Amadan na Briona

I got it. I got the humor, I got what the author was trying to say. I just didn't like it. I appreciate the writing and the cleverness that made this a Pulitzer Prize winner. I'm giving it three stars because I recognize that it's well-written and would appeal to those with a taste for picaresque characters in farcical situations, and truthfully, there were a few parts that made me laugh. But being primarily a reader of genre fiction, a book like this with no real plot and no character growth just doesn't appeal to me. For literary fiction, A Confederacy of Dunces has the virtue of being unpretentious -- it's designed to entertain you, not move you or make you think Deep Thoughts. But it didn't hit my funny-bone enough to overcome my loathing for the characters.

That said, I listened to the audio version narrated by Barrett Whitener, and I highly recommend it. I can't imagine a more perfect audio portrayal of Ignatius, and he did a wonderful job with all the other characters as well. Honestly, I think the book would have been a lot less funny without his narration.