The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. CliffsNotes on Catch–22 takes you into this unforgettable novel that is full of satire, exaggeration, grotesque and comic caricatures, and telling allusions. Heller’s main characters are two Jewish boys from Brooklyn at the end of World War II – one from an orthodox family, one from a secular background. The growing friendship between the boys reflects the tensions within American society. With this study guide, you’ll be able to follow the unique structure of the novel and supplement your reading with insights into the life and background of author Joseph Heller. Other features that help you study include Life and background of the author Character analyses of major players A character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters Critical essays Review questions Classic literature or modern modern–day treasure — you′ll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.
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First Sentence
Joseph Heller was born in Brooklyn, May 1, 1923. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Joseph Heller was born in Brooklyn, May 1, 1923. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 23 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Catch 22 follows the attempts of Yossarian, (modeled on Joseph Heller himself), a bombardier in the US Army Air Corps, to have himself disqualified from flying missions on the grounds that he is insane.
He wishes to do this so that he does not have to face the terrors of the German anti aircraft guns the threaten to shoot down his plane and kill the entire crew every time he takes to the air.
There is only one problem - if you want to fly you must be mad, so if you don't want to fly you must be sane and therefore are OK to carry on with the bombing raids and this is our hero's(?) dilemma.
Catch 22 is an extremely witty book following Yossarian's and his friends adventures. Heller has filled his book with Catch 22's as we know them today, characters like the paltry Major Major, who because of his name, which he has the misfortune to bear and this alone has achieved his rank. In order to speak with the good Major one must wait until he is unavailable at which time the interview can begin, (it never does).
Milo Minderbender the entrepreneur of the company is another of these characters who swaps the airmen's parachutes for share certificates and then sells them on to whoever will have them, "for the good of the country", Milo goes about setting up M&M enterprises who's defining moment comes when they bomb there own Airfield in order to save planes and time and to get rid of some much hated cotton which he has accumulated.
Joseph Heller is a master story teller and in this book has created an excellent read, I would thoroughly recommend this book
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars
7 reviews
14 of 17 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Catch-22
29 Mar 2000
By Julia Riechert
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I am a high school senior and am currently doing an independent study on American satire. Catch-22, to say the least, is brilliant. It is long and complex, but is a fascinating study of World War II. It is the story of fighter pilots in World War II and the underlying theme is of the insanity of war. Heller captures the very essence of war through his chaotic plot and timeshifts. His characters, especially our lovable protagonist Yossarian, are crazy and yet very real. The book is very humorous, and yet accurately depicts the grotesqueness of war. The book is a challenge, but it is definitely the best book I have ever read. In short, I highly recommend it.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Catch-22
27 Feb 2001
By A Customer
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Joseph Heller's work, Catch-22, is an unequivocal satire on postmodern American life, with messages of dissident revolt that were well suited to the decade in which it appears. Heller is almost systematic in the issues he touches: the frustration of the individual up against powerful and faceless bureaucracies; the anticommunist purges of the Cold War and its smug hypocrisies; and strong antiwar issues that dominated postmodern America. In Heller's work, escaping these traps and inconsistencies of government is essential in the pursuit of moral and self-preservation. After all, "The enemy," as Yossarian puts it, "is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on." (Joseph Heller)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Life changing book!!
23 Sep 2008
By Joseph C. Martinak
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
After retiring from the United States Marine Corps, I entered college at California University of Pennsylvania and was assigned this book to read in a Lit class. I found myself reading at 2 A.M. and just could not put this book down. After so much time seeing the goodness and insanity of the many places around the world the Corps sent me to, this book had the ability to change my views and attitude towards the many things I had seen and experienced. I could relate to the many actual events and people I had known, and this book, more than any other, truly changed my life. "Man is matter, set him on fire and he will burn, drop him from a building and he will fall..." Continue on reading and find out what man is and what freedom is. After reading this book, get the movie-it is right on line with the book and is great in it's own right. BUT DO NOT watch the movie first-you just will not get it. Trust me-it's a winner and can be a life changer. THE best book I have ever read. Yossarian Lives!!
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4.3 out of 5 stars
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