A Confederacy of Dunces vs Portnoy's Complaint: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Mothers and sons, Young men, Fiction
A Confederacy of Dunces
“A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head.”
A Confederacy of Dunces is an American comic masterpiece. John Kennedy Toole's hero is one Ignatius J. Reilly, "huge, obese, fractious, fastidious, a latter-day Gargantua, a Don Quixote of the French Quarter. His story…
vs
Portnoy's Complaint
Though is caused outrage and controversy at the time of its publication Roth’s comic novel of sexual obsession and frustration is now widely regarded as one of the best novels of the twentieth century.
1 film adaptation
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- A Confederacy of Dunces has the widest readership — 307339 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| A Confederacy of Dunces | Portnoy's Complaint | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.9 (307339) | 3.7 (75581) |
| Hardcover | 3.9 (571) | 3.6 (94) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (1) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (204) | — |
Reception
| A Confederacy of Dunces | Portnoy's Complaint | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 307339 | 75581 |
| Editions | 69 | 79 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 240657 | 61 |
| Written reviews | 22728 | 10 |
| Wikipedia attention | 32116 | 10301 |
| Pages | 377 | 306 |