A Confederacy of Dunces

Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1980.

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Hardcover. First edition. Foreword by Walker Percy. A fine and unusually tight copy (with only the slightest of the usual splaying of the boards) in fine first issue dust jacket with just a touch of rubbing. Advance Review Copy with publisher's slip laid in. Posthumously published novel that was the first work of fiction published by LSU Pres, and which had a very small first printing (reportedly 2500 copies). Initially the book was rejected by dozens of publishers and the author committed suicide in 1969. Years later the author's mother brought the manuscript to Walker Percy, insisting that he read it. Percy championed the book, arranged for its publication, and contributed an introduction. Excellent reviews and word of mouth led to it becoming a best-seller, and eventually winning the Pulitzer Prize. This copy is Inscribed on the half-title by the author's mother: "Appreciation and Regards from John Kennedy Toole's Mother, Thelma Ducoing Toole." and is additionally Signed by Walker Percy on the title page. A book which has become exceptionally uncommon. An especially nice copy Signed by both Mrs. Toole and Walker Percy. *Burgess 99.*.

Item #468963

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Item #468963 A Confederacy of Dunces. John Kennedy TOOLE.
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Confederacy of Dunces

John Kennedy Toole
birth name: John Kennedy Toole
born: 12/17/1937
died: 3/26/1969
nationality: USA

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Biography

New Orleans-born author who was unpublished at the time of his suicide in 1969. His writing was championed at first by his mother and then by Walker Percy, and his novel A Confederacy of Dunces won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize.more

Collecting tips:

Toole's story is well-known, but if you don't already know it, he killed himself in despair when he couldn't get A Confederacy of Dunces (1980) published. His mother haunted publishers until, with the help of Walker Percy, she managed to get LSU to publish the book, the first work of fiction from that publisher. To everyone's surprise, the book won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981. The boards of the book seem to warp or splay pretty easily, but copies with just a little splaying probably shouldn't be rejected out of hand, unless you really want to be a stickler. The jacket is uncoated, and primarily black, so its hard to find copies that don't have at least some rubbing. Also, look to see whether the pale blue lettering on the book has faded or not. Needless to say, a signed copy should raise a little suspicion (unless its been channeled from the spirit world), although copies signed by either Percy or the author's mother do turn up, and command a modest premium. A decade and a half ago one collector told us he had a bunch of copies signed by Percy, and rather annoyingly, he's been dangling them ever since. We'll keep you posted.more