Catch-22 is a 1961 novel by American novelist Joseph Heller. It was adapted into a feature film in 1970
The novel follows Captain Yossarian, a fictional World War II US Army Air Corps B-25 bombardier, and a number of other American airmen during World War II. They are based on the island of Pianosa, west of Italy.
A sequel to Catch-22, Closing Time, was written by Heller and published in 1994.
Catch-22 - The title.
A magazine excerpt from the novel was originally published as "Ca ...
Catch-22 is a critique of bureaucracy in general. The phrase "catch-22" has come into common use to mean a cyclical conundrum, or "no-win situation" based on its meaning in the book as described below. A catch-22 situation is also inherently self-defeating: the very act of performing it prevents it from happening.
Within the book, "catch-22" is a military rule, the circular logic of which most notably prevents anyone from avoiding combat missions:
One may only be excused from flying bombing missions on the grounds ...
Another theme is that of the folly of patriotism and honor, which leads most of the airmen to accept Catch-22s and being lied to by abusive bureaucrats, but which Yossarian never accepts as a legitimate answer to his complaints.
One of the many strange aspects of this book is that, despite the fact that the (official) villains are the Germans, no German soldiers ever actually appear in the story. As the narrative progresses, Yossarian comes to fear American bureaucrats more than he fears the Germans a ...
