CATCH-22 (Advance Reading Copy)
by Heller, Joseph
- Used
- Paperback
- first
- Condition
- Very Good+
- Seller
-
Livonia, Michigan, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
Catch-22 is Joseph Heller’s first novel and his most acclaimed work. Set during World War II, the novel uses a distinctive non-chronological third-person omniscient narration, mainly focusing on the life of Captain John Yossarian, a U.S. Army Air Forces B-25 bombardier. Occasionally, the narrator also shows us how other characters, such as the chaplain or Hungry Joe, experience the world around them. As the novel’s events are described from the different points of view through separate out-of-sequence storylines, the timeline of Catch-22 develops along with the plot. The novel's title refers to a plot device that is repeatedly invoked in the story. Catch-22 starts as a set of paradoxical requirements whereby airmen mentally unfit to fly did not have to, but could not actually be excused. By the end of the novel, the phrase is invoked as the explanation for many unreasonable restrictions. “Catch-22” has since entered the English language and can be understood as an unsolvable logic puzzle, a difficult situation from which there is no escape. Upon publication, the book was not a best seller in the United States. It was merely a cult favorite until the publication of the paperback edition in 1962, which set record sales — most likely benefitting from a national debate about the pointlessness of the Vietnam War. Catch-22 has since been ranked as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century by the Modern Library, one of the 20th century's top 100 novels by the Radcliffe Publishing Course, and one of the 100 greatest novels of all time by The Observer.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Sage Rare & Collectible Books, IOBA (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 2870
- Title
- CATCH-22 (Advance Reading Copy)
- Author
- Heller, Joseph
- Format/Binding
- Paperback
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good+
- Edition
- First Edition; First Printing
- Publisher
- Simon & Schuster
- Date Published
- 1961
Terms of Sale
Sage Rare & Collectible Books, IOBA
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About the Seller
Sage Rare & Collectible Books, IOBA
About Sage Rare & Collectible Books, IOBA
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Copyright page
- The page in a book that describes the lineage of that book, typically including the book's author, publisher, date of...
- Good+
- A term used to denote a condition a slight grade better than Good.
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Cracked
- In reference to a hinge or a book's binding, means that the glue which holds the opposing leaves has allowed them to separate,...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.