“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
I don't know if this is the best novel I've ever read, but I know it's my favorite. And it's probably the best.
Protagonist Ignatius P. Reilly is an overweight, gassy, sorta delusional, academic, sensitive, fractious, modern-day Don Quixote and mama's boy extraordinaire who serves as the reader's unwitting guide through New Orleans, evading police, finally getting a job, exacting revenge on his Jewish ex-girlfriend, fighting off lesbians - and a parrot - and taking down a pornography ring. It's the only book 1) to make me laugh and 2) that I've recommended to someone after reading only a few pages.
And the foreword by Percy Walker - he wrote The Last Gentleman; also excellent - is as touching as the rest of the book is funny. Do yourself a favor.
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