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, Rene Pol Nevils and Deborah George Hardy present the first biography of Toole, tapping scores of interviews with contemporaries of the writer and acquaintances of his influencing mother, Thelma, as well as unpublished letters, documents, and photographs.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.

Reviews

"Like Ignatius J. Reilly, Toole never quite fit into the world. In A Confederacy of Dunces, the resulting tensions resolved into comedy. In his life, they ended in tragedy." - New York Times Book Review; "Brilliantly follows the downward spiral of Toole's life from pampered, prodiglous child to lost, hard-drinking, perhaps even schizophrenic adult.... [Toole's] story, lovingly and sadly chronicled by Nevils and Hardy, proves that even death can't keep a good book down." - Tampa Tribune; "If the ultimate compliment one can make of an artist's biography is that it makes you want to revisit the [artist's] work, Ignatius Rising hits that mark. The story of Toole is a tragic and bittersweet tale, but there is great joy in reading of the early development of Ignatius, a character so vividly drawn he will doubtlessly outlive the infamy of his creator." - Seattle Times; Rene 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."