num_pages: 519
description: With a new preface by the authorExplosive, subversive, wild and funny, 50 years on the novel's strength is undiminished. Reading Joseph Heller's classic satire is nothing less than a rite of passage.Set in the closing months of World War II in an American bomber squadron off the coast of Italy, Catch-22 is the story of a bombardier named Yossarian who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he has never even met keep trying to kill him. Joseph Heller's bestselling novel is a hilarious and tragic satire on military madness, and the tale of one man's efforts to survive it.
language: English
title: Catch-22
titlecomplete: Catch-22
characters: Doc Daneeka, Milo Minderbinder, Major Major Major Major, Yossarian, Chaplain Tappman, General Dreedle, Orr, Nately, Colonel Cathcart, Chief White Halfoat
genres: American, Unfinished, Historical Fiction, Historical, Novels, Literature, Classics, War, Fiction, Humor
ratings_count: 816226
places: Italy
series: Catch-22
awards: awardedAt: -252432000000
name: National Book Award Finalist
category: Fiction
publisher: Vintage