Fifty years after its original publication, “Catch-22 “remains a cornerstone of American lit-erature and one of the funniest–and most celebrated–novels of all time. In recent years it has been named to “best novels” lists by “Time, Newsweek, “the Modern Library, and the London “Observer.” Set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, … Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy–it is his own army, which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he’s assigned, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes a formal request to be removed from duty, he is proven sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved. Since its publication in 1961, no novel has matched “Catch-22“‘s intensity and brilliance in depicting the brutal insanity of war. This fiftieth-anniversary edition commemorates Joseph Heller’s masterpiece with a new introduction by Christopher Buckley; personal essays on the genesis of the novel by the author; a wealth of critical responses and reviews by Norman Mailer, Alfred Kazin, Anthony Burgess, and others; rare papers and photos from Joseph Heller’s personal archive; and a selection of advertisements from the original publishing campaign that helped turn “Catch-22 “into a cultural phenomenon. Here, at last, is the definitive edition of a classic of world literature.
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Perhaps the best American novel about greed and war. The biggest take-away, looking back, is Heller’s portrayal of the rise of corporate power, using the character Milo Minderbinder as its embodiment. Scary, prophetic stuff.
This book is amazing. It was so funny but had so much to say. The build up for some of the jokes was genius.
I get why people don’t like it. The story is not told linearly, and it bounces around from character to character. The style really worked for me though. Yossarian is awesome. Orr was easily my favorite character. Aarfy is infuriating. …
Great, witty book, and the backbone of most darkly sarcastic comedies that have followed it.
War is hell, but it’s also deeply unfair, riddled with petty stupidity, and often completely nonsensical. This book dryly points that out, the main character Yossarian fighting military incompetence as much as the Nazis as he just attempts to stay …
I know of many people who feel this book is TOO twisty — that it plays with time and characterization in too bizarre a manner — but I make it a practice to tell people that this is my FAVORITE BOOK OF ALL TIME. You will not finish this book in a night, nor will you want to. It is a book to savor and remember and regret finishing. I love this …
There is a punch line in this book which is one of my all-time favorites about the pilot who seemed to have a lot of hard luck with his B-17 and Yossarian was afraid to fly with this pilot until he learned that the pilot was practicing for a crash landing and escape into neutral Sweden. WOW what a hoot! One of the funniest books I have ever …
A classic.
This is, without a doubt, the funniest book I’ve ever read. It’s an irreverent satire of the military complex that is timeless.
I think this is already required reading at the college level in a lot of schools and no question that it should be. I’m just wondering if this generation is reading the classics of the 20th century. Authors like John Updike, Vonnegut and Saul Bellow. I read books by contemporary authors and by the next day I can’t even remember enough to write …
I can fully understand why this is an American classic and overall I did enjoy it. Plus it’s like a novel and an SAT vocab prep class rolled into one. That being said, the entire middle chunk of the book felt redundant. Like, okay, we get it. War is absurd. However, the layout of the book was like nothing else I’ve ever read in terms of chronology …
This is my favorite book of all time! Sometimes my husband and I just open it randomly and start reading to each other; and just crack up.
The best book ever written. It explains everything.
The beginning makes you smile. The middle makes you wonder if silliness is all there is to it. You can feel something coming but the book doesn’t turn towards seriousness when you want it too. It takes its own time. The long chapters are neither chronological or seemingly connected. Yet, without them you can’t have chapter 39, The Eternal City. …
A catalyst for my awakening… and a way of bonding with my father who flew those bombers for real.
A great read that gives a view of WWII aircraft flying and the war, in general, an ironic look. He wants to quit flying fighter-jets by saying he’s crazy but if he says he’s crazy then he isn’t and will have to keep flying…That’s the Catch 22 (not the exact wording).
Read this if you haven’t yet.
Needless to say, this is an amazing book and a side-splitter!
Very interesting writing style. The story is put together in several brief chapters that follow some pretty interesting characters. All the characters encircle the main, Yossarian, in his quest to stop having to fly mission.
The spiraling logic on some of the conflicts was quite humorous. Fun read.
It took me several years to finish this book. I found it confusing and uninteresting but try to trudge on waiting for it to get better which for me it never did.
The best satirical anti-war book written to date.
Catch-22 is one of a handful of books to which I have returned regularly. The older I get, the funnier it gets. And the more tragic.
Which is, frankly, more or less the same thing.
God-damned HILARIOUS.