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Title details for CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller - Available

CATCH-22

by Joseph Heller
Jay O. Sanders
Audiobook
1 of 5 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 5 copies available
This fiftieth-anniversary edition commemorates Joseph Heller's masterpiece with a new introduction; critical essays and reviews by Norman Mailer, Alfred Kazin, Anthony Burgess, and others; rare papers and photos; and much more.

Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read.

Now a Hulu limited series starring Christopher Abbott, George Clooney, Kyle Chandler, and Hugh Laurie.
Fifty years after its original publication, Catch-22 remains a cornerstone of American literature and one of the funniest—and most celebrated—books of all time. In recent years it has been named to "best novels" lists by Time, Newsweek, the Modern Library, and the London Observer.

Set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy—it is his own army, which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he's assigned, he'll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes a formal request to be removed from duty, he is proven sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.

This fiftieth-anniversary edition commemorates Joseph Heller's masterpiece with a new introduction by Christopher Buckley; a wealth of critical essays and reviews by Norman Mailer, Alfred Kazin, Anthony Burgess, and others; rare papers and photos from Joseph Heller's personal archive; and much more. Here, at last, is the definitive edition of a classic of world literature.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 29, 2017

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781508251521
      • File size: 575276 KB
      • Duration: 19:58:29

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Lexile® Measure: 1140
    • Text Difficulty: 8-9

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Heller's celebrated novel of WWII is given an entertaining reading by actor Jay O. Sanders. The novel itself is a high-energy, absurdist romp through the machinations of governmental bureaucracy, the labyrinth of circular and paradoxical military "reasoning," and larger questions of rationality, sanity, war, and peaceâ featuring a sizable cast of characters presided over by the paranoid and put-upon bombardier, Captain Yossarian. Sanders brings a friendly, earnest tone to the production, and offers accomplished and consistent characterizations of all the novel's main characters. The sound level of the recording itself is inconsistent--Sanders drops to near inaudibility in the quieter passages. M.G. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      In Jim Weiss's performance of Heller's uproarious WWII novel, the characters are practically cartoons. That is no insult, but the highest admiration for Weiss's choices and his verve. Heller's characters are meant to be absurdities. His U.S. Army is peopled with men of outlandish traits; they're monumentally corrupt, buffoonish, overweaning characters whose self-involvement places the actual fighting men, including the novel's recalcitrant hero, Yossarian, into the most ghastly jeopardy. Weiss's exuberance never lets up. He captures the comic lunacy of Heller's genius and--even more impressively--intercuts its moments of sheer terror and despair to devastating effect. It is precisely the bravura performance that this, arguably the greatest war novel ever written, deserves. M.O. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from April 30, 2007
      It would be difficult to imagine richer material for an audiobook reader, comedically speaking, than Joseph Heller’s classic novel of wartime madness. Sanders is the lucky actor chosen to read Heller’s masterpiece, and he does well by it, proceeding gamely through the novel’s staggering array of comic set pieces and deliriously woozy dialogue. Heller’s humor is straight-faced, requiring little more than a steady, sure voice, and Sanders offers just that. Line by line, joke by joke, Sanders reels through the marvelous phantasmagoria of Heller’s World War II, tongue planted firmly in cheek. Caedmon’s impressive package includes a 1970s-era recording of Heller reading selections from his book. Heller is a delightful contrast to Sanders, his slight lisp accentuating a marvelous Brooklyn accent. Heller reads as if with cigar perched on his lip and turns his novel into an extended borscht belt comic’s riff.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:1140
  • Text Difficulty:8-9

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