South Manchester Book Group

We're a friendly and open reading group, and we share a love of books and discussing them with other people. We meet every fortnight, but you don't have to come to them all. It's dead simple; choose a book you like the sound of, read it (or even part of it) beforehand and turn up with a few ideas and money for beer / wine / flirtinis. It's very informal, and we're quite a friendly bunch.

We meet at a pub in Didsbury around 8 pm. We can usually be found on the table with the books and flirtinis.

We've become rather popular recently so unfortunately aren't accepting new members just at the moment. But please drop us a line on the Contact Us form and we'll add you to our mailing list.

Our reading list, past, present, and future, appears here and a short version of what we’re reading next is here.

Thursday 9 December 2021

A Confederacy of Dunces — John Kennedy Toole

Book cover for A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole A Confederacy of Dunces in the South Manchester, Chorlton, Cheadle, Fallowfield, Burnage, Levenshulme, Heaton Moor, Heaton Mersey, Heaton Norris, Heaton Chapel, Northenden, and Didsbury book group A monument to sloth, rant, and contempt, a behemoth of fat, flatulence and furious suspicion of anything modern — this is Ignatius J Reilly of New Orleans; noble crusader against a world of dunces. The ordinary folk of New Orleans think he is unhinged. Ignatius ignores them, heaving his vast bulk through the city's fleshpots in a noble crusade against vice, modernity, and ignorance. But his momma has a nasty surprize in store for him: Ignatius must get a job. Undaunted, he uses his new-found employment to further his mission — and now he has a pirate costume and a hot-dog cart to go it with ...

This week's book is A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole and we'll not be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury but will be meeting online — contact us for details.

Nota Bene A Confederacy of Dunces refers to the book the South Manchester Book Group will be reading, not the group itself.