Catch-22 is like no other novel. It has its own rationale, its own extraordinary character. It moves back and forth from hilarity to horror. It is outrageously funny and strangely affecting. It is totally original. Set in the closing months of World War II in an American bomber squadron off Italy, Catch-22 is the story of a bombardier named Yossarian, who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he hasn't even met keep trying to kill him. Catch-22 is a microcosm of the twentieth-century world as it might look to someone dangerously sane. It is a novel that lives and moves and grows with astonishing power and vitality -- a masterpiece of our time. - Back cover.
Catch-22 is like no other novel. It has its own rationale, its own extraordinary character. It moves back and forth from hilarity to horror. It is outrageously funny and strangely affecting. It is totally original. Set in the closing months of World War II in an American bomber squadron off Italy, Catch-22 is the story of a bombardier named Yossarian, who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he hasn't even met keep trying to kill him. Catch-22 is a microcosm of the twentieth-century world as it might look to someone dangerously sane. It is a novel that lives and moves and grows with astonishing power and vitality -- a masterpiece of our time. - Back cover.
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Find Joseph Heller's Catch-22 Joseph Heller in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.
Find Joseph Heller's Catch-22 Joseph Heller in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.
1 books in catalog
Satirical literature of the twentieth century was profoundly redefined by military and bureaucratic farce, most notably through the creation of a title phrase that became a permanent idiom for absurd, paradoxical logic. American satirical novelist, short story writer, and playwright Joseph Heller achieved lasting prominence with his 1961 debut novel, Catch-22, a scathing critique of war and institutional dysfunction based in part on his own World War II service.
Beyond his famous debut, Heller produced a substantial body of work including novels, stage plays, screenplays, and nonfiction that probed modern anxiety, ambition, and institutional absurdities. His writing garnered widespread acclaim and earned him nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1972 and 1975.
Born on May 1, 1923, in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, Heller was raised in a Jewish immigrant household. His father, a bakery delivery man, died when Heller was five years old, leaving his mother, his brother Lee, and his sister Sylvia to raise him. After serving during World War II, Heller pursued higher education and worked in advertising and teaching before publishing Catch-22 in 1961. The novel gained immense momentum during the 1960s, leading to a major 1970 feature film adaptation and cementing his reputation as a key voice in post-World War II American fiction.
Although more than a decade elapsed before his second novel appeared, Heller maintained a distinct writing pace. He followed his debut with Something Happened in 1974, a deep exploration of corporate angst, and continued publishing fiction and drama over the following decades. In addition to his novels, Heller wrote plays and non-fiction works until his death on December 12, 1999, in East Hampton, New York.
Heller's signature writing style combines irreverent humor, circular dialogue, and dark satire to illustrate human existence as fragmented and absurd. His narratives frequently target rigid institutional structures, military bureaucracy, and capitalist pressures, exposing how corporate and governmental systems trap individuals in nonsensical loops of authority.
1 books in catalog
Satirical literature of the twentieth century was profoundly redefined by military and bureaucratic farce, most notably through the creation of a title phrase that became a permanent idiom for absurd, paradoxical logic. American satirical novelist, short story writer, and playwright Joseph Heller achieved lasting prominence with his 1961 debut novel, Catch-22, a scathing critique of war and institutional dysfunction based in part on his own World War II service.
Beyond his famous debut, Heller produced a substantial body of work including novels, stage plays, screenplays, and nonfiction that probed modern anxiety, ambition, and institutional absurdities. His writing garnered widespread acclaim and earned him nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1972 and 1975.
Born on May 1, 1923, in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, Heller was raised in a Jewish immigrant household. His father, a bakery delivery man, died when Heller was five years old, leaving his mother, his brother Lee, and his sister Sylvia to raise him. After serving during World War II, Heller pursued higher education and worked in advertising and teaching before publishing Catch-22 in 1961. The novel gained immense momentum during the 1960s, leading to a major 1970 feature film adaptation and cementing his reputation as a key voice in post-World War II American fiction.
Although more than a decade elapsed before his second novel appeared, Heller maintained a distinct writing pace. He followed his debut with Something Happened in 1974, a deep exploration of corporate angst, and continued publishing fiction and drama over the following decades. In addition to his novels, Heller wrote plays and non-fiction works until his death on December 12, 1999, in East Hampton, New York.
Heller's signature writing style combines irreverent humor, circular dialogue, and dark satire to illustrate human existence as fragmented and absurd. His narratives frequently target rigid institutional structures, military bureaucracy, and capitalist pressures, exposing how corporate and governmental systems trap individuals in nonsensical loops of authority.
Catch-22
Catch-22
