Catch-22
by Heller, Joseph
- Used
- near fine
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine/Very Good
- Seller
-
Austin, Minnesota, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Simon & Schuster, 1961. Book. Near Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. Stated First Printing with $5.95 price on jacket. Author photo on rear panel of jacket. One-inch tear to jacket and two eighth-inch chips to spine ends of jacket, else light rubbing..
Synopsis
Catch-22 is Joseph Heller’s first novel and his most acclaimed work. Set during World War II, the novel uses a distinctive non-chronological third-person omniscient narration, mainly focusing on the life of Captain John Yossarian, a U.S. Army Air Forces B-25 bombardier. Occasionally, the narrator also shows us how other characters, such as the chaplain or Hungry Joe, experience the world around them. As the novel’s events are described from the different points of view through separate out-of-sequence storylines, the timeline of Catch-22 develops along with the plot. The novel's title refers to a plot device that is repeatedly invoked in the story. Catch-22 starts as a set of paradoxical requirements whereby airmen mentally unfit to fly did not have to, but could not actually be excused. By the end of the novel, the phrase is invoked as the explanation for many unreasonable restrictions. “Catch-22” has since entered the English language and can be understood as an unsolvable logic puzzle, a difficult situation from which there is no escape. Upon publication, the book was not a best seller in the United States. It was merely a cult favorite until the publication of the paperback edition in 1962, which set record sales — most likely benefitting from a national debate about the pointlessness of the Vietnam War. Catch-22 has since been ranked as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century by the Modern Library, one of the 20th century's top 100 novels by the Radcliffe Publishing Course, and one of the 100 greatest novels of all time by The Observer.
Read More: Identifying first editions of Catch-22
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Details
- Bookseller
- Jay W. Nelson, Bookseller
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 046823
- Title
- Catch-22
- Author
- Heller, Joseph
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good
- Edition
- 1st Edition
- Publisher
- Simon & Schuster
- Date Published
- 1961
Terms of Sale
Jay W. Nelson, Bookseller
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Jay W. Nelson, Bookseller
Biblio member since 2013
Austin, Minnesota
About Jay W. Nelson, Bookseller
We have been selling books for over 15 years. We specialize in Americana, First Edition Literature, Golf, History, Railroad, Chess Medical, Western Americana, Mysteries, Economic History, Poetry, Aviation, Ornithology, Minnesota, Horses, Genealogy and Military Books.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
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