Ignatius Rising: The Life of John Kennedy Toole

by Rene Pol Nevils and Deborah George Hardy

Book Overview

The phenomenal success of John Kennedy Toole's comic masterpiece, A Confederacy of Dunces, is now legendary, a story that has long beckoned a deeper exploration into the life, imagination, and demise of the writer responsible for one of American literature's most memorable characters -- Ignatius J. Reilly. In Ignatius Rising, Ren Pol Nevils and Deborah George Hardy present the first biography of Toole, drawing upon scores of interviews with contemporaries...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807130591
• ISBN13: 9780807130599
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: LSU Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.3" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Ignatius Rising: At Last

I've waited a long time to learn more about the enigmatic and very talented John Kennedy Toole who wrote my favorite humorous novel, A Confederacy of Dunces. This wonderful,historical, yet personal rendering of the life of the young author was worth the wait. Being a native of South Lousiana and a graduate of UNO and an author myself, I want to thank the authors for bringing this biography, a great gift, to his many fans.

Ignatius Rising

This is such a wonderful, compelling book. It's clearly written, but the authors step back enough to give their subject matter its due. They let Toole's mother speak for herself..and she does. I read this book nearly straight through. The biography is full of Southern Gothic characters as someone else here wrote, including Toole himself, but most noteably his mother and father. Really, it's a glimpse of life one generation ago in New Orleans as much a look at a strange and fascinating man and how he constructed his life in the face of a mother that seemed to exemplify the words: stage mother.

"Ignatius Rising" Is a Marvel of Theology and Geometry!

"A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head." "Taking the pigtail in one of his paws, he pressed it warmly to his wet moustache."Between those sentences lies "A Confederacy of Dunces," the masterpiece of John Kennedy Toole, a mystery of which for me has always been how any mere human could have come up with that set of fabulous characters, that amazingly original dialogue, those brilliantly off-beat and hysterically funny situations. It's pretty clear now, with Nevils and Hardy's terrific biography of John Kennedy Toole, "Ignatius Rising," that we'll have to settle for as much "how" as they've been able to come up with, for this book is a masterwork of plumbing. While there is in the biography lots and lots about all other aspects of his interesting life, the genesis of his writing gift (I agree with Dan Acker below) is securely hidden. But I'm not sure we should want to know how Toole was able to materialize, for instance, combinations such as the following:"Envy would gnaw at Myrna's musky vitals." Or "Ignatius emitted a little Paradise gas."Or, on a banner, "Crusade for Moorish Dignity."To choose just one of the many things "Ignatius Rising" IS able to uniquely provide regarding Toole and his life, Nevils and Hardy's discussion of the Simon and Schuster episodes, as particular and unusual as they were, has provided clues, at least, as to how getting a book published works. I had no idea that any publisher, let alone one of Robert Gottlieb's stature, even then, would take the time he did to encourage a new writer not yet signed to a contract. His letters are amazing examples of patience, encouragement, warmth, intelligence, and, most important, connectedness. No wonder he is one of the world's premier editors!It's not necessary to have read "Confederacy of Dunces" to love this biography, but if you buy and read "Ignatius Rising" first, you will for sure be back at the bookstore in a flash to confirm for yourself what the fuss has been about for more than twenty years.Congratulations to Rene Pol Nevils and Deborah George Hardy! I thought we would never see a book like this; that John Kennedy Toole would be hidden forever.

If you thought the characters in "Confederacy..." were odd..

This book is a fascinating look at the troubled life of the man who gave us one of the funniest and most memorable American novels of all time, "A Confederacy of Dunces". Toole was odd, brilliant with words, confused, sometimes scathing, but very likable despite his problems. His mother, on the other hand... oh my god! When you are done with this novel, you will understand why the characters in "Confederacy..." are the way they are. You'll be heartbroken at Toole's decision to kill himself, mystified by both his decisions about his book and the last weeks of his life, and stunned by his mother's interactions with everyone. There were parts of this bio that were so painful that I had to close it- yet it was so compelling a story that I had to open it again right away. The authors covered nearly everything from every angle, and their sources are diverse and really flesh out Toole's different lives. (You'll know what that means when you read this book.)

Heart of Reilly

I still remember the first time I read "Confederacy of Dunces" lying on the bed in my college dorm room, kicking my feet laughing. I have returned to it many times and still consider it the funniest book ever.So when I saw the biography of J.K. Toole, the author and suicide, in my local bookstore I had to buy it. I did not anticipate, though, being so swept up. The authors do an outstanding job compiling the minute details of Toole's too-short life, which could not have been easy since he was unknown and until well after his death. I was surprised how interested I could be in his grade school years-- although that is in large part owed to my fascination with Toole going in. The key mystery to me has always been about Toole's relationship with Robert Gottlieb. For an unpublished novelist (indeed he had barely published anything) to gain the attention of perhaps the leading book editor of his genration is incredible. What happened? Why was it not published? It's hard to fault Gottlieb. His letters-- reproduced over his own initial objoections-- show his committment to the book. On the other hand, his objections to the book-- that it lacked "meaning"-- were, however sincere, maddeningly unhelpful and unspecific, as he admitted.Thelma Toole is presented as a domineering, overbearing, grandiose nutcase. But her successful effort to finally have the book published shows a great strength. It's actually inspiring.Toole eventually killed himself after despainring of the book ever being published. This "failure" hardly explains his act-- how many failed authors go on with their lives or write a second book that is published? Suggestions are made about his homosexulaty (closeted) and his finances (bad since he had to support his parents). Neither is enough. But the events leading to the tragedy, the descent into madness, are touchingly detailed. One mystery remains. Nevils and Hardy, also first time authors, show that Toole was an excellent student, though hardly a world-beater when he ventured beyond New Orleans. They reproduce many of his letters. While the letters are fine, there is not a single inkling of either the prose style, the imagination, or the comedy that is on every page of Toole's novel. Though we are told constantly how funny Toole was in real life, we never see it. Where did the genius in the book spring from, and why was it not eviedent in any of his other work?A chilling thought occurred to me towards the end of the book. The authors reproduce a letter from Thelma Toole to her lawyer. Shen concludes a trademark harangue: "My nervous system is drained by this harrwoing legal matter." That's Ignatius all over.Is it possible that Thelma had a hand in the book or was-- even weirder-- it's ghostwriter? It's a bizzare notion and I have not one shred of evidence to back it up. But throughout the biography, Thelma is portrayed as not of the sensibility to even appreciate the book or its humor. Yet she is the one perso