Best Selling Books by John Kennedy Toole

Ignatius Raleigh was an erudite but lazy college graduate. After graduation, he stayed at home and fantasized about writing a great work. Due to his mother''s accidental car accident, his situation took a turn for the worse and he was forced to become a migrant worker. While working, he met a group of little people from the bottom of society, so he tried to organize and lead them to strike and help them fight for their rights. Although these actions seemed ridiculous to the people around him, he still did not give up. He continued his career amidst ridicule, which triggered a series of ridiculous stories. The work was not favored by publishers during Tour''s lifetime. After Tull''s death, after his mother''s travels and unremitting efforts, the novel was published in 1980. It immediately caused a sensation and won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Ce roman d''une enfance déshéritée dans le sud des Etats-Unis au cours des années 1940, a été écrit à seize ans par un auteur découvert trop tardivement (prix Pulitzer, en 1981): il s''était suicidé en 1969.

Analyse : Roman picaresque.