winning novel, and it is easy to see why. The book is a modest 400 pages, and I'm only in the mid-one hundreds, and I'm already "hooked. " I was hooked from page one, though.
I do believe this book (behind the title page) contains one of the best quotes I've ever read: When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him (Jonathan Swift--"Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting"). There is some "language" in the pages, but it is not rampant or gratuitous. Anyone who can stomach an occasional "cuss word" must read this for a good laugh. It is a classic piece of contemporary fiction. 
