Catch-22

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Heller, Joseph	4-week checkout	Due 05-07-2026
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Heller, Joseph	4-week checkout	Due 04-28-2026
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Classic / Heller, Joseph	4-week checkout	Due 05-01-2026
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Classic / Heller, Joseph	4-week checkout	Due 04-28-2026
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Classic / Heller, Joseph	4-week checkout	Due 05-01-2026

Set in the closing months of World War II in an American bomber squadron off the coast of Italy, Catch-22 is the story of a bombardier named Yossarian who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he has never even met keep trying to kill him.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Great, of course submitted by Jan Wolter on July 11, 2013, 2:21pm I don't need to tell you that this is a great novel. But a lot of great novels aren't really a lot of fun, and this one is. It's confusing at times, because it's not told in chronological order, but there is lots of funny stuff going on all the way through, and, surprisingly for a book about the insanity of war, it is ultimately a positive book that finds a more than a glimmer of hope beyond the despair.

Catch-22 submitted by SBNB on June 21, 2014, 1:04pm This book was different from what I expected. But it was good nonetheless.

All-Time Great Novel submitted by Meginator on August 22, 2017, 3:49pm This is one of my all-time favorite books. I first read it when I was in high school and I think it formed much of the basis for my dry sense of humor and appreciation of irony. The book is hilarious but carries a surprisingly deep message when you read between the lines. It's absolutely relevant today and deserves its reputation. If it seems a bit jarring at first, with anecdotal chapters presented somewhat out of order, stick with it! The book grows on you and is wonderful and subtle and overt in all the right ways. It'll stick with you.

Hilariously Entertaining submitted by jrbreader on July 1, 2018, 6:23pm It is easy to see why this book has become such icon of american culture. Heller drives home his point in such an sarcastically, over the top manner, you can not help but have a laugh.

Good book submitted by jasonc1177 on July 31, 2019, 8:01pm Great author and amazing book!*

Classic submitted by caburr47 on August 5, 2019, 10:38pm Clever commentary on the societal ridiculousness that exist that has remained relevant.

Catch-22 submitted by crp on August 23, 2019, 12:20am one of the best must reads of this time period

Worth Reading submitted by hiwatson09 on August 10, 2020, 10:51pm The ending was SO GOOD. Two days after I finished it, a friend asked me to define bureaucracy, and I wanted to quote this whole book from start to finish.

read it before you die submitted by graytabby on August 4, 2022, 11:56am heller has not disappointed with catch-22. i usually am not one for classics -- or war novels, for that matter -- but this novel was one of the best things i've read in a while. the humor is exquisite, and major major major major may be one of the most memorable characters i've seen. no spoilers, but snowden's scene literally made me cry. such a great read!

At first I hated this book. submitted by Cherie on June 29, 2024, 12:52pm It read like a series of cacophonic vignettes that were loosely connected, kept repeating, and made no sense. All the characters seemed to thrive off trolling each other, lying, and generally being corrupt. It was like a really bad version of M*A*S*H. It also felt like Gretchen Wieners trying to make "fetch" a thing, but in this case it was Joseph Heller making "Catch-22" a thing... and actually succeeding.

Then about halfway through the book it started to make sense. The repetitive vignettes started having more details. The characters became more relatable. The story was actually moving forward. I no longer hated it, but I did not enjoy it.

In the last quarter of the book, I was invested. The vignettes became core memories that, once recalled in completion explained so much of why the main characters were the way they were. I understood why the characters were so unlikable, and that made me appreciate them and like them... most of them.

I still can't say I enjoyed the book, but I can say that I appreciated it. Reading it ended up being like peeling back the layers of an onion made of memories. As you peel back the layers, you slowly understand why those layers existed - why those memories were hidden from plain view. Imaging someone trying to survive a war with those memories, it makes sense that layers would be built up as a survival mechanism.

The open ending made me feel similarly to the end of Handmaid's Tale: grim with only the slightest hint of hope. I like endings like that, leaving the reader to speculate and analyze. It's the kind of story with the kind of ending that makes you just want to sit with it for a spell after you've finished.

A great read submitted by tlaberge on July 1, 2024, 9:05am Love this book. Often referenced, great social commentary.

Classic submitted by mlugin on July 20, 2025, 4:10pm Heller's absurd story with have you laughing out loud and crying for his loveable characters.

One classic for a reason submitted by Kjannett on July 21, 2025, 9:58am Amazing that I never read Catch 22 when I was younger or when the movie came out 50 + years ago. I did not see the movie and decided after all this time to finally read the book. It did not disappoint.
Catch 22 (WW2 novel) was funny, although sometimes confusing as it jumped around alot. I was immediately hooked. The story was interesting and kept me laughing although there is a bit of sadness. Loved the characters!

Dark and Hilarious (and Hilariously Dark) submitted by Cttift on August 17, 2025, 8:27pm This is one of those books that I seemed to encounter at the right time in my life- namely, in older adolescence when I was in the process of realizing that nobody really has it "figured out". Yossarian's experiences with the nonsensicality of war spoke to this in a way that no other book I had read at the time did, and in a way that was both very well-written and hugely entertaining. I would argue that the most important part of this novel, though, is ultimately its undercurrent of humanity, resilience, and optimism against all odds. The ending makes this book work.