This book has been on TBR list for so long and I'm so glad I finally read it. 
 Summary: This is a tough book to summarize! On the surface, it's about Ignatius J. Reilly, a well-educated 30-year-old who lives with his mother in New Orleans. Ignatius is a rather off-putting character to those he meets and he takes intellectualism to an extreme. He takes everything to an extreme, really. After a brief run-in with the law and a minor car accident, Ignatius J. Reilly is forced to leave the bedroom he's secluded himself in for years and find a job. It's this search that throws this quasi-quixotic character into his own picaresque story in which he starts an uprising at a pants factory, befriends all manner of different people (and of course offends them almost as quickly), works as a hot dog salesman, and even tries to start his own political party. 
 I loved this book, but I can understand why some people might not. I also can definitely imagine that while I took to it immediately, some other readers may need to allow it to grow on them a while before really becoming engrossed in the story. 
 Ignatius J. Reilly is, yes, frustrating, clueless, and a rather dislikeable character. If someone were to say to you, "Describe the least agreeable person you can imagine," you very well may describe Ignatius J. Reilly. But I think that repugnance we feel for him, that frustration at his obtuseness, and judgment at his complete misuse of both his advanced education and his natural considerable intelligence, is what makes the story. The main character necessarily must be his off-putting self in order for the rest of the story to make sense. So, sure, you might not like Ignatius, but you can still like the story. 
 I half read the physical book and half listened to the audiobook. If you find yourself struggling with the story, as it can be dense (especially Ignatius' writings), listen to the audiobook! It's very well done and enjoyable.