Classics · DarkCaptain Yossarian, a bombardier in 1942-44, checks into a military hospital to avoid flying more missions
Catch-22
A bombardier tries every way he can to stop flying combat missions
Captain John Yossarian is a B-25 bombardier in the U.S. Army Air Forces of Assyrian heritage. The story is set from 1942 to 1944, mainly on the fictional 256th Squadron's base on Pianosa, an island in the Mediterranean west of mainland Italy. It opens with Yossarian in a military hospital, where he has gone under the guise of a chronic liver condition to avoid flying more missions. He is disillusioned with the war and distrustful of his commanding officers. Simon & Schuster published the novel on October 10, 1961.
More about this book
Who
Captain John Yossarian, a B-25 bombardier.
World
The fictional base on Pianosa, in the Mediterranean, in World War II, 1942 to 1944.
What makes it different
The narration shifts between characters, and the story is told non-chronologically, with events retold from different perspectives. The opening chapter was first published in 1955 as "Catch-18."
Feel
Absurd and darkly funny, at 453 pages.
Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition
Further reading
- Catch-22Wikipedia