Facts about Catch-22

1. 05

   A 1970 film adaptation of Catch-22 was directed by Mike Nichols and starred Alan Arkin as the protagonist Yossarian.

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2. 04

   Heller's darkly comic novel popularized the phrase 'catch-22' so thoroughly that it entered the English language as a common noun meaning an inescapable paradox.

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3. 03

   Joseph Heller's satirical novel is set during World War II and follows bombardier John Yossarian stationed on the fictional island of Pianosa off Italy.

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4. 02

   The novel's title references a military regulation in the story that allows officers to ground pilots from dangerous missions only if they request it, but requesting grounds them as sane, making the request itself proof of insanity.

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5. 01

   Published in 1961, Joseph Heller's Catch-22 took eight years to write and sold only 5,168 copies in its first year.

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