Joseph Heller Biography

American Novelist and Playwright, Famous for Catch-22

Feb 15, 2009
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Joseph Heller, American Writer - Wikimedia Commons

Biography of American writer, Joseph Heller, best-selling author of Catch-22. He drew on his own World War II experiences, like other novelists.

Joseph Heller is famous worldwide for his first novel Catch-22, and regarded as one of the best post-World War II satirists. Catch-22 enormously expresses the mood at that time, a cynical yet hysterical laughter of the 1960s, when airmen were trapped by the situation of the war.

"Catch-22" has become a common term to express frustration in choice, a self-sustaining feedback loop, in which there's no way out. Apart from his book Catch-22, his other works revolve around the lives of middle class people, but still satirical.

Early Life of Joseph Heller

Joseph Heller was born on May 1, 1923 in Brooklyn, New York City. He joined the US Air Force after graduating from Abraham Lincoln High School. He became a wing bombardier stationed on the Mediterranean island of Corsica in which he flew 60 missions. After the war, he attended the University of Southern California for a year and later transferred to New York University. Heller received a master's degree from Columbia University.

Heller Career Prior to Catch-22

While writing Catch-22, Heller worked for a number of magazines such as Time, Look and McCall's. He left McCall's when he was 38 to teach fiction and dramatic writing at Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania. Catch-22 was published that year although success did not happen immediately.

Catch-22 Novel

Catch-22 is a satire which draws on all the minutest aspects of the military life, seen during the World War II's campaign in Italy. The main character is a fighter-pilot called Yossarian who is determined not to be killed. He says: "They (the army authorities) have a right to do anything and we can't stop them from doing." It's a 'catch-22' alright.

The novel, a satire, mainly hits on bureaucracy and big establishments rather than purely on war. It had a steady sale in the US but only began to sell very well after its enthusiastic reception in England. By 1975, it had sold over six million copies.

Heller's Later Years

After recovering from a sudden paralytic illness, Heller wrote other works of fiction, including a sequel to Catch-22 called Closing Time. His later books, including Something Happened, Good as Gold and God Knows, were not received with the same accolade as Catch-22, both from critics as well as in selling power. He died December 12, 1999, aged 76. He was a friend of fellow American science fiction writer and novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.