Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Catch-22  By  cover art

Catch-22

By: Joseph Heller
Narrated by: Jay O. Sanders
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $22.49

Buy for $22.49

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Fifty years after its original publication, Catch-22 remains a cornerstone of American literature 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, 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 50th-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 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.

©1955, 1961 Joseph Heller. Copyright renewed (c) 1989 Joseph Heller. All rights reserved (P)2017 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved

Featured Article: 40+ Motivational Quotes to Lift and Rev You Up


Doubting yourself? Need a push to keep on climbing? To give you a surge and get you back up and moving forward, we've collected 40+ quotes from folks who know a lot about motivational ebbs and flows: authors. Their works span a variety of genres, from classic literature to career success, and offer a diversity of perspectives. We're sure you'll find at least a few wise and uplifting words that speak directly to you and will soon have your motivation flowing.

What listeners say about Catch-22

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,428
  • 4 Stars
    771
  • 3 Stars
    392
  • 2 Stars
    167
  • 1 Stars
    150
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,497
  • 4 Stars
    508
  • 3 Stars
    201
  • 2 Stars
    71
  • 1 Stars
    69
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,118
  • 4 Stars
    587
  • 3 Stars
    331
  • 2 Stars
    150
  • 1 Stars
    162

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Stop randomly adding music

Great narrator. He gets voices that are unique and easily identifiable. The story of course is a classic. Overall it's a fantastic audiobook except for one annoying thing. Randomly. Out of nowhere. Music just comes blaring in. Interrupts the entire flow of the story. I have no idea why it's there, it serves no purpose in the story. I've been noticing some audiobooks doing this and it's just awful. Please. Just stop.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

128 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Story...Bad Production

I have read this book several times, and wanted to "re-read" it on my commute. Listening to books can be fantastic, but in this case, the production made a great story confusing, slow and disjointed. For some reason, march music is inserted between some chapters, but not others. There was no point to the music since the narrator read the new chapter heading. It just took up time, and it ruined some of the clever segues between chapters. The narrator was all over the place, and I felt that he was on stage in an empty theater, literally shouting any line with an exclamation point, or that included "...he shouted." With earphones or in a car, it was really too much. It also took away from the subtle humor of the book. Finally, he could not seem to stick to a single voice or accent between the characters, which was confused an already complicated plot. I love the book, but I cannot recommend this audiobook.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

90 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Anyone who wants to fly combat missions is crazy!

One of the joys of specifically seeking out unabridged versions of classic novels is discovering how much is lost when publishers are permitted to take an axe to a great work. I read an abridged version of Catch-22 decades ago and thought it was okay. The true madness and beauty of the work can only be fully appreciated in the multiple overlapping viewpoints of the unabridged version. While you do not have to have a military background to appreciate the insanity of the circumstances, it helps. And while an absolutely masterful satirical work, so many of the scenarios ring home so true. As a young enlisted Marine I became painfully aware of the silly games those with rank play in order to fulfill their obligation to follow orders no matter how ridiculous. Now, dealing on a daily basis with Air Force culture where people do ridiculous stuff not even knowing why they do it and never questioning it because to do so would suggest one is not a "team player," Heller perfectly captures a culture that still exists 60 years after the writing. The upshot is that a measure of insanity is natural and necessary in a business which exists only for the sake of killing with discipline. No one could be truly sane and do what needs to be done in the profession of arms, and Heller captures that truth magnificently.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

43 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Didn't expect to finish and ended up laughing

I didn't expect for even a few minutes that I was going to enjoy this book. I was only a few chapters in, and I noted in the "Private notes" section of Goodreads things like

What am I reading?

Seriously, who cares?

The word "gibberish."

What the actual f*** am I reading?

I thought this book would be a DNF for me, but again, as with A Tale of Two Cities, I was wrong.

The members of a reading group I belong to on Facebook urged me to stick with it a little longer, and I'm glad they did and that I listened to them.

The novel does begin with a lot of gibberish arguments between characters. There are funny flashes in those first few chapters among and between the gibberish arguments. It's also a book that remains nonsensical throughout on several levels. You have the baseline nonsense like a conversation between characters that goes like this

Character 1: *says something*
Character 2: Why?
1: Why what?
2: Why the thing you JUST said?!

This happens repeatedly at the beginning of the novel. Conversations are illogically circular and repetitious.

Then there's the real meaty nonsense of the book - the overwhelming, crushing bureaucracy and Catch-22 itself, which is a policy that doesn't actually exist on paper but is used to control the men.

Catch-22 is funny and horrible and sad and horrifying and gruesome and hilarious. There were plenty of scenes where I literally laughed out loud or chuckled or smirked. I was almost convinced that Milo made a profit buying eggs for 7 cents and selling them for 5 cents and thought for a moment that I might be losing it. I even shed a tear over McWatt. Of all the deaths in the novel, McWatt's touched me the most because it felt the most senseless and unnecessary. It was also really sudden and unexpected and shocking.

Narration by Jay O. Sanders was excellent. I loved the way he voiced the characters. The voices were distinct and easily recognizable.

This book certainly isn't for everyone, and I can understand the reasons why people may not like it. Honestly, I consider myself to be an intelligent person, and it made me feel smart that I "got the joke" and saw the humor in Catch-22. For me, it was a complete sleeper that I didn't see coming and thought I wouldn't finish but genuinely enjoyed reading.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

32 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very strange

I’m not going to lie, I didn’t think I was going to enjoy this book. Based off of the first half of it. Luckily I can’t start a book without finishing it and it turned out that the book has a interesting and very unique story. The narration was above par. I’m glad I listened to catch 22

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Sound balance between talking and yelling was not good.

Book is okay.. I know it’s I mportant to the story and style but characters talking in circles this annoying.

Sound volume
between talking and yelling was not good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

volume problems

in one moment he is whispering, inaudibly the next he's yelling. impossible to listen to in the car, painful in headphones

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Full day of Abbot & Castello meets MASH

Full day of Abbot & Castello meets MASH. Funny moments, but it can get old quick.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

One of the Best Books ever written!!!

I’ve read this Book Many Time’s and I try to always keep at least one copy in my possession atAll Time’s. I haven’t read many books that spoke to me this way in a very long time. God Bless You Mr. Heller. R.I.P.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

One of the most entertaining books I’ve read

and the reading was superb as well! It also expanded my vocabulary quite a bit because I had to look up so many unknown words.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful