Managing Ignatius

Customer Reviews

• Please NOTICE the vendors!  May 4, 2000 (15 of 15 found this helpful)

  Being a frequent visitor to the French Quarter (having been born and bred in Baton Rouge), and violently adoring A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES, I was fascinated to read this book, especially as it was written by a historian most well-known for his book on Andrew Jackson Higgins and his development of the LSTs used at Normandy. Strahan's picture of New Orleans nails the truth on the head, but the best part of this immensely entertaining book is the insight one gains into the life of the guys (and gals) who guard the dog carts (with undoubtedly more success than Ignatius himself).

• Slow start but fun  Sep 12, 2000 (19 of 20 found this helpful)

  This fun book probably wouldn't have been written but for the fact that Lucky Dog hot dogs figured strongly in the classic New Orleans novel CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES. The author here is the company's long time manager. His subject, affectionately portrayed, are his vendors- drifters, mostly, few of whom, we're told, had driver's licenses while the ones who did couldn't be trusted not to run off with the company van.

  For me, the book had a slow start. The author tends to report rather than narrate, summarizing conversations rather than recreating dialogue between people, allowing little of New Orleans' "voice" to come through. Also, although he includes many colorful anecdotes, it takes a while before he develops characters whose stories the reader could follow over the long haul.

  There is a good sense of the community involved, though. Here a supervisor climbs through an efficiency apartment window to roust a tardy employee while street bums cheer below. When Strahan finally does let his community develop citizens with recognizable personalities and concerns, the book really takes off. Eventually, even the signature Lucky Dog carts seem like characters in the story.

  Local color is understated. (Street life in D.C. sounded just as wild in Strahan's description as that in New Orleans.) Mardi Gras, for example, seemed mostly just another predictable busy period- same as major sporting events. Still, if if you've been to New Orleans it will bring back memories and if you're going, you'll notice things you wouldn't otherwise.

  It also captures the French Quarter before it was cleaned up for the 1984 World's Fair and how that eccentric decadence still lingers somewhat. Especially amusing are the way the unflappable vendors resist the efforts of powers great and small to harass them. The best were the incidents involving World's Fair politics.

• More onions, please!  Aug 21, 1999 (10 of 10 found this helpful)

  What a treat it was to read "Managing Ignatius" by Jerry Strahan. I had only recently been introduced to "A Confederacy Of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole and was lucky enough to happen across a review of "Managing Ignatius" on the Internet. Of course, in a matter of days I was having trouble putting down this delightful book. I even took time to give it a meaty thumbs-up in the Waxahachie (Texas) Daily Light newspaper where I was able to even incorporate a photo my friend Liberty took when she was in the French Quarter and spied a Lucky Dogs vendor on a hot July day. For people who are interested in the human condition and the hot dog condition, "Managing Ignatius" (A great title depsite what the Baton Rouge Advocate says) is a must-have for people interested in the outrageous and that glorious city, New Orleans. -Andrew West Griffin in the Lone Star State

• I relished this funky French Quarter primer  Jan 18, 2000 (8 of 8 found this helpful)

  As a "Confederacy of Dunces" freak, Strahan's title caught my eye as I was searching for New Orleans travel books. I recommend this funny, engaging book to anyone who enjoys quirky, colorful (and real life!) characters -- but especially to folks planning a vacation to the Big Easy. Playing straight man, Strahan not only humanizes the vendors who hawk Lucky Dogs for a living, he gives readers a real taste of the Quarter.

• Mandatory reading for Confederacy of Dunces Fans  Oct 25, 2002 (6 of 6 found this helpful)

  If you've read Confederacy of Dunces, then this book is the logical follow-up. It delves into the real world of Lucky Dogs...the hotdog vending company in New Orleans that played such a prominent role in John Kennedy Toole's Pulitzer Prize winning "Confederacy of Dunces". Incredibly funny, and sometimes a bit disturbing, this book will leave you seeking out your closest hot dog vendor, and leave you with a completely different view of that industry.