Catch-22(207)
“I will beat you up,” boasted the chaplain, dancing up very close to Major Danby and shadowboxing. “You and Captain Black, and maybe even Corporal Whitcomb. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I found I didn’t have to be afraid of Corporal Whitcomb any more?”
“Are you going to stop me?” Yossarian asked Major Danby, and gazed at him steadily.
Major Danby skipped away from the chaplain and hesitated a moment longer. “No, of course not!” he blurted out, and suddenly was waving both arms toward the door in a gesture of exuberant urgency. “Of course I won’t stop you. Go, for God’s sake, and hurry! Do you need any money?”
“I have some money.”
“Well, here’s some more.” With fervent, excited enthusiasm, Major Danby pressed a thick wad of Italian currency upon Yossarian and clasped his hand in both his own, as much to still his own trembling fingers as to give encouragement to Yossarian. “It must be nice to be in Sweden now,” he observed yearningly. “The girls are so sweet. And the people are so advanced.”
“Goodbye, Yossarian,” the chaplain called. “And good luck. I’ll stay here and persevere, and we’ll meet again when the fighting stops.”
“So long, Chaplain. Thanks, Danby.”
“How do you feel, Yossarian?”
“Fine. No, I’m very frightened.”
“That’s good,” said Major Danby. “It proves you’re still alive. It won’t be fun.”
Yossarian started out. “Yes it will.”
“I mean it, Yossarian. You’ll have to keep on your toes every minute of every day. They’ll bend heaven and earth to catch you.”
“I’ll keep on my toes every minute.”
“You’ll have to jump.”
“I’ll jump.”
“Jump!” Major Danby cried.
Yossarian jumped. Nately’s whore was hiding just outside the door. The knife came down, missing him by inches, and he took off.
JERRY BAUE
JOSEPH HELLER was born on May 1, 1923, in Brooklyn, New York. He began writing during his student days at New York University and Columbia University. In 1947 and 1948, he published short stories in Esquire and The Atlantic Monthly, and then spent a year abroad as a Fulbright Scholar. When he returned, he taught composition at Pennsylvania State University, and wrote advertising and promotional copy at Time, Look, and McCall’s.
At the time, Heller was also working on his first novel, Catch-18. New World Writing published the first chapter in 1955; three years later Heller had a contract to publish the novel with Simon & Schuster. To avoid confusion with Leon Uris’s 1961 novel Mila 18, Catch-18 was changed to Catch-22 before its publication in the same year.
Catch-22 is the story of John Yossarian, a bombardier trying to stay alive in the face of war’s hypocrisy and insanity (Heller himself was an Army Air Force bombardier during World War II). Upon publication, Catch-22, in Heller’s words, “won no prizes and was not on any bestseller list.” But it was a very popular novel, and the 1970 film enhanced the book’s success.
In addition to stage plays, screenplays, and short stories, Heller continued to write explosive and satiric novels, including the long-awaited Something Happened (1974), Good as Gold (1979), God Knows (1984), Picture This (1988), and Catch-22’s sequel, Closing Time (1994). He also collaborated with Speed Vogel on No Laughing Matter (1986), and wrote a memoir, Now and Then (1998).
Heller’s literary achievements span nearly fifty years, and Catch-22 is now considered one of the twentieth century’s best novels.
Heller died in December 1999.
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History, Context,
and Criticism
Edited by Jonathan R. Eller
Part One
The Story of Catch-22
The Story of ‘Catch-22’
by Jonathan R. Eller
It shouldn’t have survived the first printing. It was a first novel by a part-time writer who had published very little since the 1940s. It was a book that captured the feelings of helplessness and horror generated by the darker side of the American dream at a time when the general reading public still expected fiction to reflect a positive view of contemporary America and its hallowed institutions. The title was changed twice during presswork; as if that weren’t enough, someone who thought he was portrayed in the book threatened to sue, prompting a name change for one of the main characters after almost a year in print.
But for a number of editors, advertisers, writers, and critics, reading the book echoed the opening line of the novel: “It was love at first sight.” This core of avid supporters kept the novel alive in the East Coast book market until word-of-mouth praise (and overnight bestseller status in Great Britain) took it to international prominence. In time, the title Catch-22 became a part of the English language, and Joseph Heller’s novel became an enduring part of American culture.