Modern classics

Catch-22

Joseph Heller

A furious comic classic about war and bureaucratic absurdity.

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Details

Genre

Satirical fiction

Subgenre

Anti-war bureaucracy satire

Original publication

10 November 1961

Original publisher

Simon and Schuster

Pages

453

Format

Paperback, hardcover and ebook editions

Language

English

Setting

A U.S. Army Air Forces base in the Mediterranean during the Second World War

ISBN

9780684833392

Original title

Catch-22

satire war bureaucracy absurdity dark comedy military survival systems

About the book

Yossarian tries to survive a military system whose circular logic turns sanity into disobedience.

A natural fit for readers asking for satire, bureaucracy, absurdity, war, institutional madness and dark comedy.

The novel's looping structure mirrors the absurdity of a system designed to defeat escape.

It suits readers seeking funny but bitter political fiction about institutions and survival.