Catch-22

By: Joseph Heller

Narrated by: Jay O. Sanders

Length: 19 hrs and 58 mins

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

YoYo

Similar to the main character's nickname, my opinion on this book has been like a yo-yo. The first third of the story was excellent. I found myself laughing out loud in the car on my commute to and from work. That has never happened before. I love war books, so the setting in WWII combined with satire and parody were perfect. I appreciated how Joseph Heller treated the ugliness of war in brutual, uncomfortable scenes sprinkled throughout. Those moments were dark, but unavoidable and real. The story was a little long and slow at points, but not so much that it distracted or took away from the experience. The reason why I didn't give Catch-22 five stars, and the reason why my view of the book yo-yoed, was the portrayal of women throughout the novel. All of the women were treated poorly, objects of gratification and with little respect. I wish Heller treated prostitution like he treated the ugliness of war, recognizing the dark underlying of the sex trade and child trafficking and how, like the brutality of war, it has ruined the lives of women and children for centuries. Maybe that was his point. Maybe this nomalization and portrayal is in line with the absurdity of war and craziness of warfare bureaucracy. I recognize I can't judge a book from the 1950s with today's standards, and I also recognize many of these events stem from Heller's personal experience during WWII. However this one complaint keeps me from giving it 5 stars.

Great book. And narration

The messages of this book is never truer than in this day and age. Essential reading.

what a great read / listen

I loved this book. Heller's writing style and the narrator's amazing use of voices for each character were an amazing experience. I felt like I was in the story watching the characters.

Best book ever written

A selection from the essay about why I love this novel that got me into my first choice college:
Catch 22 is an amazing book, and I recommend anybody who has never read it to give it a try. Its distinction as a timeless classic lies in its ability to handle complex, heavy issues (its plot takes place in World War 2) and encase it in a shell of stupid light-hearted comedy that rarely makes sense. This book encapsulates my personality so well because, frankly, my humor rarely makes sense. There is legitimately a three-page-long sequence where two characters argue bitterly about putting crab apples in one's cheeks and whether or not it is a reasonable method by which to obtain round and luscious cheeks, and then one page later the book discusses the morality of war and legitimately tackles issues of the time, such as crumbling trust in authority. But therein lies the beauty of Catch 22: the questions it tackles are today’s problems as well. A mistrust for power and a deeply moral awareness of social issues are two defining factors of not only myself, but seemingly of my generation as a whole. Being able to shroud these grand ideals in lighthearted fun, makes talking about them that much easier, because people are willing to approach topics they might originally find off-putting.

Excellent audiobook!

The story is filled with delightfully ridiculous plot elements, plays-on-words, clever dialogue and recurring themes. Things that seem unbelievable at face value are put in a perspective that lends complete credulity.

Quite possibly my favorite thing about this was the narration. Jay O. Sanders did an outstanding job telling this story. The voices and accents were so wonderfully performed and the narration was done in a way that made potentially confusing dialogue perfectly clear to the audience.

Listen to this book today!

Great performance

Catch 22 is my favorite book and I was surprised with how much the performance added to the experience.

Great story that goes on too long

Like The Godfather, one of those classics where the screenplay was a big improvement. Catch 22 is a wonderful amazing book that lasts a little too long. Glad a have listened to it. Glad to be through it.

I wish it was louder.

it was tough to hear when driving. I had to turn the volume up very high.

k

it is a very good and funny book especially the audio book. would share it.

Better on audio

I have tried to read this book several times in the past, but found it confusing. The narrator, Jay I Sanders, brought the book to life and made it engaging and easy to follow.