Just One Catch: A Biography of Joseph Heller
"Daugherty'sJust One Catchsets out the markers of Heller's life clearly enough, putting the biographical facts in order in one simple volume . . . the first biography of Heller and a decent starting point."—Los Angeles Times"Tracy Daugherty'sJust One Catchis a large literary biography, rich with anecdote, and full of dirt that only an aspiring author would love. The story of how the sketches of "Catch-18" becameCatch-22, of how Heller's agent and publisher secured the book, of how it took him eight years to finish it, and of how it eventually made him rich and famous are so compellingly written as to be porn for the unpublished."—San Francisco Chronicle "There's no catch. Tracy Daugherty has written a generous, smart and comprehensive biography of a 21st Century American master. "—Gary Shteyngart"Just One Catchis a truly smart and compelling biography of a major American writer. Joseph Heller wrote our greatest war novel and made a lasting contribution to the idiom, but he was also a singular figure through decades of cultural transformation. Tracy Daughtery deftly situates Heller's role in the American saga while never losing sight of the man, his grand literary quest, his huge personality, his politics, his passions, his weaknesses and kindnesses, his appetites.”—Sam Lipsyte“Just One Catch is not only an intricate and compassionate portrait of its subject, but also an absorbing account of the genesis of the novel that irrevocably transformed mid-20th century American discourse.  And even more than that, it’s a revelatory and moving social history: a reminder of a now-vanished culture in which the literary and the political informed one another in the most crucial and formative ways.”—Jim Shepard“In addition to chronicling the life of an iconic American novelist, it also provides a kind of literary equivalent to TV's Mad Men, pulling the reader into a world that eerily replicates our own, even as we thought we'd left that world long ago.  The pleasure of reading this biography is in Daugherty's ability to both frighten and reassure us that history does indeed repeat itself.  Which information is a real catch 22.”—Antonya Nelson"Catch-22 is the great comic American novel of the 20th century.  Tracy Daugherty has given us a biography worthy of its author.  A major achievement, or should I say major major major?"—Christopher Buckley"Just One Catchhas countless insightful, amusing anecdotes from Heller’s childhood, military service and postpublication notoriety as a celebrated literary figure. But the writing, publishing and ensuing aftermath ofCatch-22is the clear focal point of Daugherty’s book."—Time Out “A masterful, wonderfully thought-provoking biography about one of America’s greatest contributors to 20th century literature. Both touching and illuminating, this is that rare biography worthy of its source material.”—Stan Lee"Daugherty's groundbreaking portrait of the prophetic, contradictory, and essential Joseph Heller is dramatic and revelatory." —Booklist,(starred review) "A breezy, entertaining, and well-researched biography worthy in tone and scope of his subject."—Publishers Weekly, (starred review)