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May 20, 2010, 05:51 PM ET
'A Confederacy of Dunces,' Still Strong at 30
It's been 30 years since Louisiana State U. Press took a chance on a novel by an unknown and long-dead writer, a sometime professor of English who had killed himself in 1969 at the age of 31. It was a good gamble. John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces turned out to be one of those books that a press remains grateful to have on its list.
Dunces follows the adventures of the maladroit Ignatius J. Reilly as he careens through New Orleans in the early 1960s. MaryKatherine Callaway, the director of LSU Press, says that the dark comedy continues to do well for her press.
"The novel is, quite simply, a phenomenon. It has sold steadily since its first year, spurred on by winning the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981, and by word of mouth from countless readers," she told the Chronicle in an email. "Today, the press continues to sell the book in hardcover and large-print hardcover editions, and we have licensed translations in over 26 languages, as well as English paperback, audio, and e-book editions."
Callaway pointed out that Dunces turned up on a New York Times list of the best American fiction published between 1980 and 2005--"the only one published by a university press, I should add," she said. "In the U.K., the book was selected last year by readers as one of the 10 funniest novels --one of only two books on that list by an American author (the other was Joseph Heller's Catch-22.)"
Last month, the press hosted a panel on the novel and its many foreign-language editions and their array of cover art. Why give a 30-year-old book this kind of attention? Callaway cites the novel's "tremendous impact" on the press. "It made us famous and provided a great spur to our overall publishing program, especially to the creative lists-fiction and poetry," she said. "These lists are difficult to maintain financially, and over the years they have been through a number stages and had their ups and downs."
A year ago, the press had to face the possibility that it might be closed because of the state's money woes. It pulled through the crisis but has had to make tough decisions in order to stay alive, Callaway said. In lean times, a nonprofit publisher has even more reason to embrace the classics on its list.
Toole's papers, by the way, are housed at Tulane University. The collection includes the manuscripts and page proofs of Dunces and related material as well as correspondence of Thelma Ducoing Toole, the author's mother, and Walker Percy, both of whom were instrumental in getting the novel published at all.—Jennifer Howard
PageView is The Chronicle's blog about scholarly publishing.
Comments
1. lexalexander - May 21, 2010 at 09:33 am
I read "Dunces" on my honeymoon in 1990 and try to re-read it every couple of years. What a joy.
2. emwhite - May 21, 2010 at 01:02 pm
I wrote what might have been the first review of the novel, for the Los Angeles Times, shortly after it came out. I loved it. --Ed White
3. bghansel - May 24, 2010 at 09:40 am
It's been many years since I read this, but I remember reading it on the subway and I struggled to stop myself from laughing outloud. I don't know if my fellow passengers thought I was crazy or recognized the book.
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