Ignatius Rising: The Life of John Kennedy Toole

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scores of interviews with contemporaries of the writer and acquaintances of his influencing mother, Thelma, as well as unpublished letters, documents, and photographs. Frank yet sympathetic, Ignatius Rising deftly describes a life that is dark, tragic, bizarre, and amazing -- but luminous with the gift of laughter, a life not unlike those of Toole's beloved characters, now loved the world over.

Author: René Pol Nevils, Deborah George Hardy
Publisher: LSU Press
Published: 04/01/2005
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.82lbs
Size: 8.94h x 6.26w x 0.65d
ISBN: 9780807130599

Review Citation(s):
Ingram Advance 04/01/2005 pg. 44

About the Author

René Pol Nevils lives in Baton Rouge with her husband, Rick. Deborah George Hardy is a member of the Paris Poetry Workshops and founding director of Littlestarfriends.com. She lives in Pasadena, California.