For more than 40 years, dozens of film directors, writers and producers tried and failed to adapt John Kennedy Toole’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel A Confederacy of Dunces. Along the way lawsuits were filed, filming locations destroyed, friendships shattered, reputations trashed, production companies bankrupted. Drawing on exclusive interviews, internal documents and private correspondence, this book tells the remarkable story of the non-making of A Confederacy of Dunces as a breathless and absurdist thriller. Celebrity appearances include John Belushi, Steven Soderbergh, Stephen Fry, Robin Williams, Warren Beatty and Harvey Weinstein, among others.

Stephan Eicke was editor-in-chief of the only European film music magazine, Cinema Musica. He co-founded the CD label Caldera Records, and has taught classes in Germany, the Netherlands, Kenya, Ghana, and Belgium. He lives in Germany.

Stephan Eicke
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 229
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2023
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8931-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4771-5
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vi
The Consolation of a Preface 1
A Note About the Text 5
Part I—Ken and Thelma and Ignatius 7
1. A Posthumous Life 8
2. Knocking on Thelma’s Door 17
3. Queen Mother Is Angry 23
Part II—The Film That Never Was 29
4. The Story of Scott’s Life aka Patient Zero 30
5. Probably, Maybe Definitely 36
6. Slices of Doom 41
7. The Two Texans 49
8. Manufacturing Dissent 57
9. A Fan Gets Involved 65
10. Can You Pass the Rorschach Test? 74
11. John Candy Can Only Have Half an Olive 79
12. Doctors Differ, Patients Die 86
13. Fare Thee Well 93
14. The Bad News Is There Is No Good News 100
15. A New Broom Sweeps Clean 106
16. Back to Base 110
17. Yours, Mine, Ours 116
18. Don’t Lose the Plot 123
19. Grand Exit. Curtain. 130
20. The Place Where Dreams Go to Die 136
21. Many Paths Lead to New Orleans 141
22. A Cautionary Tale 147
23. Damaged Goods 154
24. Stunned, Still 159
25. It’s Not Dead, It Just Smells Funny 165
Part III—Certainly the End of Something or Other, One Would Sort of Have to Think 171
26. Irreverent and Quirky and Fascinating 172
27. Bits and Pieces 183
Summary 191
List of Writers, Directors, and Actors Considered 195
Chapter Notes 197
Bibliography 213
Index 215