oh what can be said of Dunces. i think a lot of people consider it a gag book. the scant scholarly works on it denounce its academic nature (i am referring to a paper saying it is un-carnivalesque in the Bakhtinian sense) but I think it deserves recognition. For one, it is completely dialogical, each character has an accent and feel their own and the book specifically typifies the many accents of New Orleans this way, from italian, to black, to posh, to irish. I think the way in which Toole stereotypes is interesting. much like Seinfeld, each character starts out as an archetypal person, Manisuco, his mother, Mrs. Riley, the punk kid, the gay guy, Myrna, Burma, etc are all stock characters brought to life by their voices and interactions. i think the baroque convergence of plots in the end is also very seinfeld-esque. Ignatius is completely irrediably unlikeable, i think its an interesting conciet. the first thing that comes to your head is that it'll be like Quioxte and you will find something to admire within him, but no, he is just as annoying and detestable at the end that he is in the beginning. I think this must have stemmed from Toole's own self hatred, which would lead to his suicide. Ignatius is a brutal self mocking, turning all of your insecurities, bookishness, slovenliness, your weight problems and making them absurd. anyways i just find the book funny and interesting to think about, i think most people only give it merit in a documenting and entertainment sense, but there is more to be said about it