John Kennedy Toole was born in New Orleans in 1937.  After receiving a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University, Toole received a master’s in English from Columbia University, and taught at Hunter College and the University of Southwestern Louisiana (University of Louisiana-Lafayette).  In 1961, while pursuing a doctorate and Columbia University, Toole was drafted into the United States Army, where he spent his time teaching English, while stationed in Puerto Rico.  After two years in the army, Toole returned to New Orleans, where he taught at Dominican College.  In 1969, frustrated at his failure to interest a publisher in A Confederacy of Dunces, he committed suicide.  Toole’s book was eventually published, after his mother brought the work to the attention of the author Walker Percy and insisted that he read her son’s manuscript.  Percy became one of the novels many admirers and A Confederacy of Dunces would eventually be awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1981, one year after the book’s first printing.  Following the success of A Confederacy of Dunces, The Neon Bible, which Toole had written when he was only sixteen, was first published by Grove Press in 1989.  “When a true genius appears in the world, You may know him by this sign, that the dunces Are all in confederacy against him.”  –Jonathan Swift, “Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting”  “A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head.  The green earflaps, full of large ears and uncut hair and the fine bristles that grew in the ears themselves, stuck out on either side like turn signals indicating two directions at once.”  So enters one of the most memorable characters in American fiction, Ignatius J. Reilly.  John Kennedy Toole’s hero is one, “huge, obese, fractious, fastidious, a latter-day Gargantua, a Don Quixote of the French Quarter.  His story bursts with wholly original characters, denizens of New Orleans’ lower depths, incredibly true-to-life dialogue, and the zaniest series of high and low comic adventures’ (Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times).  https://groveatlantic.com/book/a-confederacy-of-dunces/   

Domingo German authored a perfect game against the Oakland Athletics on June 28, 2023, as the New York Yankees starter allowed no hits and no walks on 99 pitches in an 11-0 victory.  In an up-and-down season that has included a suspension and a sub-.500 record headed into Wednesday's start, German was masterful against the last-place Athletics, mixing his pitches, keeping his defense busy and engaged and posting nine strikeouts along the way.  erman's effort was the fourth perfect game in franchise history, and across MLB, it's the first perfect game since Seattle's Felix Hernandez delivered one on Aug. 15, 2012.   https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/37931584/domingo-german-authors-perfect-game-yankees-top-athletics   

Posted on June 26, 2023 by Dave McIntyre   It was a great pleasure this month to serve as a judge at the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition.  It benefits a great cause:  Camp Good Days and Special Times, a camp for young children with cancer.  The competition is international, with several entries from Canada (Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec), and a handful from Australia.  E & J Gallo entered their Alamos wines from Argentina.  The vast majority were from the United States, of course, with New York well represented.  So was Virginia:  Cross Keys Vineyards won Best of Class in Cabernet Franc and Hybrid White, while Wind Vineyards took Best of Class Hybrid Red.  Maryland was represented by Sugar Loaf Mountain Vineyards, Bordeleau and Layton’s Chance (for a watermelon wine!).  Texas took home some awards for Pedernales, Spicewood, and Solaro Estate.  Tennessee, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota were well represented, as were Missouri, Colorado and Arizona.  There were a lot of hybrid and fruit wines, as well as meads.  Chambourcin seems to do especially well when blended with Cabernet Franc.  My panel did a Best of Class tasting on red blends, which was won by Armstrong Valley Vineyard and Winery in Pennsylvania.  (This winery also won Best of Class for Cabernet Sauvignon).  Arrington Vineyards in Tennessee will have to build a new trophy case to hold all the medals they took in.  And a Quebec meadery, Miel Nature, pretty much owned that category, winning Best of Class and three Platinum medals for some stunning meads I was able to sample afterwards.  https://dmwineline.wordpress.com/page/2/    

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2690  June 30, 2023