Catch-22

By Joseph Heller

Book #1 in the Catch-22 Series series

A bombardier battles absurdity and survival in a war where sanity is a trap.

4.0/5 Goodreads · 900,871 ratings

453 pages· 174,481 words· Est. 16 hour read

$16.00Save 7%

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Bookroo's summary

In the chaos of World War II, bombardier Yossarian faces a maddening dilemma: survive the war or escape its insanity. As Colonel Cathcart raises mission counts, Yossarian's desperate attempts to avoid peril are thwarted by the absurd Catch-22 rule. If he seeks relief from dangerous missions, he's deemed sane and must continue flying. Trapped in a world where logic defies reason, Yossarian's struggle becomes a darkly comedic fight for life against unseen enemies and bureaucratic madness. Will he find a way out, or is he doomed to the whims of war's cruel irony?

From the publisher

“Catch-22” is like no other novel. It has its own rationale, its own extraordinary character. It moves back and forth from hilarity to horror. It is outrageously funny and strangely affecting. It is totally original. Set in the closing months of World War II in an American bomber squadron off Italy, “Catch-22” is the story of a bombardier named Yossarian, who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he hasn’t even met keep trying to kill him. “Catch-22” is a microcosm of the twentieth-century world as it might look to someone dangerously sane. It is a novel that lives and moves and grows with astonishing power and vitality– a masterpiece of our time.

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