Editing Catch-22 (section)

{{short description|1961 novel by Joseph Heller}}
{{for-multi|the 1970 film adaptation|Catch-22 (film)|the 2019 miniseries|Catch-22 (miniseries)|the term coined in the novel|Catch-22 (logic)|other uses|Catch-22 (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2019}}
{{Infobox book
| name              = Catch-22
| image             = Catch-22 (1961) front cover, first edition.jpg
| caption           = First edition cover
| author            = [[Joseph Heller]]
| cover_artist      = [[Paul Bacon (designer)|Paul Bacon]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.solothurnli.com/Pages/PaulBacon.html|title=Paul Bacon cover artist|publisher=Solothurnli|access-date=March 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119215305/http://www.solothurnli.com/Pages/PaulBacon.html|archive-date=January 19, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| country           = United States
| language          = English
| genre             = [[Dark comedy]], [[absurdist fiction]], [[satire]], [[war novel|war fiction]], [[historical fiction]]
| publisher         = [[Simon & Schuster]]
| release_date      = October 10, 1961<ref>{{cite book |last1=Eller |first1=Jonathan R. |title=The Story of Catch-22 |date=2011 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=Catch-22 |isbn=978-1451626650 |page=469 |edition=50th anniversary}}</ref>
| media_type        = Print (hardback)
| pages             = 453  (1st edition hardback)
| isbn              = 0-671-12805-1
| dewey             = 813/.54 22
| congress          = PS3558.E476 C3 2004
| oclc              = 35231812
| followed_by       = [[Closing Time (novel)|Closing Time]] ''(1994)''
}}
'''''Catch-22''''' is a [[satirical]] [[war novel]] by American author [[Joseph Heller]]. It was his [[debut novel]]. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century,<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1868619.stm |title=What is Catch-22? And why does the book matter? |work=BBC News |date=March 12, 2002 |access-date=March 11, 2011}}</ref> it uses a distinctive non-chronological [[Narrative mode#Third-person, omniscient|third-person omniscient]] narration, describing events from the points of view of different characters. The separate storylines are out of sequence so the timeline develops along with the plot.

The novel is set during [[World War II]], from 1942 to 1944. It mainly follows the life of [[antihero]] [[Captain (United States O-3)|Captain]] [[Yossarian|John Yossarian]], a [[United States Army Air Forces|U.S. Army Air Forces]] [[B-25]] [[Bombardier (aircrew)|bombardier]]. Most of the events in the book occur while the fictional 256th US Army Air Squadron is based on the island of [[Pianosa]], in the [[Mediterranean Sea]] west of the Italian mainland, although it also includes episodes from basic training at [[Lowry Field]] in Colorado and Air Corps training at [[Santa Ana Army Air Base]] in California. The novel examines the [[absurdity]] of war and military life through the experiences of Yossarian and his cohorts, who attempt to maintain their sanity while fulfilling their service requirements so that they may return home.

The book was made into a [[Catch-22 (film)|film adaptation]] in 1970, directed by [[Mike Nichols]], and a [[Catch-22 (miniseries)|miniseries]] in 2019, produced by [[George Clooney]]. In 1994, Heller published a sequel to the novel entitled ''[[Closing Time (novel)|Closing Time]]''.