Joseph Heller: 1923-1999

Joseph Heller war born in Brooklyn, New York, on May 1, 1923, as the son of poor Jewish parents. His Russian-born father, who was a bakery truck driver, died in 1927. After graduating from Abraham Lincoln High School in 1941, Heller joined the Twelfth Air Force. He was stationed in Corsica, where he flew 60 combat missions as a B-25 bombardier. In 1949 Heller received his M.A. from Columbia University. He was a Fulbright scholar at Oxford in 1949-50. Heller worked as a teacher at Pennsylvania State University, then as copywriter for the magazines Time and Look, and promotion manager for McCall's.

It was during this time that he had the idea for Catch-22, a novel about the madness of war, the altered perceptions of those in the midst of war. Working on the novel in spare moments and evenings at home, it took him eight years to complete and was first published in 1961. Originally, the book and the rule were both to be called "Catch-18" but that came close to the title "Mila 18", a book written by Leon Uris. So Heller changed it to "Catch-22." The catch is that the medics can ground any pilot who is crazy, provided the pilot requests it; but anyone who requests grounding is not crazy, so they cannot be grounded.

After the success of his novel Heller left McCall's to teach fiction and dramatic writing at Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Heller was never a literary star nor a prolific writer. Not until 1974 -- 13 years after publication of "Catch-22" -- did he produce another novel called "Something Happened." As a member of the Beat Generation and the post-World War II era, Heller developed a very satirical approach towards institutions, particularly the national government and the military. He had a deep cynicism of war, which was best exemplified by the "black humor" of Catch-22, and explored the Jewish-American experience in the postwar era in an often hostile world.

In 1986, Heller developed a neurological disease.

He died in his home on December 12, 1999 of a heart attack.