CATCH-22 by Heller, Joseph - 1961

New York: Simon and Schuster, 1961. Fine in very good plus to near-fine jacket.. First edition of this dark satire on the patriotic narrative of American triumph in World War II, signed by Heller on a tipped-in leaf. A supreme example of black comedy in 20th-century war fiction, CATCH-22 emphasizes the existential disillusionment of soldiers witnessing their companion's deaths: graveyard humor taken to the same extremes as modern warfare.

A nice copy with signature, and none of the usual fading to the red of the jacket. 8.25'' x 5.25''. Original full blue cloth, spine lettered in white. Original unclipped blue and red pictorial dust jacket designed by Paul Bacon, photo of author by Seymour Linden on rear panel. Red topstain, fore edge machine deckle. 443, [1] pages. Tipped-in leaf signed ink by Heller after front free endpaper (see Ahearn). Housed in custom blue cloth slipcase. A few shallow chips to spine ends of jacket, with an abrasion on jacket spine, some other faint minor wear: red figures on jacket entirely unfaded.