John Kennedy Toole was an American novelist from New Orleans, Louisiana, best known for his novel A Confederacy of Dunces. Toole's writing skills were praiseworthy, yet his novels remained unpublished during his lifetime. He suffered from depression due in part to his literary failures and ultimately died by suicide at the age of 31.

Toole was a gifted individual from a young age. Encouraged by his mother, Thelma, he became a stage performer by the age of 10. He wrote his first novel, The Neon Bible, at 16, which he later considered to be 'adolescent'. After earning a scholarship to Tulane University, he furthered his studies in English Literature at Columbia University.

His military service interrupted his academic pursuits, but it also provided him the opportunity to begin writing A Confederacy of Dunces during his teaching tenure to Spanish-speaking recruits. The novel, however, faced rejection from publishers, plunging Toole into a state of paranoia and depression. After his death, his mother persistently sought the publication of his work, leading to its eventual release and the posthumous honor of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981.