Ignatius J Reilly Statue

I finally found this statue when I was walking around with my bestie, Steve I. And his family after seeing the Christmas lights turn on at the Roosevelt hotel! We walked by it and I had to take a picture after seeing so many of my fellow elites posting their picture!

For some reason i imagined that this statue was on Decatur close to the St. Joan of Arc statue? Don't ask, i have no idea why I thought it was there! I'm getting old, that's my excuse! hehe

It was cool finding this statue after breakfast at the nearby Bourbon House. Now I really want to read the book, which I've had on my bookshelves for a while. The statue is in front of a hotel, which is a little surprising.

Great rendering of the character, Ignatius J Reilly, from John Kennedy Toole's one and only novel A Confederacy of Dunces

I love this book so the fact that there's a statue I can visit to pay homage to this piece of literature is great.

As a little background, Ignatius is the protagonist of A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. The story takes place in New Orleans. During JKT's lifetime, the book was repeatedly rejected and in 1969, he took his own life. His mother decided to fight to have the book published and after many years of rejection, finally found a publisher. In 1980, eleven years after his death, the book was finally in print. JKT was posthumously award the Pulitzer Prize. That story has really stayed with me, it's tragic but also somehow enlightening and hopeful (for anyone that has ever doubted themselves or their work).

I highly recommend the book and a subsequent visit to this statue. While I was taking photographs of it, two separate guys stopped by to talk to me and try and impress me with their *minimal* knowledge of the statue. Fail.

"I suspect that I am the result of particularly weak conception on the part of my father. His sperm was probably emitted in a rather offhand manner." Ignatius J. Reilly

For years I was told that I should read Confederacy of Dunces, and for years I resisted. Surely these people had no idea what they were talking about. It wasn't until recently that I decided to read it and I was pleasantly surprised. The book does have its dull moments, but the main character of Ignatius is highly entertaining.

As for the statue it is based on New Orleans' own John
Spud" McConnell. While I am sure he did an excellent rendition, his likeness is not necessarily how I pictured Ignatius. For one I think Ignatius was significantly heavier than Spud, especially after he consumed all of those hot dogs.

Regardless of how much the statue reminds me of the character or not, it is such a New Orleans thing to have it here.

Note: They do take the statue in during Mardi Gras. There will be numerous reports of it being stolen, but old Ignatius is just busy organizing a rally against the government.

In closing, I leave you with another quote that I particularly enjoyed:

"The only excursion of my life outside of New Orleans took me through the vortex to the whirlpool of despair: Baton Rouge. . . . New Orleans is, on the other hand, a comfortable metropolis which has a certain apathy and stagnation which I find inoffensive." Ignatius J. Reilly

Ha! I forgot that I checked in at this statue whilst wandering on Canal Street with John & Ronnie.

So here's my confession, I am not a Confederacy of Dunces fan. I've tried to wade through it a couple of times and never finished. My problem is that it doesn't really speak to my version of NOLA and that's OK. (Additional confession, I also don't get many other "classics" in modern literature and we can debate those any time.)

On the other hand, I love public art in general and this statue in particular. It's a great representation and very accessible in both location and form. Even if you're not familiar with the character, you know who he is through the artist's work.

Thanks to the Wyndham Hotel folks for letting him stand in front of the old DH Holmes Department Store in perpetuity.

Awesome. Not only does this statue have a Yelp profile, but it also has multiple reviews. I am highly amused. As such, I cannot resist adding my own review of this historic landmark. (Well, it's not so much a review as a personal anecdote. Which, in fact, is pretty much the case with all my reviews... But I digress.)

So, I vividly remember the first time I saw this statue, as a wide-eyed, utterly clueless Tulane freshman on one of my first adventures "off the leash" in New Orleans. My new friend and future roommate, Allison, took a picture of it (she took pictures of everything back then), and neither of us had the faintest idea WTF it was. But it was odd enough to notice, and, of course photograph. Other than the handful of times I may have seen this picture on a trip down memory lane, while looking at old photos from freshman year, the pointless statue of some random dude downtown never crossed my mind again. It was an oddity I saw once, noticed, and promptly forgot about, moving on to the next shiny new thing (which, at that point in time, was likely a neon sign on Bourbon St.)

Fast forward to almost nine years later, when, suddenly, it dawned on me: Confederacy of Dunces. Ignatius Reilly. Of course! THAT'S what the inexplicable statue downtown was supposed to be. Suddenly, my world makes a little more sense.

Oddly or embarrassingly (or neither, I'm not sure), it was approximately five years AFTER I read Confederacy of Dunces that the whole statue thing clicked. Not sure exactly what prompted the sudden flash of rather-self-satisfying insight, nor do I recall precisely when it took place, but it was, for sure, recently.

Another freshman-year-in-New Orleans mystery solved, albeit ten years later. Yep. I'm awesome. Go me!

P.S. This reminds me. I want to read Confederacy of Dunces again. Yelp book club, anyone?

Ignatius is one of the things that makes the city of New Orleans fantastic and unique.

A Confederacy of Dunces holds a special place in my heart and is one of my favorite books. Set in New Orleans, it has been called one of the defining novels set in New Orleans. Ignatius is the main character, and at the beginning of the novel he is described as waiting under the clock at D.H. Holmes for his mother. That's where he stands to this day.

Philadelphia has LOVE, New Orleans has Ignatius.

The remaining stops on your French Quarter Confederacy of Dunces tour are limited, the past decade hasn't been kind...Penny Arcade on Royal Street, Werleins Music, and the Joy theater joined Holmes' on the list of places old Ignatius frequented but now "aint de're no more".

We do have, though, a not quite large enough statue of Ignatius available 24/7 for worshiping, hugging or just saying a quick hello to. Standing right under the clock of the old DH Holmes building (now the Chateu Sonesta) where Ignatius waits at the beginning of the book for his momma while "studying the crowd of people for signs of bad taste in dress" he is a reminder of the greatest book of New Orleans fiction ever written.

Read the book. Love the man. Visit the statue. Easy.

Docking a star because haughtiness level is just not high enough, the artist seemed to put a glimmer of compassion in his face...not sure if Ignatius needs that. Also, I'm sure material for statues is expensive, but he can use 80 pounds of heft also....the man was not a healthy eater. Incidentally, the model for the statue is Spuds McConnell a local, and typically under informed, talk radio DJ from when he was a younger actor and portrayed Ignatius on stage here in town.

My pyloric valve snapped shut upon laying eyes on this affront to theology and geometry! Oh, the lack of taste and decency!

Just kiddin'! I love you, I.J. Reilly! I'm so happy I got to visit you in 2002 and get to come back to say hi! See you in two months.