Where to find Catch-22Īs usual, banning books backfires and increases readership of these books. Here, at last, is the definitive edition of a classic of world literature. 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. 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.

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. 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. In recent years it has been named to “best novels” lists by Time, Newsweek, the Modern Library, and the London Observer. Publisher’s Summaryįifty 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. Community Protests followed, and the Mat-Su school board put the books back in their libraries. Outcome: The following groups signed onto a letter opposing the ban: The Office for Intellectual Freedom - joined by Alaska librarians, the Freedom to Read Foundation, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and the American Booksellers for Free Expression ( now American Booksellers Association). The books were challenged for “Sexual Content” for all five books and “anti-white sentiment” for the Caged Bird.

Scott Fitzgerald, and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.

Challenge: In 2021, the Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) Borough School Board in Alaska voted 5-2 to ban The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, The Great Gatsby by F.

Catch 22 book