Confederacy of Dunces

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy O'Toole, 394 pages

Poor Ignatius Reilly is everywhere surrounded by "pitfalls like Abelman, the insipid Crusaders for Moorish Dignity, the Mancuso cretin, Dorian Greene, newspaper reporters, stripteasers, birds, photography, juvenile delinquents, Nazi pornographers.  And especially Myra Minkoff.  The consumer products.  And especially Myra Minkoff."

Over-educated, under-experienced, aware of everything that is wrong with the world and nothing of what is wrong with himself, a grotesque in a world of grotesques, Ignatius is truly a hero for our time.  Which, depending on your viewpoint, is either hilarious, or tragic, or both, exactly like this brilliant novel.