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Butterfly in the Typewriter: The Tragic Life of John Kennedy Toole and the Remarkable Story of a Confederacy of Dunces
The saga of John Kennedy Toole is one of the greatest stories of American literary history. After writing A Confederacy of Dunces , Toole corresponded with Robert Gottlieb of Simon & Schuster for two years. Exhausted from Gottlieb's suggested revisions, Toole declared the publication of the manuscript hopeless and stored it in a box. Years later he suffered a mental breakdown, took a two-month journey across the United States, and finally committed suicide on an inconspicuous road outside of Biloxi. Following the funeral, Toole's mother discovered the manuscript. After many rejections, she cornered Walker Percy, who found it a brilliant novel and spearheaded its publication. In 1981, twelve years after the author's death, A Confederacy of Dunces won the Pulitzer Prize.In Butterfly in the Typewriter , Cory MacLauchlin draws on scores of new interviews with friends, family, and colleagues as well as full access to the extensive Toole archive at Tulane University, capturing his upbringing in New Orleans, his years in New York City, his frenzy of writing in Puerto Rico, his return to his beloved city, and his descent into paranoia and depression.
352 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 2012
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February 15, 2021
If you haven't read Ignatius Rising: The Life of John Kennedy Toole, read this instead. If you have read it, read this one anyway. This is much more measured, balanced and insightful, and certainly less speculative and not sensationalistic, as is the former. (If you haven't read A Confederacy of Dunces, well, certainly read that first of all -- and what are you waiting for!)
While some may question the efficacy of a biography about someone on whom not a lot can be known (and almost nothing on how he spent his last weeks), there's been so much prior conjecture and misleading information on who Toole was, based merely on the novel he wrote (e.g., that he himself was Ignatius) and that he'd killed himself, that this book helps to right some wrongs, giving a more accurate view of what pundits were writing about him when his novel was first published.
It is also very sensitive on the topic of suicide, quoting an expert of it being "an complex event," certainly not one that can be simply attributed to what the aforementioned pundits, and even Toole's mother, declared was Toole's reason for committing suicide, as if they knew a single reason.
I learned -- important to me as a Walker Percy fan -- that it's actually Percy's wife we have to thank for A Confederacy of Dunces being published. If she hadn't returned it to her husband with her enthusiastic approval, the novel might never have been published. MacLauchin makes the point that it was women who first championed Toole's novel, but it's their male counterparts (excepting Toole's mother, of course) that are remembered in the history of the novel's publishing saga.
My only issue with the book is a few proofreading misses that are either bothersome to me or ones that I think are a bit troublesome in a nonfiction work, e.g.: the word 'roll' being used when it is 'role' that is meant (one of my pet peeves!); an important date stated as June (months after Toole's death) when what could only be meant was January -- this in the otherwise excellent 'notes' section; the calling a friend of Toole's by his first name near the end when previously only his initials had been used, not his given name -- a confusion that was cleared up by my using the also excellent index.
While some may question the efficacy of a biography about someone on whom not a lot can be known (and almost nothing on how he spent his last weeks), there's been so much prior conjecture and misleading information on who Toole was, based merely on the novel he wrote (e.g., that he himself was Ignatius) and that he'd killed himself, that this book helps to right some wrongs, giving a more accurate view of what pundits were writing about him when his novel was first published.
It is also very sensitive on the topic of suicide, quoting an expert of it being "an complex event," certainly not one that can be simply attributed to what the aforementioned pundits, and even Toole's mother, declared was Toole's reason for committing suicide, as if they knew a single reason.
I learned -- important to me as a Walker Percy fan -- that it's actually Percy's wife we have to thank for A Confederacy of Dunces being published. If she hadn't returned it to her husband with her enthusiastic approval, the novel might never have been published. MacLauchin makes the point that it was women who first championed Toole's novel, but it's their male counterparts (excepting Toole's mother, of course) that are remembered in the history of the novel's publishing saga.
My only issue with the book is a few proofreading misses that are either bothersome to me or ones that I think are a bit troublesome in a nonfiction work, e.g.: the word 'roll' being used when it is 'role' that is meant (one of my pet peeves!); an important date stated as June (months after Toole's death) when what could only be meant was January -- this in the otherwise excellent 'notes' section; the calling a friend of Toole's by his first name near the end when previously only his initials had been used, not his given name -- a confusion that was cleared up by my using the also excellent index.
July 9, 2015
According to a friend of mine who knew Toole, virtually this entire book is pure fiction, and distorted, and in places vicious. The author makes quite an effort to "disprove" the idea that Toole was homosexual. But my friend says that everyone who knew him knew he was gay.It was well know on the Tulane campus. In his effort to suppress the truth, this author slanders through inuendo one of Toole's few friends, Doonie Guibet, who definitely was gay. Note on pages 214-5 where he suggests that Toole first realized Guibet was gay years after they were in Tulane in the 50's. And he implies that Guibet was some kind of degenerate lowlife because he was arrested on suspicion of murdering his roommate. What actually happened was that his partner came staggering home one night bleeding from stab wounds.Guibet immediately called the police. Cops never have been fond of gays, and in those days it was illegal to be gay. When a neighbor told them that they had quarreled the night before, Guibet was immediately arrested. He was quickly freed when witnesses testified that the roommate had been staggering along the street obviously seriously injured before entering the building. Everyone knew that they would not have arrested him without much more investigation if he had not been gay. My friend said that he was a very sweet, gentle man who never was hostile to anyone, Yet MacLauchlin tries to suggest he was some kind of fiend.
By the way, when he talks about how Toole applied to Delta Tau Delta, he makes you think that it was Toole who decided not to join. Actually, the fraternity never wanted Toole to begin with. He was only pledged because they wanted Guibet, who came from a "social" family, and Guibet insisted on Toole being pledged. But the fraternity caught Guibet having sex with another male student(not a member of the fraternity) in the house and kicked him and Toole out.
Thelma Toole is described as coming from a "creole" background because she had French and Spanish ancestors, but apparently they came AFTER the colonial era, and really don't qualify as creole. She tries to make herself look more important than she was. "We always had maids!". A lot of lower middle class and even working class people in those days had "maids", part time cleaning women. Both my parents families had them, and neither was wealthy. And the author tries to reinforce her delusions of grandeur, by referring to Ken's "nanny", which apparently was only the part time cleaning woman who came in on days Thelma went out to work and kept an eye on the kid while she was cleaning!He claims that she was "Queen Mother of a carnival Krewe, a high honor for a New Orleanian". Well, there are a lot of carnival krewes. I don't know which one it was, but there is a considerable social gap between Comus and the Elks Krewe of Orleanians. She claims to have gotten his novel published as a service to his memory, but she certainly enjoyed basking in the "glory" she would never have had otherwise.
When I told my friend about the remark about how Ken was a stylish dresser, her jaw dropped. Except when he was dressed up for a party, and made some effort to be neat, he was a slob. The author implies that only happened in his later years, but my friend says he was that in the mid 50's. And his mental illness was obvious even then. She certainly doesn't remember him as a pleasant conversationalist, but as someone who went out of his way to be obnoxious, and make cruel, nasty remarks. The author mentions some of these, but acts like they were aberrations. My friend says this was typical behavior for him. Very few people could stand him. People wondered whey Guibet was his friend. They had nothing in common except an interest in becoming writers, and being gay.
MacLauchlin tries to "prove" Toole was not gay by his alleged "passes" at the wives of his fellow faculty members at Lafayette. But notice that he did this in the presence of their husbands, and in the most obvious and obnoxious way.What he was really doing was getting his kicks out of being annoying to people. Toole did "go out" with a number of Uptown girls during his Tulane years, but he was merely an escort, acceptable because of his friendship with Doonie, who was "in society". In those days society girls could not go to Uptown functions without a date, but a lot of society boys didn't want to go to those functions, so any non society boy who dressed properly was acceptable.Toole was fascinated by the Uptown world he was not a part of, and controlled his nasty behavior so that he could attend these affairs, where he and the other "escorts" were merely spectators. At Tulane he hung around with a girl named Katherine Hickey, who was "as nuts as Toole". She was the "real" Myrna Minkoff. She had a delusion that every man who passed her on the street was madly in love with her;she displayed this behavior a number of times in my friend's presence. "Myrna" died in 2008 at the state mental hospital in Jackson, La.
The author tends to concentrate on the people who say nice things about Toole, and give short shrift to people like Broussard,who were less not so impressed.And we have to remember that a lot of people enjoy seeing their names in print, and being associated with someone who became "famous". And often tend to be less critical of the "hero" then they should be. But we see the real Ken Toole, the TRUE model for Ignatius Reilly, showing through in spite of the author's efforts at whitewashing him.The irony is that this "biography" in the end is more of a work of fiction than A Confederacy of Dunces!
By the way, when he talks about how Toole applied to Delta Tau Delta, he makes you think that it was Toole who decided not to join. Actually, the fraternity never wanted Toole to begin with. He was only pledged because they wanted Guibet, who came from a "social" family, and Guibet insisted on Toole being pledged. But the fraternity caught Guibet having sex with another male student(not a member of the fraternity) in the house and kicked him and Toole out.
Thelma Toole is described as coming from a "creole" background because she had French and Spanish ancestors, but apparently they came AFTER the colonial era, and really don't qualify as creole. She tries to make herself look more important than she was. "We always had maids!". A lot of lower middle class and even working class people in those days had "maids", part time cleaning women. Both my parents families had them, and neither was wealthy. And the author tries to reinforce her delusions of grandeur, by referring to Ken's "nanny", which apparently was only the part time cleaning woman who came in on days Thelma went out to work and kept an eye on the kid while she was cleaning!He claims that she was "Queen Mother of a carnival Krewe, a high honor for a New Orleanian". Well, there are a lot of carnival krewes. I don't know which one it was, but there is a considerable social gap between Comus and the Elks Krewe of Orleanians. She claims to have gotten his novel published as a service to his memory, but she certainly enjoyed basking in the "glory" she would never have had otherwise.
When I told my friend about the remark about how Ken was a stylish dresser, her jaw dropped. Except when he was dressed up for a party, and made some effort to be neat, he was a slob. The author implies that only happened in his later years, but my friend says he was that in the mid 50's. And his mental illness was obvious even then. She certainly doesn't remember him as a pleasant conversationalist, but as someone who went out of his way to be obnoxious, and make cruel, nasty remarks. The author mentions some of these, but acts like they were aberrations. My friend says this was typical behavior for him. Very few people could stand him. People wondered whey Guibet was his friend. They had nothing in common except an interest in becoming writers, and being gay.
MacLauchlin tries to "prove" Toole was not gay by his alleged "passes" at the wives of his fellow faculty members at Lafayette. But notice that he did this in the presence of their husbands, and in the most obvious and obnoxious way.What he was really doing was getting his kicks out of being annoying to people. Toole did "go out" with a number of Uptown girls during his Tulane years, but he was merely an escort, acceptable because of his friendship with Doonie, who was "in society". In those days society girls could not go to Uptown functions without a date, but a lot of society boys didn't want to go to those functions, so any non society boy who dressed properly was acceptable.Toole was fascinated by the Uptown world he was not a part of, and controlled his nasty behavior so that he could attend these affairs, where he and the other "escorts" were merely spectators. At Tulane he hung around with a girl named Katherine Hickey, who was "as nuts as Toole". She was the "real" Myrna Minkoff. She had a delusion that every man who passed her on the street was madly in love with her;she displayed this behavior a number of times in my friend's presence. "Myrna" died in 2008 at the state mental hospital in Jackson, La.
The author tends to concentrate on the people who say nice things about Toole, and give short shrift to people like Broussard,who were less not so impressed.And we have to remember that a lot of people enjoy seeing their names in print, and being associated with someone who became "famous". And often tend to be less critical of the "hero" then they should be. But we see the real Ken Toole, the TRUE model for Ignatius Reilly, showing through in spite of the author's efforts at whitewashing him.The irony is that this "biography" in the end is more of a work of fiction than A Confederacy of Dunces!
March 17, 2016
Me fascinan las historias de personajes trágicos. Pero si además el protagonista no es un personaje de ficción, sino un autor atormentado por el fracaso y la frustración, no puedo evitar leerlo. John Kennedy Toole se suicidó sin conocer su éxito, sin ver en qué se había convertido su historia: un personaje atemporal y una novela que forma parte de la Historia de la Literatura. Buen homenaje el de conocer su vida para honrarle después de su muerte.
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February 12, 2021
He estado a punto de abandonar la lectura como 10 veces, pero me decía a mi misma un poco más, seguro que descubrirás algo interesante. Y la verdad es que lo encontré, hacia la mitad del libro, que coincide más o menos con el momento en el que La conjura toma vida, lo que hasta entonces había sido una biografía anodina, empieza a brillar. Así que creo que el no darme por vencida ha merecido la pena.
September 24, 2023
Me parece una historia muy interesante.
El autor indaga en toda la familia Toole.
El matrimonio compuesto por John y Thelma, que tuvieron a Kennedy ya siendo bastante mayores. Ella, una madre castradora y narcisista es el pilar fundamental de la crianza de su hijo.
No os voy a contar mucho más por si os interesa indagar sobre la vida de este autor.
El autor indaga en toda la familia Toole.
El matrimonio compuesto por John y Thelma, que tuvieron a Kennedy ya siendo bastante mayores. Ella, una madre castradora y narcisista es el pilar fundamental de la crianza de su hijo.
No os voy a contar mucho más por si os interesa indagar sobre la vida de este autor.
January 18, 2021
A must-read for Dunces fans! Not just a biography of the man, but one of the incomparable novel itself. There’s much more detail about Toole than I thought existed, tbh. I loved learning about how his characters likely came to fruition. After Toole’s tragic death, his mother Thelma fought long and hard to publish his masterpiece. And I’m so grateful she did. He posthumously won the Pulitzer in 1981; the year I was born.
March 8, 2014
This book was mind blowing for me because somehow I had the idea in my head that Ignatius J Reilly was basically a mirror of John Kennedy Toole and this was truly not the case. Ken Toole was smart, charismatic, fairly grounded and successful....in short he was nothing like Ignatius! This book gave a lot of background and explained the inspiration for the book and the many unforgettable characters. If anyone is not familiar with Toole, the abridged version goes like this: wrote novel, rejected, depression, suicide, book publication driven be bereaved mother, Pulitzer Prize. Toole's story is one of the great tragedies of American literature and we'll never know what might have been.
August 12, 2012
There were some problems with the proofreading (mainly with word choice; e.g. assent was used when the author meant ascent), but those are the concerns of a grammar geek and word nerd. I was still engrossed with this book. It is carefully researched and responsibly reported. The author stated it when he was forced to speculate on what might have happened, rather than asserting those possibilities as truths, which is a mistake most of Toole's biographers have done in the past. It's understandable that everyone wants to claim him - we've all come to believe that he was a misunderstood genius, just as his mother asserted. She went so far as to destroy any of his papers that may have "tarnished" his image, which is why biographers have been forced to guess at his story.
MacLauchlin uses the surviving correspondence, documents, and interviews with a wide variety of those who knew John Kennedy Toole well to paint a picture of his wit and his temperament, his rise to the top of every academic endeavor, and the disappointment he mostly kept hidden when the one thing he thought was to be both his ticket out of his parents' apartment and his path to greatness became the one thing he was unable to succeed at.
The fact that there are so many gaps in our absolute knowledge of Toole's inner world, as deftly pointed out in this book, makes us remember that he was just one of us. Far more intelligent than us, and maybe a lot more fun than most of us, but he must have suffered the same private indignities that weigh heavily on us all: crises of identity, occupation, and creative endeavor.
One thing that comes across in this book is the complicated triumph and tragedy of Thelma Toole's appropriation of her son's very being. On one hand, if it weren't for her dogged pursuit of publication for her son's masterwork, we wouldn't have it. On the other hand, I couldn't help but think that her behavior after his life must have reflected in some ways her behavior while he was supporting her in New Orleans. She acted as though she were owed something by her golden boy, and cloaked it all in a wish to do it "for him". She deluded herself, but others could see that her need for his unending support may have been partly to blame for his need to quit his existence. In accordance with the carefulness of the author of this book, I will state that MacLauchlin does not say this. This is my own very personal speculation: the facts are that Toole's suicide note was destroyed, and Thelma refused to reveal what they had argued about the last time she saw him, and these two facts are the very things that make us (me) suspect that she may have been an enduring cause of his chronic anguish. And, though we are glad to have Confederacy in our canon, one can't help but remember that Toole died thinking himself a failure at the one thing he cared most to do in his life. For me, this tragedy far outweighs the triumph.
The honesty of this book, in showing what we do know, and being candid about what we don't, gives us a clear picture of the both the joy and the struggles of John Kennedy Toole.
MacLauchlin uses the surviving correspondence, documents, and interviews with a wide variety of those who knew John Kennedy Toole well to paint a picture of his wit and his temperament, his rise to the top of every academic endeavor, and the disappointment he mostly kept hidden when the one thing he thought was to be both his ticket out of his parents' apartment and his path to greatness became the one thing he was unable to succeed at.
The fact that there are so many gaps in our absolute knowledge of Toole's inner world, as deftly pointed out in this book, makes us remember that he was just one of us. Far more intelligent than us, and maybe a lot more fun than most of us, but he must have suffered the same private indignities that weigh heavily on us all: crises of identity, occupation, and creative endeavor.
One thing that comes across in this book is the complicated triumph and tragedy of Thelma Toole's appropriation of her son's very being. On one hand, if it weren't for her dogged pursuit of publication for her son's masterwork, we wouldn't have it. On the other hand, I couldn't help but think that her behavior after his life must have reflected in some ways her behavior while he was supporting her in New Orleans. She acted as though she were owed something by her golden boy, and cloaked it all in a wish to do it "for him". She deluded herself, but others could see that her need for his unending support may have been partly to blame for his need to quit his existence. In accordance with the carefulness of the author of this book, I will state that MacLauchlin does not say this. This is my own very personal speculation: the facts are that Toole's suicide note was destroyed, and Thelma refused to reveal what they had argued about the last time she saw him, and these two facts are the very things that make us (me) suspect that she may have been an enduring cause of his chronic anguish. And, though we are glad to have Confederacy in our canon, one can't help but remember that Toole died thinking himself a failure at the one thing he cared most to do in his life. For me, this tragedy far outweighs the triumph.
The honesty of this book, in showing what we do know, and being candid about what we don't, gives us a clear picture of the both the joy and the struggles of John Kennedy Toole.
October 18, 2015
El problema de mis contemporáneos es su obsesión por la objetividad histórica. Los antiguos me fascinan por la enfermedad contraria: su tendencia a distorsionarla. El autor de esta biografía es demasiado contemporáneo para mi gusto. La vida de John Kennedy Toole que relata es parca, sencilla e, incluso, pedestre. Lo único extravagante en ella son su madre y su ciudad natal -su novela máxima, pues-.
He leído dos veces "La conjura de los necios", y, ahora que leí en voz alta el primer capítulo a mi sobrina después de fumarme esta biografía, se esfumaron las carcajadas espontáneas y estridentes. Este académico me arruinó la fiesta. Yo evitaría recomendarlo y si alguien insistiera en conocer este texto, le respondería que tendría suficiente con leer este artículo de El País: http://elpais.com/m/elpais/2015/07/13...
Uno de los epígrafes en "La conjura..." justifica la pertenencia de Nueva Orléans a la cultura mediterránea. Lo justo sería reconocerle las mismas credenciales a Toole. La historia de su vida debería seguir escribiéndose como la de hombres nacidos en esas tierras: Lucrecio, Diógenes de Sínope, Luciano de Samósata, Pirrón de Elis, Heráclito de Éfeso y, sobre todo, Empédocles de Agrigento y el misterio de su suicidio en el Etna.
He leído dos veces "La conjura de los necios", y, ahora que leí en voz alta el primer capítulo a mi sobrina después de fumarme esta biografía, se esfumaron las carcajadas espontáneas y estridentes. Este académico me arruinó la fiesta. Yo evitaría recomendarlo y si alguien insistiera en conocer este texto, le respondería que tendría suficiente con leer este artículo de El País: http://elpais.com/m/elpais/2015/07/13...
Uno de los epígrafes en "La conjura..." justifica la pertenencia de Nueva Orléans a la cultura mediterránea. Lo justo sería reconocerle las mismas credenciales a Toole. La historia de su vida debería seguir escribiéndose como la de hombres nacidos en esas tierras: Lucrecio, Diógenes de Sínope, Luciano de Samósata, Pirrón de Elis, Heráclito de Éfeso y, sobre todo, Empédocles de Agrigento y el misterio de su suicidio en el Etna.
April 10, 2018
MacLuachlin takes a balanced and well researched view of Toole's life and the life of his great work, A Confederacy of Dunces.
At times the year by year, chapter by chapter approach reminds me of that "David Copperfield crap" of Ignatius literary cousin, Holden Coudfield ranted about. However, it was necessary to set the record straight as claims that the editor who initially rejected Toole or Toole's repressed homosexuality drove Toole's suicide are unfounded. MacLuachlin makes that very clear.
Toole' death and final years were more complex and mysterious than a simple reading, he did suffer from mental illness and his suicide was not a sudden act.
Toole wrote a his masterwork in 1963 and since his mother didn't accept the changes made Toole made the request of the editor who rejected him, the novel published in 1980 remains largely the same as the 1963 manuscript. The fact that it was widely recieved 17 years after it's drafting speaks to the universality of the work. It still remains very popular today. Also notable about the work is it's reception in the UK, France, Spain and Italy. Part of that has to do with Toole's command of the language as well as the multicultural aspect of New Orleans, with its English, Spanish, and French layers.
I couldn't read this bio fast enough. Toole's mother was his own best enemy. She didn't allow for a proper literary biography during her life and destroyed his suicide letter. There were two early books on Toole that are not very good. This may be the best we have.
At times the year by year, chapter by chapter approach reminds me of that "David Copperfield crap" of Ignatius literary cousin, Holden Coudfield ranted about. However, it was necessary to set the record straight as claims that the editor who initially rejected Toole or Toole's repressed homosexuality drove Toole's suicide are unfounded. MacLuachlin makes that very clear.
Toole' death and final years were more complex and mysterious than a simple reading, he did suffer from mental illness and his suicide was not a sudden act.
Toole wrote a his masterwork in 1963 and since his mother didn't accept the changes made Toole made the request of the editor who rejected him, the novel published in 1980 remains largely the same as the 1963 manuscript. The fact that it was widely recieved 17 years after it's drafting speaks to the universality of the work. It still remains very popular today. Also notable about the work is it's reception in the UK, France, Spain and Italy. Part of that has to do with Toole's command of the language as well as the multicultural aspect of New Orleans, with its English, Spanish, and French layers.
I couldn't read this bio fast enough. Toole's mother was his own best enemy. She didn't allow for a proper literary biography during her life and destroyed his suicide letter. There were two early books on Toole that are not very good. This may be the best we have.
July 1, 2021
A good dive into the life of John Kennedy Toole. The author put the book in a narrated chronology, but explored the conjectured experience, supplying some eyewitness testimony and supplement info with the authors work. The author is even handed and fleshes out question about JTK without putting forth any agenda. It was a bit of a slog to get through, and somewhat redundant, but helped me understand the hilarity and tragedy of the JTKs work. A good companion peace for Confederacy of Dunces.
June 16, 2012
A very thorough, micro-scopically focused story of the life of John Kennedy Toole as well as the life of his novel, A Confederacy of Dunces. Overall a very good read; well-researched, excellent writing skills, and the pull of a narrative thread throughout. The problem with using a microscope, of course is that it magnifies everything, rendering some nuances as cartoonishly exagerrated and out-of context. The minor drawbacks for me included the dwelling on Toole's childhood and the hearsay recounted from his childhood friends. When Toole informs his friend that television is going to be more popular than the movies, for example, that kind of juvenile prognosticating goes on everywhere from just about every mouth. Toole accomplished a great deal in his short lifetime, no need to embellish his intellect with some sort of air of psychic ability or super-intellectual analytical ability to predict the future. Some of what comes out of the mouth of babes is just talk, nothing more. My other minor problem comes toward the end of the book when MacLauchlin quotes a doctor who is a renowned specialist in suicides. On page 217, one paragraph begins with the suicidologist stating that a suicide is the "best choice to a perceived problem, dilemma, crisis...". The chapter ends with the declaration that a "single event or single person is rarely the cause of a suicide." Between the beginning and the end, the chapter completely contradicts itself. It feels as though, indeed, there could very possibly be one or two people, and/or one or two circumstances that put Toole over the edge.
The book does a great job of illuminating the personality and influence of Toole's mother, Thelma, who could stand a few hundred pages of analytical examination herself, preferably some accredited psychoanalysts.
I was left pondering whether Confederacy was an average novel made spectacular by the relentless promotion by Thelma and the wide mass-popularity that followed, or if in fact it is a true masterpiece that was simply unrecognized or deemed unmarketable. As in life, stupid people become rich and genius-level intellects sweep floors. Who's to say what's really fair. And of course there is the fact that Toole's death has been unextricably tied to his novel from the very beginning by Thelma; if one were to somehow untie that knot, what would've been the eventual fate of the book on its own? MacLauchlin, to his credit, delves into that and a few other viable variables. The other burning question I was left with is this: What would Toole have done with his novel in the year 2012? Would he have said "screw the publishers" and opened a CreateSpace account? Would he have been happy enough to have his book "out there", though not neccessarily well-known? As the gate-keepers come crashing down amongst us all, we scurry out of the way but keep a keen eye over our shoulders to make sure we don't miss any opportunity to barge through the door ourselves. In the meantime, we put on the hats of publishers ourselves and try, like Toole, to find an independant voice that will confirm legitimacy on the fruits from our years of toil.
All in all, a very good read and this book will most likely claim it's rightful place as the definitive story of both Toole and his masterwork.
The book does a great job of illuminating the personality and influence of Toole's mother, Thelma, who could stand a few hundred pages of analytical examination herself, preferably some accredited psychoanalysts.
I was left pondering whether Confederacy was an average novel made spectacular by the relentless promotion by Thelma and the wide mass-popularity that followed, or if in fact it is a true masterpiece that was simply unrecognized or deemed unmarketable. As in life, stupid people become rich and genius-level intellects sweep floors. Who's to say what's really fair. And of course there is the fact that Toole's death has been unextricably tied to his novel from the very beginning by Thelma; if one were to somehow untie that knot, what would've been the eventual fate of the book on its own? MacLauchlin, to his credit, delves into that and a few other viable variables. The other burning question I was left with is this: What would Toole have done with his novel in the year 2012? Would he have said "screw the publishers" and opened a CreateSpace account? Would he have been happy enough to have his book "out there", though not neccessarily well-known? As the gate-keepers come crashing down amongst us all, we scurry out of the way but keep a keen eye over our shoulders to make sure we don't miss any opportunity to barge through the door ourselves. In the meantime, we put on the hats of publishers ourselves and try, like Toole, to find an independant voice that will confirm legitimacy on the fruits from our years of toil.
All in all, a very good read and this book will most likely claim it's rightful place as the definitive story of both Toole and his masterwork.
July 27, 2021
Se me ha hecho un poco pesado leerlo pero a la vez lo he disfrutado; no puedo explicar la antagonía. Se le coge mucho cariño al pobre Toole.
January 3, 2017
3.5 stars. It’s fairly workmanlike literary bio on the author of one of my Desert Island books. It spends a bit too many pages on "all that David Copperfield kind of crap," but is quite revealing and useful. I’d always pictured JKT as this tortured Outsider. When in fact he seems to be quite the opposite, until the end when he twisted off.
I'd always supposed (erroneously it seems after reading the bio) that Ignatius was a hyperbolic JKT, just as people often mistake Humbert Humbert for Dr Nabokov’s Mr Hyde. This also make sense because according to the bio, Thelma Toole always (erroneously it seems) identified with Mrs Reilly in "Confederacy" and worked hard to get herself cast for this rôle (as I’m sure she would have spelled it) in the various failed film versions. The characteristics of Ignatius (mustache, mannerisms, weenie worship, etc.) were apparently based on a faculty colleague at ULaL, but I’m convinced after reading this bio that the character of Ignatius was his mother, Thelma, and Mrs Reilly actually the long suffering JKT.
The bio is worthwhile because it has has time to paint a more layered portrayal of Ken and Thelma, his mother. First it make a strong case that Ken was suffering at the end from serous mental illness, likely paranoia and/or schizophrenia, which apparently ran thick on both sides of the family. He thrives so long as he’s away from home — Columbia, Lafayette, the Army. The author makes the argument that it’s not so much that Ken is crushed by a perceived artistic failure when "Confederacy" isn’t published. He remains confident it its intrinsic worth. But he sees the publication/success of the novel as his ticket to independence from his family situation. So when Gottlieb tells him the books is excellent, but its not going to sell (and therefore provide enough money to emancipate him) this is when Ken boxes it up and resigns. He takes a local teaching job, tries to return to PhD studies and begins to fragment. The author also makes the point that it is the same narcissistic traits of Thelma that ironically result in the getting the book published 12 years later. Including (and this I didn’t realize) 5 years from the point she foists it on Walker Percy until it’s finally published. Apparently the only thing harder than trying to get a publisher to take a gamble on a first time author’s humorous novel, is trying get one to gamble on a dead author with no hope off building an audience and recouping the investment on future books nor help with publicity tours etc.
I'd always supposed (erroneously it seems after reading the bio) that Ignatius was a hyperbolic JKT, just as people often mistake Humbert Humbert for Dr Nabokov’s Mr Hyde. This also make sense because according to the bio, Thelma Toole always (erroneously it seems) identified with Mrs Reilly in "Confederacy" and worked hard to get herself cast for this rôle (as I’m sure she would have spelled it) in the various failed film versions. The characteristics of Ignatius (mustache, mannerisms, weenie worship, etc.) were apparently based on a faculty colleague at ULaL, but I’m convinced after reading this bio that the character of Ignatius was his mother, Thelma, and Mrs Reilly actually the long suffering JKT.
The bio is worthwhile because it has has time to paint a more layered portrayal of Ken and Thelma, his mother. First it make a strong case that Ken was suffering at the end from serous mental illness, likely paranoia and/or schizophrenia, which apparently ran thick on both sides of the family. He thrives so long as he’s away from home — Columbia, Lafayette, the Army. The author makes the argument that it’s not so much that Ken is crushed by a perceived artistic failure when "Confederacy" isn’t published. He remains confident it its intrinsic worth. But he sees the publication/success of the novel as his ticket to independence from his family situation. So when Gottlieb tells him the books is excellent, but its not going to sell (and therefore provide enough money to emancipate him) this is when Ken boxes it up and resigns. He takes a local teaching job, tries to return to PhD studies and begins to fragment. The author also makes the point that it is the same narcissistic traits of Thelma that ironically result in the getting the book published 12 years later. Including (and this I didn’t realize) 5 years from the point she foists it on Walker Percy until it’s finally published. Apparently the only thing harder than trying to get a publisher to take a gamble on a first time author’s humorous novel, is trying get one to gamble on a dead author with no hope off building an audience and recouping the investment on future books nor help with publicity tours etc.
December 31, 2014
I've already written a review for this marvelous biography of John Kennedy Toole. (If you're interested, it's here: http://deepsouthmag.com/2012/05/new-o...)
I would like to say that MacLauchlin does a fine job of analyzing the myth and legend of the enigmatic and troubled JK Toole. This biography was thorough and at the same time fun to read. Also, as someone who's written a novel, I was fascinated by the way the book A Confederacy of Dunces was discovered.
The irony to me is that John Kennedy Toole's mother basically tortured and smothered her brilliant son during his lifetime, and then later, she ended up being the reason his book was discovered- and lauded- ten years after his death (and still today).
Butterfly in the Typewriter: The Short, Tragic Life of John Kennedy Toole and the Remarkable Story of A Confederacy of Dunces is a fascinating biography, and I think it will appeal to all JK Toole fans, as well as anyone who enjoys literary biography, and books about the sometimes treacherous road to publication.
I would like to say that MacLauchlin does a fine job of analyzing the myth and legend of the enigmatic and troubled JK Toole. This biography was thorough and at the same time fun to read. Also, as someone who's written a novel, I was fascinated by the way the book A Confederacy of Dunces was discovered.
The irony to me is that John Kennedy Toole's mother basically tortured and smothered her brilliant son during his lifetime, and then later, she ended up being the reason his book was discovered- and lauded- ten years after his death (and still today).
Butterfly in the Typewriter: The Short, Tragic Life of John Kennedy Toole and the Remarkable Story of A Confederacy of Dunces is a fascinating biography, and I think it will appeal to all JK Toole fans, as well as anyone who enjoys literary biography, and books about the sometimes treacherous road to publication.
January 3, 2017
My Review on Library Journal [Xpress Reviews, August 3, 2012]:
http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/201...
MacLauchlin (English, Germanna Community Coll.) dedicated five years to learning and writing about the life story of John Kennedy Toole, who killed himself at age 31 in 1969, his novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, still unpublished. The hard work certainly shows in the resulting biography. The reader experiences the life and death of Toole, as well as the amazing journey that the manuscript of A Confederacy of Dunces took long after its author was gone. MacLauchlin’s thorough research included interviewing those who knew Toole and examining Toole’s personal papers at Tulane University. He shows a connection to and understanding of Toole that translates to readers, making them feel as if they, too, have entered Toole’s mind and are with him through his ups and downs. There are several instances where Toole’s behavior seemed unusual to MacLauchlin but would make complete sense to other native New Orleanians (such as this reviewer). Those moments aside, MacLauchlin has a deep understanding of Toole without making any unfounded assumptions.
Verdict Recommended to all literary biography collections and necessary for all those studying the prominent cultural figures of New Orleans
http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/201...
MacLauchlin (English, Germanna Community Coll.) dedicated five years to learning and writing about the life story of John Kennedy Toole, who killed himself at age 31 in 1969, his novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, still unpublished. The hard work certainly shows in the resulting biography. The reader experiences the life and death of Toole, as well as the amazing journey that the manuscript of A Confederacy of Dunces took long after its author was gone. MacLauchlin’s thorough research included interviewing those who knew Toole and examining Toole’s personal papers at Tulane University. He shows a connection to and understanding of Toole that translates to readers, making them feel as if they, too, have entered Toole’s mind and are with him through his ups and downs. There are several instances where Toole’s behavior seemed unusual to MacLauchlin but would make complete sense to other native New Orleanians (such as this reviewer). Those moments aside, MacLauchlin has a deep understanding of Toole without making any unfounded assumptions.
Verdict Recommended to all literary biography collections and necessary for all those studying the prominent cultural figures of New Orleans
March 7, 2017
Не то чтоб мы не знали «основных дат жизни и творчества» ДКТ и не то чтоб он прожил «долгую и счастливую жизнь», но биография эта была крайне полезна. Во-первых — из-за мелких фактоидов: например, что ДКТ в юности хлестался, будто агент Юла Бриннера после «Флибустьера» пытался нанять его гувернером к «детям» Юла (числом одно дитя, как мы знаем). Во-вторых, потому что это про Новый Орлеан. Но главное — у Кори Маклафлина получился очень бережный нарратив: с одной стороны без агиографии и придыхания, с другой — без отвратительной тенденциозности и желтизны, от которых не могли устоять предыдущие биографы. Напротив, он критикует фройдистские или политкорректненькие подходы (гомосексуализм, в частности). Автор проходит по той тонкой грани между «официальной версией», санированной Телмой, и «раскапыванием грязи». Поскольку самоубийство ДКТ — одна из нерешенных и нерешаемых загадок в мировой литературе, автор все же аккуратно и осторожно предлагает свои версии: скорее всего — прогрессирующая шизофрения и паранойя (в анамнезе семьи это есть)… ну и матушка подсобила, а вовсе не Роберт Готтлиб.
К чтению этой сбалансированной и информативной биографии рекомендуется просмотр «Точки омега» — это, по сути, один биографический проект. Там можно посмотреть на многих персонажей этой истории, включая самого автора.
К чтению этой сбалансированной и информативной биографии рекомендуется просмотр «Точки омега» — это, по сути, один биографический проект. Там можно посмотреть на многих персонажей этой истории, включая самого автора.
February 5, 2013
I read this biography as a primer before diving into the real deal which my adult children love very much. On first look I was not too interested in the Confederacy but based on glowing reviews by my goodreads pals here I will attempt to read the novel sometime soon. I have the hardcover book on order. My reading queue is unbelievably long these days but I guess that is a good thing considering the alternative. This book was basic reportage which I for the most part despise unless I am looking for information I cannot find on wikipedia. This served the bill, but barely. I mostly skimmed the book searching for what I could use in my understanding of the importance of the novel which happened to win a Pulitzer Prize.
June 17, 2015
This probably contains as much information about John Kennedy Toole as I would ever want to read, and I'm grateful for that. Unfortunately, the writing is fairly pedestrian, so it's not a book I'll ever want to reread.
There was another redeeming quality to Butterfly in the Typewriter. Amidst the information about Mr. Toole's life,
Clayelle Dalferes - she of the wondrous voice and diction on WQXR - who was a friend of John Kennedy Toole, makes a couple of short appearances in the book, including one humorous anecdote.
There was another redeeming quality to Butterfly in the Typewriter. Amidst the information about Mr. Toole's life,
Clayelle Dalferes - she of the wondrous voice and diction on WQXR - who was a friend of John Kennedy Toole, makes a couple of short appearances in the book, including one humorous anecdote.
May 31, 2022
Very speculative in a lot of places, mostly due to not much being known about key moments in Toole’s life. Couldn’t help but cringe every time the author wrote “I’m sure he would have said ‘blah blah’”, which happens often. But I got what I wanted out of it. I walk away more knowledgeable on Toole and his works. Wish there was more than two chapters on the afterlife of Confederacy and the struggle to get of published and maybe not as much time dedicated to his childhood and such. But I knew the bargain when I signed up for this book. Worth a read if you’re curious.
Want to read
June 5, 2012Just read an interesting review re this bio in The Roanoke Times.
It's been nearly 25 years since I read "Dunces," and I'm curious to see how it holds up on a second read. One of few books that has made me laugh out loud.
http://blogs.roanoke.com/backcover/
It's been nearly 25 years since I read "Dunces," and I'm curious to see how it holds up on a second read. One of few books that has made me laugh out loud.
http://blogs.roanoke.com/backcover/
May 30, 2012
There are so few concrete details of Toole's life that I didn't expect this biography to be as compelling as it was. Although I was hoping to learn more about how he came to take his own life, the fact of life is sometimes we just never know these things.
May 24, 2012
One of the best biographies I've ever read. MacLauchlin makes connections, but in a way that isn't too heavy-handed, and does it in an engaging manner. Very thorough and fairly presented.
January 7, 2019
I read this for details on what inspired "Confederacy of Dunces." Some notes I took while reading:
Happy times at Tulane, on the grad school level and considered an exceptional scholar, making friends laugh and going on dates. Undergraduate essay on late 16th cent playwright Lyly.
At Columbia, focused in British Literature. He had to squeeze a 3 semester program into 2, since his scholarship only went so far. He found it an impersonal experience to take the 5 classes per semester, no assignments or grades and therefore no reason for professors to engage with students, graduate handbook enforced the condescension of professors. Masters students were treated especially abrasively.
Found his first winter depressing, especially seeing the homeless freeze.
Growing discontent with literary criticism.
Found a mentor in a young assistant professor who taught 16th cent literature.
Graduated with the highest distinction, lacked the means to continue his PhD, and lacked the experience to get a job teaching at Hunter while pursuing his PhD. Moved to the Bayou to teach at Southwestern Louisiana Institute (SLI or later USL).
1959 met Bob Byrne at SLI, a medievalist who believed the climax of civilization occurred sometime during the fourteenth century. “Behind his supercilious posturing, Byrne was also known for his ill-timed flatulence, and he harbored a deep devotion to hot dogs" (Cory MacLauchlin - Butterfly in the Typewriter).
The two shared an office at SLI. One difference is however the Byrne was a tenured professor, so regardless of the similarities in dress, the interest in Medieval music making, and the motto of “theology and geometry,” Byrne denied he was the inspiration for Ignatius, and interpreted the character as an alter ego of Toole..
“ imbued with all the characteristics that Toole feared he might become: messy, alienated, fat, and such a tremendous failure that everyone laughs at his blunders.”
A socially happy time, Toole had many dinner dates with colleagues with families. His company was always enjoyed for his humor, but they did see this as evidence of his miserly-ness. Often after dinner the wives would sew buttons back on his clothes that had popped off in this time of weight gain which he was especially self concious about.
Went back to Columbia with a teaching appointment at Hunter. By the second semester, feeling downtrodden by the winter and tight finances, took only 1 class a semester at Columbia and tuaght 4 at Hunter. A hit with the students. At this stage he wrote now lost sketches of Ignatius. Toole questioned the point of pursiung a PhD and a scholarly life, and began to be entranced by the idea of being a writer.
At this point, Toole could no longer defer his draft, and returned to N.O. before reporting to basic training. He started writing the book at this point.
August 1961 drafted, stationed at San Juan Puerto Rico.
Prodiguous and safe time in the Military. Marred only by a lack of privacy that led to craving isolation, and an incident that he may have put an ODer at risk by waiting to get medical help in case it wasn't that serious.
1963 returned home to N.O. with the manuscript in hand, and taught at Dominican College, a Catholic all female school. 1964 finished the book.
“determined to maintain his reputation as a clever figure”
A weird fun fact is that Toole loved comics, and owned a reimagined comic version of the Metamorphosis ("Archy and Mehitabel") illustrated by fellow N.O. native George Herriman, most famous for creating the influential “Krazy Kat and Ignatz” comic.
---
Thomas Becket
Hrotsvitha
Peter Abelard
“theology and geometry” - HP Lovecraft
The Call of Cthulhu, Through the Gates of the Silver Key, Winged Death, The Thing on the Doorstep, Dunwich Horror, Medusa's coil
The Unnamable
The Return of the Lloigor, COLIN WILSON
Kerouac, Kingsley Amis - hunter college panel
Happy times at Tulane, on the grad school level and considered an exceptional scholar, making friends laugh and going on dates. Undergraduate essay on late 16th cent playwright Lyly.
At Columbia, focused in British Literature. He had to squeeze a 3 semester program into 2, since his scholarship only went so far. He found it an impersonal experience to take the 5 classes per semester, no assignments or grades and therefore no reason for professors to engage with students, graduate handbook enforced the condescension of professors. Masters students were treated especially abrasively.
Found his first winter depressing, especially seeing the homeless freeze.
Growing discontent with literary criticism.
Found a mentor in a young assistant professor who taught 16th cent literature.
Graduated with the highest distinction, lacked the means to continue his PhD, and lacked the experience to get a job teaching at Hunter while pursuing his PhD. Moved to the Bayou to teach at Southwestern Louisiana Institute (SLI or later USL).
1959 met Bob Byrne at SLI, a medievalist who believed the climax of civilization occurred sometime during the fourteenth century. “Behind his supercilious posturing, Byrne was also known for his ill-timed flatulence, and he harbored a deep devotion to hot dogs" (Cory MacLauchlin - Butterfly in the Typewriter).
The two shared an office at SLI. One difference is however the Byrne was a tenured professor, so regardless of the similarities in dress, the interest in Medieval music making, and the motto of “theology and geometry,” Byrne denied he was the inspiration for Ignatius, and interpreted the character as an alter ego of Toole..
“ imbued with all the characteristics that Toole feared he might become: messy, alienated, fat, and such a tremendous failure that everyone laughs at his blunders.”
A socially happy time, Toole had many dinner dates with colleagues with families. His company was always enjoyed for his humor, but they did see this as evidence of his miserly-ness. Often after dinner the wives would sew buttons back on his clothes that had popped off in this time of weight gain which he was especially self concious about.
Went back to Columbia with a teaching appointment at Hunter. By the second semester, feeling downtrodden by the winter and tight finances, took only 1 class a semester at Columbia and tuaght 4 at Hunter. A hit with the students. At this stage he wrote now lost sketches of Ignatius. Toole questioned the point of pursiung a PhD and a scholarly life, and began to be entranced by the idea of being a writer.
At this point, Toole could no longer defer his draft, and returned to N.O. before reporting to basic training. He started writing the book at this point.
August 1961 drafted, stationed at San Juan Puerto Rico.
Prodiguous and safe time in the Military. Marred only by a lack of privacy that led to craving isolation, and an incident that he may have put an ODer at risk by waiting to get medical help in case it wasn't that serious.
1963 returned home to N.O. with the manuscript in hand, and taught at Dominican College, a Catholic all female school. 1964 finished the book.
“determined to maintain his reputation as a clever figure”
A weird fun fact is that Toole loved comics, and owned a reimagined comic version of the Metamorphosis ("Archy and Mehitabel") illustrated by fellow N.O. native George Herriman, most famous for creating the influential “Krazy Kat and Ignatz” comic.
---
Thomas Becket
Hrotsvitha
Peter Abelard
“theology and geometry” - HP Lovecraft
The Call of Cthulhu, Through the Gates of the Silver Key, Winged Death, The Thing on the Doorstep, Dunwich Horror, Medusa's coil
The Unnamable
The Return of the Lloigor, COLIN WILSON
Kerouac, Kingsley Amis - hunter college panel
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
June 28, 2021Tengo como regla propia no continuar la lectura de un tema. Al terminar un libro, el siguiente debe de ser completamente distinto. Sin embargo, en este caso no me pude resistir. Mientras leía La conjura de los necios, la divertida novela de John Kennedy Toole, me preguntaba por la historia detrás del libro. Tiene que ser fascinante, interesante, o cuando menos trágica. Porque sabemos que Toole decidió quitarse la vida luego de que un editor rechazara publicar esta obra a la que dedicara tantos esfuerzos. No obstante, en este libro, su biógrafo más autorizado nos dice que podría no ser exactamente así. En realidad, el editor no le cerró definitivamente la puerta de la publicación: le hizo señalamientos que podrían mejorar el libro, pero Toole no hizo caso. Antes que atenderlos, decidió abandonarlo y no darle el acabado final. Se hizo a la idea de que la editorial le había mostrado su novela a otro autor, el cual habría plagiado su historia. No estaba desencaminado del todo, porque existió por entonces una novela con inquietantes similitudes, pero no tantas que uno pudiera pensar que La conjura de los necios fuera plagiada. (La novela con tan asombrosos parecidos era Supergusano, de George Deaux, en que un profesor de Historia que odia los tiempos modernos viste con un traje de superhéroe confeccionado por él mismo). Lo que sucedió es que las semillas de la locura comenzaron a brotar en los prados de su mente. Este admirado maestro de inglés comenzó a sentir de pronto que sus alumnas lo perseguían en sus autos, mientras el manejaba. El mundo se volvió agobiante para un autor que merecía tener un horizonte más amplio. A unas cuantas calles de distancia, en los días de juventud, se encontraban Jack Kerouac y Allen Ginsberg, pero desafortunadamente no se encontraron. ¿Qué habrían pensado de este joven que estaba llamado a ocupar un alto lugar en la literatura de Nueva Orleans? Nos sentiríamos desazonados si ellos tampoco hubieran notado su talento. Es que tal vez los que estaban llamados a reconocerlo todavía no existían del todo. Tendría primero que tomar la decisión de salir un día de su casa, luego de una discusión con su madre, tomar su coche para hacer un viaje solitario por el sur de los Estados Unidos, volver luego de varias semanas hasta un solar cercano a su casa y suicidarse con el humo de su propio auto. Su madre, Thelma Toole, tendría que encontrar la novela de su hijo en una caja de zapatos y leerla. Sería entonces la primera en asombrarse de una larguísima lista de lectores. Creo que la historia la conocemos: Thelma fue de editor en editor, hasta que una universidad decidió publicar la novela de un joven autor muerto a los 31 años por lo que, por primera vez, el premio Pulitzer se otorgó a un autor desconocido además de muerto. Su madre dedicó el resto de su vida a hablar de su hijo: tocaba el piano en las presentaciones, vestía extravagantemente, decía que era maestra de dicción y declamaba al finalizar. No, no le importaba la sorna de los demás, asistía con todo gusto como invitada a los desfiles de la ciudad. Murió feliz de haber conseguido la eternidad literaria para su hijo. No obstante, uno se pregunta después de leer ambos libros, ¿cómo es que a una novela absolutamente alegre le corresponde una biografía llena de tristeza?
Cory MacLauchlin. Una mariposa en la máquina de escribir. La vida trágica de John Kennedy Toole y la extraordinaria historia de “La conjura de los necios” / Butterfly in the Typewriter (2012), tr. Daniel Najmías. Barcelona, Anagrama, 2015. (Biblioteca de la Memoria, 33)
Cory MacLauchlin. Una mariposa en la máquina de escribir. La vida trágica de John Kennedy Toole y la extraordinaria historia de “La conjura de los necios” / Butterfly in the Typewriter (2012), tr. Daniel Najmías. Barcelona, Anagrama, 2015. (Biblioteca de la Memoria, 33)
July 21, 2021
This is a well-written biography of Toole, given the limiting factors the author had to work with. First, Toole didn't leave a huge wealth of writing behind. Second, he was fairly young when he died. And third, his mother tried to sculpt his legacy, throwing away anything that might be damaging to Toole. MacLauchlin tracks down Toole's friends from New Orleans, from school at Columbia, former teachers, and colleagues from his time teaching English in Puerto Rico for the army. I think we get a fairly representative view of Toole. He could be very funny, but much of his humor came from mimicking or mocking others. He didn't seem to have any close companions or sex life. It seems his mother did a real number on him. Toole could never quite live up to her expectations, which usually centered around appearance or status. I didn't know "Dunces" was written while Toole was stationed in Puerto Rico in the Sixties. It's amazing that a book that eventually won the Pulitzer was rejected for years by many publishers, both in Toole's time and after his suicide. MacLauchlin drives home the hard truth that publishers want salable investments, not works of art. They are for-profit businesses. By necessity, the author resorts to some speculation about Toole. He ultimately rejects the notion that Toole was gay but spends too much time discussing the possibility. I personally don't think it matters much one way or the other. "Butterfly in the Typewriter" is at times overly academic and at times too speculative and showy, as when MacLauchlin tries to describe Toole's suicide. He also rejects the idea that Toole killed himself because he couldn't find a publisher for "Confederacy." This could've played into his decision, but we'll never know his stated reasons because his mother destroyed the suicide note. Toole may have believed too much in his own greatness as a writer and couldn't stomach the thought of teaching for years at a small New Orleans college while living at home and caring for his aging parents. But we'll never know. Overall, "Butterfly" includes some necessary context on Toole and his masterpiece. I haven't even read "Confederacy," but I enjoyed this backstory. Having said that, MacLauchlin chose a difficult subject. Toole will always remain something of a mystery despite a biographer's probing.
January 29, 2016
Butterfly in the Typewriter is an extraordinary book about extraordinary man and the book which he believed represented who he was, A Confederacy of Dunces. After I read A Confederacy, I yearned to find out more about the man who wrote it. I wanted to know more about the characters, what they represented, how real they were and, generally, everything about them. The author was a marvelous enigma, a nut, as it were, that wanted to be cracked and I set out in earnest to crack it. Alas, my journey was short lived when I discovered that he had committed suicide. Further research revealed an earlier novel written when he was 16, a questionable biography which appeared to define him more according to suppressed sexual desires with only vague evidence as support, a memoir by a personal friend, and this present book. This was not all that much to go on but, I dug in. If you enjoy John Kennedy Toole, by all means, read all the literature about him. Fletcher's account is more of a memoir than anything else, but a good read nonetheless.
If nothing else, and I cannot say this lightly, I believe that Cory MacLauchlin has spent an extraordinary amount of time trying to understand who Toole is/was and, insofar as any human being is understandable, I believe that he has succeeded admirably. The author's scholarship is first class, his research is well documented and I am extremely glad that he decided to embark on such an effort while Toole's friends and acquaintances were still alive or semi-available. As it is, several died before this book went to print. I think they may have enjoyed reading it if only to understand the other facets of the character they thought they knew.
What is the thesis of this book then? I tend to think that it is that Toole believed that Confederacy represented not just his work, but his core value system, his fundamental view of the world at large, his Weltanschauung. Suicide or not, I think the author makes a very strong case for this and, in addition, I believe that in making it, he elucidates the awe inspiring beauty of Confederacy. Do I agree with Anthony Burgess in ranking it in the top 100 of the 20th century? Well, yes... and after reading this book, it has moved up my ladder.
It is clear, factually, that the book was rejected by Toole's publisher, (he only submitted it to one!) because of three primary reasons, as I understand it. The New York publisher did not like the anti-hero's Jewish girlfriend (who only appears in letters except at the end where she saves him from his mother having him committed to a mental hospital,) and a dysfunctional Jewish family named the Levys.
One can draw no conclusions from the fact that the publisher, himself, was Jewish, of course, but one should pay attention to the era of the mid 60's: my sincere guess is that despite Toole's life experience which generated each of these characters, (no doubt Myrna Minkoff was taken from his tenure at Hunter College where he taught,) one simply didn't hold Jewish characters up to anything that might appear to be ridicule.
We can read it in a far different light today, of course, but it must have been a far different world back then. Toole, of course, only saw it as an accurate portrayal. I can't argue that he wasn't biased. He was, after all, a Southern Catholic who wrote about everything he saw with the effort of a truthful portrayal, very much the way Flannery O'Connor depicted the truth in Protestant behavior. One can at least say that Toole's portrayal's, while satirical, lacked the violence and bitterness of O'Connor. It is, perhaps, an odd thing that he drove to where she had lived in Millegeville, GA just before he drove himself to the place where he parked his car and committed suicide.
The third objection the NY publisher had was the most serious objection and perhaps, from the beginning, there was no fixing this one: the book wasn't ABOUT anything! Sadly, Toole went about working on rewriting for several years before giving up. One has to ask oneself about this question and wonder whether the editor was right or not. Is Confederacy about nothing? I tend to think that Toole would have said it was about EVERYTHING.
Hence I believe that it is impossible to separate Confederacy from Toole himself. It isn't just that the book is an amazingly successful depiction of New Orleans period life and language, (there's even a very good cookbook named after it!) but the characters become a distilled essence of inevitable hilarity. The author mentions a story when Toole related the story to a friend of a mother, in attempting to keep her child from getting soaked by the rain, who began yelling at him to get in the house so he doesn't catch a cold and beating him with a board. All the while, Toole is mimicking the woman's New Orleans's accent perfectly. Toole recorded in his mind constantly the incongruity of the human condition. Depicting it or relating, as he was unable to fix it, was his way of dealing with it. Thus his depiction of it becomes a truth, difficult though it may be. truth becomes life and life becomes the written word of Confederacy, albeit distilled.
While it is easy to say that it was the publisher or the industry which destroyed him, MacLauchlin argues that Toole's mind begins to unravel, whether through noted family mental history, (his own father and uncle suffered severely from mental instability,) or stress or whatever else. It remains, that Toole suffered an enormous amount of psychic pain, some of it clearly delusional, but some of it brought on by what he believed was his failure to achieve the position in life which he believed his book would bring him.
As stated earlier, the author argues that Confederacy was more than just part of him. When it was suggested, by the NY publisher, that he put this one aside and write another book, Toole made it clear in letters to his friends that he was fundamentally unable to do that: the rejection of Confederacy was the rejection of himself, not as an author, not in any partial way. It was a way of saying, "Whatever it is you believe that you have seen about this world, you have been wrong!"
Fiction, in its essence, will always tell the truth in ways in which nonfiction only wished it could. Of course, it doesn't have to tell the truth. Sometimes it just wastes your time, sometimes it skirts the truth without getting to it and then sometimes it zips right past it. I think it takes a special author to get it right and, whether he got it perfectly right or not, well, John Kennedy Toole saw things with a clarity that others didn't even dare to imagine. I deeply thank Cory McLauchlin for writing such an inspiring and intuitive book to show me just how beautiful Confederacy really is.
If nothing else, and I cannot say this lightly, I believe that Cory MacLauchlin has spent an extraordinary amount of time trying to understand who Toole is/was and, insofar as any human being is understandable, I believe that he has succeeded admirably. The author's scholarship is first class, his research is well documented and I am extremely glad that he decided to embark on such an effort while Toole's friends and acquaintances were still alive or semi-available. As it is, several died before this book went to print. I think they may have enjoyed reading it if only to understand the other facets of the character they thought they knew.
What is the thesis of this book then? I tend to think that it is that Toole believed that Confederacy represented not just his work, but his core value system, his fundamental view of the world at large, his Weltanschauung. Suicide or not, I think the author makes a very strong case for this and, in addition, I believe that in making it, he elucidates the awe inspiring beauty of Confederacy. Do I agree with Anthony Burgess in ranking it in the top 100 of the 20th century? Well, yes... and after reading this book, it has moved up my ladder.
It is clear, factually, that the book was rejected by Toole's publisher, (he only submitted it to one!) because of three primary reasons, as I understand it. The New York publisher did not like the anti-hero's Jewish girlfriend (who only appears in letters except at the end where she saves him from his mother having him committed to a mental hospital,) and a dysfunctional Jewish family named the Levys.
One can draw no conclusions from the fact that the publisher, himself, was Jewish, of course, but one should pay attention to the era of the mid 60's: my sincere guess is that despite Toole's life experience which generated each of these characters, (no doubt Myrna Minkoff was taken from his tenure at Hunter College where he taught,) one simply didn't hold Jewish characters up to anything that might appear to be ridicule.
We can read it in a far different light today, of course, but it must have been a far different world back then. Toole, of course, only saw it as an accurate portrayal. I can't argue that he wasn't biased. He was, after all, a Southern Catholic who wrote about everything he saw with the effort of a truthful portrayal, very much the way Flannery O'Connor depicted the truth in Protestant behavior. One can at least say that Toole's portrayal's, while satirical, lacked the violence and bitterness of O'Connor. It is, perhaps, an odd thing that he drove to where she had lived in Millegeville, GA just before he drove himself to the place where he parked his car and committed suicide.
The third objection the NY publisher had was the most serious objection and perhaps, from the beginning, there was no fixing this one: the book wasn't ABOUT anything! Sadly, Toole went about working on rewriting for several years before giving up. One has to ask oneself about this question and wonder whether the editor was right or not. Is Confederacy about nothing? I tend to think that Toole would have said it was about EVERYTHING.
Hence I believe that it is impossible to separate Confederacy from Toole himself. It isn't just that the book is an amazingly successful depiction of New Orleans period life and language, (there's even a very good cookbook named after it!) but the characters become a distilled essence of inevitable hilarity. The author mentions a story when Toole related the story to a friend of a mother, in attempting to keep her child from getting soaked by the rain, who began yelling at him to get in the house so he doesn't catch a cold and beating him with a board. All the while, Toole is mimicking the woman's New Orleans's accent perfectly. Toole recorded in his mind constantly the incongruity of the human condition. Depicting it or relating, as he was unable to fix it, was his way of dealing with it. Thus his depiction of it becomes a truth, difficult though it may be. truth becomes life and life becomes the written word of Confederacy, albeit distilled.
While it is easy to say that it was the publisher or the industry which destroyed him, MacLauchlin argues that Toole's mind begins to unravel, whether through noted family mental history, (his own father and uncle suffered severely from mental instability,) or stress or whatever else. It remains, that Toole suffered an enormous amount of psychic pain, some of it clearly delusional, but some of it brought on by what he believed was his failure to achieve the position in life which he believed his book would bring him.
As stated earlier, the author argues that Confederacy was more than just part of him. When it was suggested, by the NY publisher, that he put this one aside and write another book, Toole made it clear in letters to his friends that he was fundamentally unable to do that: the rejection of Confederacy was the rejection of himself, not as an author, not in any partial way. It was a way of saying, "Whatever it is you believe that you have seen about this world, you have been wrong!"
Fiction, in its essence, will always tell the truth in ways in which nonfiction only wished it could. Of course, it doesn't have to tell the truth. Sometimes it just wastes your time, sometimes it skirts the truth without getting to it and then sometimes it zips right past it. I think it takes a special author to get it right and, whether he got it perfectly right or not, well, John Kennedy Toole saw things with a clarity that others didn't even dare to imagine. I deeply thank Cory McLauchlin for writing such an inspiring and intuitive book to show me just how beautiful Confederacy really is.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 26, 2017
Como bien concluye Cory MacLauchlin, a pesar de tratarse de una biografía que nos permite conocer más a Toole y ahuyentar las leyendas que se formaron alrededor de su figura cuando se publicó por primera vez La Conjura de los necios, todavía deja preguntas abiertas más bien por culpa de la falta de documentación y de aquella famosa nota de suicidio que Thelma, su madre, destruyó, y presiento que no era del todo sincera cuando hablaba de la relación con su hijo. Me dejó con la sensación de que conocí una mitad de la personalidad del autor, dejando de lado que fuera homosexual, algo que no me importa, concuerdo con la teoría de la exigencia que tenía consigo mismo debido a una madre que colaboró a aumentar su ego. John Kennedy Toole era un genio, desde luego, y me encantó el libro que lo hizo famoso, sin embargo algo había que lo hacía tan vulnerable a las críticas, y pienso sin dudar que tenía que ser la relación que mantenía con su madre, más allá de su condición sexual. Disfruté con los capítulos que relataba su juventud, y con las anécdotas disparatadas, y no me dejó de sorprender como una persona tan simpática con la gente, que fuera tan sociable y con tan buen humor, pudiera tomar la decisión de quitarse la vida...me hace recordar a otros artistas, fueran actores o escritores, que en apariencia parecían felices y luego la realidad era distinta.
July 26, 2017
I was finally able to find a copy of this (thank you ILL) and I must say that it made for a really good biography of an un-biographical-able (or so I had thought) author. The story of the publication of"Confederacy of Dunces" is known to most, maybe more so than the picaresque story of the novel itself, but I've always been interested in knowing more about John Kennedy Toole. This book is quite helpful in filling in a lot of the gaps concerning Toole's life, and does an admirable job in not finding one answer and blindly sticking to that. What we think we know about Toole's sexuality, or substance abuse, or skipping two grades in school as a kid, or his interactions with Gottlieb, or on and on and on... I've always believed that there is, most of the time, multiple causes to whatever is being discussed. The mouse didn't sink the boat just because she got on last. Our author, MacLauchlin, does an admirable job letting the reader know this. I do think, though, that the overwhelming hero worship of Toole in a couple of spots in the book got tiresome. Anyway, recommended.
September 16, 2021
Let me start by saying I’m a big fan of Confederacy. This book was an interesting and insightful look into the life of the author and the novel. Unfortunately, since Thelma Toole controlled what was donated within the Toole Papers, we are getting an incomplete and controlled look into JKTs life, only what his mother wanted to share, especially with the destruction of the suicide note. It is kinda of crazy how little we know about people, especially since the novel was published posthumously, he wasn’t around to spread insight and knowledge…also, it was definitely a different generation than it is now. A lot is also gleaned from personal conversations and memories of the people who knew JKT best, but if we know anything about memory it is also incomplete and can be subconsciously biased. I believe that the author did the best he could with what he had, and that makes for a very good book. My observations aren’t a condemnation of the book, just the circumstances in general, and my desire to know the truth. Unfortunately, that seems lost to history.
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