About
Joseph Heller was an American writer born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1923. After serving as a bombardier in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, he studied at New York University, Columbia, and Oxford. He published his first novel, Catch-22, in 1961, which became a classic of American literature and introduced the term 'catch-22' into the English language. Heller also wrote several other novels, plays, and a memoir. He died in 1999.
* 1923-05-01 — † 1999-12-12
Major works
- Catch-22 (1961)novel
- Something Happened (1974)novel
- Good as Gold (1979)novel
- God Knows (1984)novel
- Closing Time (1994)novel
Key milestones
- 1961Publication of Catch-22, which becomes a bestseller and a classic.
- 1981Diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, he survives and co-writes No Laughing Matter.
- 1999Dies of a heart attack in East Hampton, New York.
Themes
Absurdity of warBureaucracySocial satireDeath and mortalityIdentity and aging
Sources: britannica.com · id.loc.gov · penguinrandomhouse.co.za