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Epicurious

A Confederacy of Ounces

A Confederacy of Dunces (1980)
By John Kennedy Toole

Originally handwritten on piles of paper, A Confederacy of Dunces found life only after its author lost his own; John Kennedy Toole committed suicide, his mother found those secret pages, and she began hawking the thing around their home state of Louisiana, claiming it was the next great American novel. (Sorry, guys: sometimes moms are right.) Now a universally adored Pulitzer-winner starring a brilliant New Orleans nut with a heart of odd, this classic goes best with another: the Big Easy's own Sazerac. Raise a glass to the tragically shortchanged Toole—and everything else he might have written.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Serves 1

Ingredients

1/2 ounce anise liqueur (like Herbsaint)
1 1/2 ounces rye whiskey
1 teaspoon sugar
3 dashes Peychaud's bitters
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Lemon twist, for garnish

Preparation

  1. Pour the liqueur into a chilled rocks glass, swirl around till the sides are nice and coated, and then toss anything that doesn't stick. Add the remaining ingredients to a shaker with ice, shake well, and strain into the glass. Guests? Lemon twist garnish. No guests? Cut the cute and get reading.

Recipe reprinted with permission from Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist. Copyright © 2013 by Tim Federle; illustrations © 2013 by Lauren Mortimer. Published by Running Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group.
TagsCocktailAlcoholBeveragesRye WhiskeyWhiskeySouthernAmerican5 Ingredients or FewerEasyQuickNo-CookCookbooks
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