Catch-22

If you're into satire, quirky characters, and government bureaucracy, this is your jam!

Yossarian is a neurotic bombardier who doesn't want to fly any more missions because he's scared of dying. He makes frequent visits to the hospital, where he fakes a liver issue so he can lie in bed all day. Then he decides to try to convince his superiors that he's crazy (and he might really be), because anyone who is crazy isn't allowed to fly. All they have to do is request to be grounded due to their mental health. But the catch is that anyone who does submit such a request is deemed to be sane because only a sane person would care about their safety. Heller's book is full of those types of catches, paradoxes, and circular reasoning.

This is the funniest novel I've ever read. Every page has laugh-out-loud moments and witticisms. Satire is very difficult to do well and Heller masters it here.

The story is told in a nonlinear fashion, with scenes connected by free association and the pieces slowly coming together to form a narrative. But even so, it's more a collection of crazy occurrences than a strong plot and no character really has any arc. Instead, the many characters exist for comic relief, to further the story, and to make satirical points. Every character is crazy in one way or another, which is why there's another catch to trying to get out of missions: Crazy people must be able to go on missions, because no one else will.

With stronger character arcs, this might be a perfect novel, but even without it, it's a timeless classic and one of the great American novels.