Ignatius J Reilly Statue

It’s a tiny little statue under a tiny electric clock. If you’ve never read Confederacy of Dunces you wouldn’t care and if you have, trust me: your imagination painted a better picture of Ignatius under the department store clock than reality will deliver.

I give five stars for this statue, because there is a statue, but certainly not for what I see as a gross misrepresentation of one of my favorite literary protagonists of all time! In modern 20^th century American fiction, for me, there are but two, just two, protagonists that stand tall and forever in greatness beyond the ink and paper of the pages from which they were born: There is Holden Caulfield of Catcher In The Rye (Of course! And for and of whom there is no statue!) and there is Ignatius J. Reilly, of A Confederacy of Dunces, who’s very own statue (but not true likeness, in my opinion) slouches, looking downward (as he should be!) under the clock in front of the old out-​of-​existence D. H. Holmes Department Store, now a French Quarter hotel. I guess my biggest problem with this statue, which I still love, is that just as in movies, the protagonist’s depiction doesn’t measure up, and in this case quite literally! I like my Ignatius J. Reilly and I like him HUGE! Rotund! Large and in charge! Long in the waist! This is the way I picture him! This is the way the late John Kennedy Toole wrote him! And this statue underwhelms the die-​hard visitor. Ol’ Ignatius darn near looks emaciated! Like he needs to take down a dozen or more Lucky Dogs, or something! I don’t know why, he was made to look so thin in this statue, whether it was costs, or materials, but he should’ve been bigger, lots bigger! I heard once that the late, and equally as tragic, larger than life figure Chris Farley, before his own untimely defusing (such as Toole) was circling a project in which he, himself were to play Ignatius in a motion picture directed by Baton Rouge native, University High graduate, and Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh! Now. How delightful would that have been? None truer of a depiction! Not on film anyways! All of this being stated for the record, I will reiterate, I still love the statue, I still love that it’s there, and I love visiting it. It’s just not how I, as a Confederacy of Dunces loyalist, see Ignatius, is all.

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.

You simply have to

«Ignatius, you been selling them hotdogs!?»

Let me just say I will not even begin to pretend that I know the history of this statue. I assumed it was a homeless guy that lived under the overhang of the building. Apparently Im wrong.
When you finish laughing I will proceed.
I simply view the statue as a landmark. It is conveniently located on Canal Street, near Bourbon. it is just down from the Ritz Carlton, so If you ever find yourself in the city planning a night of debauchery, locate the statue before you imbibe, and he will always show you the way home…(or to your hotel)…If you can find him.
(I suspect he comes alive and hides when I have been drinking)

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.

Saw this statue and found it is a character in a book. Pick up the book and reading now.

Checking-​in on Ignatius’ world view. Valve still in check. Glad to see New Orleans literary heritage preserved in 3-​D.

I’m afraid I find this statue of Ignatius a pale reflection of the character depicted in a Confederacy of Dunces especially as it seems to be in his earlier wardrobe. New Orleans being the place that it is I think we deserve the more flamboyant Ignatius depicted towards the end of the story when he is bedecked out in his pirate attire! Imagine the glory of a statue of Ignatius astride/​beside his Paradise hot dog cart with his pirate sword held high! Such a sight could compete with General Jackson’s statue in Jackson Square and assuredly deserves an honored spot somewhere along the madness on Bourbon Street. Perhaps a grand huge entry arch at Canal and Bourbon with the statue crowning it? Something even grander like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris perhaps? As our main business in NOLA is the tourism business we certainly need more grand landmarks for the tourists to ogle so let’s get busy!

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.

«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

I love that there’s a statue of Ignatius J. Reilly.
John Kennedy Toole’s vivid character and protagonist from ‘A Confederacy of Dunces,’ is there out front; a moment from the novel, frozen in time.
Most of all I appreciate that there he is, under the clock, at the site of the former old D.H. Holmes department store on Canal Street. Ignatius is waitin for mother and «studying the crowd of people for signs of bad taste in dress.»
Is that what’s with the look on ya face? Not diggin my get-​up, Ignatius?
Whatever, I talk to him, let’s not make a big deal. Totally normal. Though, to date he’s the only statue I speak with. Maybe he didn’t appreciate my vulgar world view. That is, of course, certainly possible.
Chances are his valve was acting up… OH Fortuna! Perhaps he’s musing bout that Bronx beatnik, Myrna Minkoff, «That Minx?!»
Do you think that he was bothered by me calling him, «Gloria,» just like ham-​obsessed Miss Trixie?
Good olé Gloria…
I’m always happy to pay Ignatius a visit, as he’s one of my most favorite New Orleans characters, right out of one of my most favorite of books ever.
Aww, there he is, «A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head.» I have to take a photo with him every time.

I loved a Confederacy of Dunces as well as DH Holmes. Seeing the statue, long after the store closed, is wonderful. I’m glad it is still there as a legacy.

«MEETMEUNDERTHECLOCKATDHHOLMES»
That was the solution to the 2005 historical scavenger hunt, «Treasure of the NOLA Madre» which led me to this very statue at the end of a staycation I took the week before Katrina. On August 26^th, I posted the original version of the following to the Bourbon Street Journal at
:
Usually the idea of going on vacation is to get out of town to a new place, eat out at quaint chain restaurants masking as neighborhood joints, and risk cabin fever if the weather turns sour. Since gas prices generally suck these days, my ex and I figured with the money saved in fuel, we could put together a swanky vacation in and around the French Quarter. To give our trip some structure we decided to incorporate a treasure hunt,
editor Jon Donley, found a couple months prior.
At the end of the journey we met Ignatius J. Reilly under the clock at the old D. H. Holmes location now re-​christened the Château Bourbon Hotel. Amongst construction workers, tourists, business men, and the homeless we searched the area for the ‘mailbox’ referenced in the clues.
No dice.
I even searched Ignatius’ bag but couldn’t find anything. Looking at the statue, which resembled someone nicknamed «Spud,» I started to feel like Clark W. Griswold standing in front of a laughing moose. Three days and although I learned a wealth about my own city there was no feeling of closure, only hunger from skipping breakfast.
The story does has a happy ending; I contacted the author of the website with the solution and then went off to find the treasure of the Homemade Bikini Contest at Utopia. After several bars, beers, and meeting a porn star who redefined dirty talk, I returned home to find an email and the Nola Madre Website had been updated.
«The treasure has been claimed,» exclaimed the website.
Like Roy Walley, the mysterious author appreciated our efforts and declared the treasure found. The treasure is a professionally framed picture of Ruthie the Duck Girl, a French Quarter denizen whose fame was only matched by her brother’s obscurity.
If you want to visit the locations which led to the statue, the solution key can be found at the Nola Madre blog:

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.

Like others have mentioned before me, this depiction of Ignatius isn’t portly enough. But I felt giddy seeing a statue of him anyway in front of the Château Bourbon Hotel (formerly named Château Sonesta until Wyndham acquired it in 2008) between Bourbon St and Dauphine St on the east side of Canal St. If you’re looking on a Google Map, the statue is under the awning still labeled «Château Sonesta Hotel» and between the markers for IHOP and Studio E:
I also like the signs to his left and right, one indicating that the spot was formerly occupied by the D. H. Holmes department store and the other with the telling opening sentence of the book Ignatius lives in.
If you haven’t read «A Confederacy of Dunces» by John Kennedy Toole yet, go out and get it from your local library. Then you’ll be exposed to one of the cult classics of 20^th century. And appreciate the significance of this statue commemorating its main character.

Awesome. Not only does this statue have a Unilocal 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. Unilocal book club, anyone?

Damn, I wanted to be the first one to review this statue.
This is a statue of the protagonist of John Kennedy Toole’s masterpiece «A Confederacy of Dunces.» Jeff S’s review sets the scene and I agree that the representation isn’t nearly fat enough.
This statue is to be found on Canal between Bourbon and Dauphine. It seems there is another Chateu Sonesta hotel on Bourbon and Iberville; some internet sites will lead you to this location and make you walk around the hotel looking for it, like an idiot, as happened to me.

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.