History YMMV / AConfederacyOfDunces

** Dr. Nut is not a BlandNameProduct of Dr. Pepper, but an actual discontinued soda that was popular in New Orleans at the time with a completely different flavor similar to amaretto.

* Darlene's stripped-by-a-bird act was not invented for this book. A burlesque performer named Yvette Dare famously used a trained parrot to accomplish this in real life.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Darlene's stripped-by-a-bird act was not invented for this book. A burlesque performer named Yvette Dare famously used a trained parrot to accomplish this in real life.
** AluminumChristmasTrees: Dr. Nut is not a BlandProductName of Dr. Pepper but an actual discontinued soda that was popular in New Orleans at the time with a completely different flavor.

** On the subject of releases, Ignatius [[ADateWithRosiePalms masturbates]] constantly for a puritanical figure, and what little is described is ''very'' unpleasant; he mentions having experimented with tools -- rubber gloves, silk, Noxema -- when he was a teenager but now just does it rotely out of boredom. [[spoiler: His preferred ritual leading up to climax is not thinking of a woman or a man but remembering himself playing with his beloved dead Collie Rex, an act that is either outright bestial or very depressing (as he's trying to revisit the last time he was truly happy).]]

* FairForItsDay: Dorian and Burma can come across as somewhat as bigoted caricatures to modern readers. But Burma is clearly portrayed as a victim of PoliceBrutality and Dorian is never portrayed as a villain. Helped by the fact that ''everyone'' in the story is caricatured and exaggerated to some extent, so their portrayals don't necessarily stand out over anyone else's.

** Gus Levy. The guy had to deal with a nagging wife who puts him down constantly, and [[spoiler: his father was a stubborn idiot who refused any of his recommendations]]. Subtly, he is so idle because he simply doesn't care anymore. [[spoiler: Ignatius's letter, however, helps him regain interest in his company again]].

** On the subject of releases, Ignatius masturbates constantly for a puritanical figure, and what little is described is ''very'' unpleasant; he mentions having experimented with tools -- rubber gloves, silk, Noxema -- when he was a teenager but now just does it rotely out of boredom. [[spoiler: His preferred ritual leading up to climax is not thinking of a woman or a man but remembering himself playing with his beloved dead Collie Rex, an act that is either outright bestial or very depressing (as he's trying to revisit the last time he was truly happy).]]

** Toole paints his characters in very BroadStrokes, mining New Orleans stereotypes to their fullest in a way that would be considered insensitive today. Burma is a pot-smoking, sunglasses-wearing, JiveTurkey-spouting Black man. Dorian Greene and his retinue of CampGay men and ButchLesbian women are also examples. However, Toole is going for RuleOfFunny rather than putting anyone down, and Burma and Dorian are hardly the only exaggerated caricatures in the book.

** Burma Jones's experiences with racism as a black man in 1960s Louisiana are pretty relevant in the present. Not just the blatant discrimination he suffers from the police and in the workplace but the casual racism he faces from the more sympathetic White characters. Ignatius's sham rally of Levy Pants's Black workforce shows how social justice movements can either be ineffective or also be manipulated for selfish reasons.