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Catch-22
by Joseph Heller
- Used
- good
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Good/Poor
- Seller
-
Morston, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Jonathan Cape, 1962. 1st Edition 3rd Printing. Hardcover. Good/Poor. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Barbara Whitehead. 3rd Printing of 1st edition (all 1962) and bar toning to endpapers and light spotting to block, all is in VG internal order. No inscriptions. Smart pink cloth with bright gilt titling, a little sunned to spine, moreso at foot. Poor d/j, has tape and residue to edges, is worn and toned, with significant loss to spine. Looks marginally better in removable sleeve. 8vo. 443pp
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.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Dodman Books
(GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 102808
- Title
- Catch-22
- Author
- Joseph Heller
- Illustrator
- Barbara Whitehead
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Good
- Jacket Condition
- Poor
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- 1st Edition 3rd Printing
- Publisher
- Jonathan Cape
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1962
- Pages
- 443
- Size
- 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾
- Bookseller catalogs
- Fiction;
Terms of Sale
Dodman Books
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
Dodman Books
Biblio member since 2019
Morston, Norfolk
About Dodman Books
Formerly Journobooks, my original speciality was books about journalism, journalists, newspapers and other media (hence the name) and I still have a good stock of hard-to-find books in that field. Over time I have added a wide and eclectic variety of other collectible volumes alongside a general secondhand stock. I am a collector as well as a seller so know all about the pitfalls of online buying as well as the joys. I will try to make your buying experience as easy and as pleasant as possible.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- VG
- Very Good condition can describe a used book that does show some small signs of wear - but no tears - on either binding or...
- Sunned
- Damage done to a book cover or dust jacket caused by exposure to direct sunlight. Very strong fluorescent light can cause slight...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Poor
- A book with significant wear and faults. A poor condition book is still a reading copy with the full text still readable. Any...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- 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....
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