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 First edition cover | |
| Author | John Kennedy Toole |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Grove Press |
Publication date | May 1989 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| ISBN | 0-8021-1108-4 (hardback edition) & ISBN 0-8021-3207-3 (trade paperback) |
| OCLC | 18411432 |
| 813/.54 19 | |
| LC Class | PS3570.O54 N46 1989 |
| Preceded by | A Confederacy of Dunces (1981) |
The Neon Bible is John Kennedy Toole's first novel, written at the age of 16. The novel is a bildungsroman about a callow youth named David in rural Mississippi during the late 1930s to early 1950s. He learns of religious, racial, social, and sexual bigotry in the narrator's ten strongest memories, one memory per chapter. The memories begin with David on a train, escaping the past, hoping for freedom. The book is told entirely from the first person.