On March 26 1969, on a quiet country road outside Biloxi, Mississippi, John Kennedy Toole took his own life. Aged just 31, the literary professor and author left behind two unpublished novels. Over the course of the next decade, Toole’s grieving mother Thelma dedicated her life to ensuring the second of these, “A Confederacy Of Dunces,” found publication. Eventually, she succeeded, and the New Orleans-set picaresque tale of slovenly philosopher and medievalist Ignatius J. Reilly went on to sell over two million copies and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981, making Toole one of only three writers to win the prize posthumously.
Almost as much as the book itself, readers were intrigued by the unique journey the novel took to publication, with a flamboyant yet grief-stricken mother dedicating what remained of her life to ensuring her son’s genius was recognized by the world.
Inevitably, with such a successful novel and such a compelling lead character,...
Almost as much as the book itself, readers were intrigued by the unique journey the novel took to publication, with a flamboyant yet grief-stricken mother dedicating what remained of her life to ensuring her son’s genius was recognized by the world.
Inevitably, with such a successful novel and such a compelling lead character,...
- 3/25/2021
- by Nathan O'Hagan
- The Wrap
When you talk dream projects that you wish could become resurrected -- something we do for shits and giggles from time to time -- very high on our list is John Kennedy Toole's posthumously-published, picaresque novel "A Confederacy of Dunces" (published in 1980, eleven years after the author's suicide at the age of 32). Steven Soderbergh and Scott Kramer (producer for "The Limey") wrote a screenplay in the late '90s (we still have a copy lying around somewhere) and in the early aughts, they attached David Gordon Green to direct circa "Undertow," and names like Will Ferrell, Mos Def, and Drew Barrymore circulated for the lead roles (Barrymore would have co-produced).
But as Green told MTV in 2004, "There were too many cooks involved, too many producers [and] the egos of a lot of people." It didn't help that Soderbergh and producer Scott Rudin got involved in a nasty lawsuit over the project.
But as Green told MTV in 2004, "There were too many cooks involved, too many producers [and] the egos of a lot of people." It didn't help that Soderbergh and producer Scott Rudin got involved in a nasty lawsuit over the project.
- 5/23/2012
- by The Playlist
- The Playlist
After 22 years in development, Variety reports that the film version John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces has a director attached to the project. David Gordon Green has been picked by Miramax to helm the adaptation of the Pulitzer-Prize winning novel about Ignatius J. Reilly, would-be academic who suffers through a series of misadventures while living at home with his mother in 1960s-era New Orleans. Steven Soderbergh and Scott Kramer have written the screenplay, with Kramer and Flower Films partners Nancy Juvonen and Drew Barrymore producing; Barrymore will also have a not-yet-determined part in the film. The adaptation has been off-and-on for the past two decades, with various directors, producers, and studios attached, and has also been the subject of lawsuits.
- 11/9/2002
- IMDbPro News
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