Harvard Book Store: Joseph Heller 1923-1999

Joseph Heller 1923-1999

Joseph Heller, author of one of the masterpieces of 20th Century American literature, died of a heart attack on Long Island on December 12th. He was 76.

Heller was the author of six novels, including , , and , as well as a memoir, .

But it was that put Heller firmly in the ranks of American men of letters. The darkly comic, satiric novel of Yossarian, an Air Force pilot trapped in a system that won't let him leave, began as a cult classic following its 1961 release, but grew into a classic work of fiction.

The work helped to galvanize 1960s reaction to authority and bureaucracy, and contributed a phrase (A "catch-22": a rule that contradicted itself) to the American vernacular.

Heller is survived by his wife Valerie.

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