A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (2005, Unabridged, Compact Disc)

John Kennedy Toole’s Pulitzer Prize-winning, quintessentially American, madcap satire introduces readers to one of literature’s most memorable anti-heroes. Ignatius J. Reilly is a grossly overweight, outspoken, germ-phobic slob of a hypochondriac, who is obsessed with his own self-importance. At 30, he is unemployed and rarely leaves his home, but he still sees himself as an authority on everything that’s wrong with his country -- which is just about everything. He lives in New Orleans with his long-suffering but devoted mother, who suddenly determines that she has indulged him long enough; their money has run out, and Ignatius must find his first job.

Thus begins a non-stop series of hilarious episodes as Ignatius, at once over- and under-qualified for entry-level positions, gets himself hired and fired from a series of low-paying jobs, each of which he sees as a creative opportunity to address various societal ills. The novel is peopled with a host of wacky characters who run amok at cross-purposes. As reader, Barrett Whitener gives each a recognizable and very appropriate voice. The one he uses for Reilly -- big, booming, and pompously fatuous -- especially heightens the audiobook’s comic appeal.

This is a literary novel that owes a debt to Rabelais and Cervantes. Some readers may find both Reilly's obnoxious personality and the episodic nature of the book very tough to take. Most will find it an integral part of a highly inventive satire.