Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion of Walker Percy

[Doug Brown <wply1223 AT gmail.com>]

Hi Michael,

Interesting post. Thanks for raising the question. I love both Percy and Confederacy of Dunces. As much as I wish we had more writing from Percy, I have to say that this idea doesn't really seem valid.

I have not seen anything about what the speaker you mention has to say. But I'd be very reluctant to even entertain the idea for several reasons:

1. Tons of research has gone into the publication of Confederacy of Dunces. Joel Fletcher wrote an entire book about the history of its writing and publication. He says that the first draft was published almost entirely without edits. So even if this Walker Percy Weekend speaker is saying Percy edited the book, it's doubtful.

2. I cannot imagine either Percy or Toole's mother sustaining such an outrageous fabrication, especially using Toole's suicide as part of the story of the publication.

3. If I was Percy and I wrote this work of genius, there's no way I wouldn't take full credit.

4. The claim kind of has the smell of someone trying to get attention rather than serious work. But, again, I have not seen what this WPW speaker has to say.

Those are just my thoughts.

Thanks,

Doug Brown

Asheville, NC

On Tue, Apr 16, 2024 at 2:03 PM Michael Martin Serafin <michael_serafin AT hotmail.com> wrote:

I just saw that a featured speaker at the upcoming Percy Weekend event alleges that Percy may have written "Confedeacy of Dunces" rather than Toole. Percy supposedly hints at this in his archival papers. What to make of this?

Michael Martin Serafin

Chicopee, MA.

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