Click for full-size.
Catch-22: A Dramatization
by HELLER, Joseph
- Used
- Fine
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- Fine
- Seller
-
Pine Plains, New York, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
SIGNED by Joseph Heller (1923–1999). Catch–22. [New York: Dell Publishing Co., 1973]. 8vo. Illustrated from photographs of the first play directed by Larry Arrick at the John Drew Theatre. Original publisher's pictorial wrappers. FIRST DELTA EDITION, SIGNED BY HELLER on half–title. Joseph Heller's full-length comedy, adapted from his iconic first novel. The story is set in World War II and is peopled with a group of US Army Air Force men – one in particular called Captain John Yossarian. The men do what they can in order to survive so they can go home to their families, but their rank superiors keep throwing obstacles in their paths to try and keep them longer. Catch-22 represents the idea of a "no-win" situation – no decision or course of action a person makes or takes results in resolution, but rather in a continuation of the confusion one tried to clear up in the first place. The term itself has entered the language as a description of a ridiculously cyclical situation. A fine, tight copy, evidently unread. No writings, bookplates, or markings save for author's signature. Book #Cv2329. $455. We specialize in Rare Ayn Rand, history, and science.
Synopsis
Catch-22 is Joseph Heller’s first novel and his most acclaimed work. Set during World War II, the novel uses a distinctive non-chronological third-person omniscient narration, mainly focusing on the life of Captain John Yossarian, a U.S. Army Air Forces B-25 bombardier. Occasionally, the narrator also shows us how other characters, such as the chaplain or Hungry Joe, experience the world around them. As the novel’s events are described from the different points of view through separate out-of-sequence storylines, the timeline of Catch-22 develops along with the plot. The novel's title refers to a plot device that is repeatedly invoked in the story. Catch-22 starts as a set of paradoxical requirements whereby airmen mentally unfit to fly did not have to, but could not actually be excused. By the end of the novel, the phrase is invoked as the explanation for many unreasonable restrictions. “Catch-22” has since entered the English language and can be understood as an unsolvable logic puzzle, a difficult situation from which there is no escape. Upon publication, the book was not a best seller in the United States. It was merely a cult favorite until the publication of the paperback edition in 1962, which set record sales — most likely benefitting from a national debate about the pointlessness of the Vietnam War. Catch-22 has since been ranked as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century by the Modern Library, one of the 20th century's top 100 novels by the Radcliffe Publishing Course, and one of the 100 greatest novels of all time by The Observer.
Read More: Identifying first editions of Catch-22: A Dramatization
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- Pen Ultimate Rare Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- Cv2329
- Title
- Catch-22: A Dramatization
- Author
- HELLER, Joseph
- Format/Binding
- Soft cover
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First
- Publisher
- Dell
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1973
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Bookseller catalogs
- belles-lettres;
Terms of Sale
Pen Ultimate Rare Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Pen Ultimate Rare Books
Biblio member since 2018
Pine Plains, New York
About Pen Ultimate Rare Books
Pen Ultimate Rare Books carries the largest selection of rare, signed, and manuscript Ayn Rand on the planet! We also carry landmark works of History and Science. And we LOVE English Grammar. Split an infinitive with us!
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Wrappers
- The paper covering on the outside of a paperback. Also see the entry for pictorial wraps, color illustrated coverings for...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
Frequently asked questions
This Book’s Categories
Collecting food and drink books
Nothing quite whets the appetite for rare and collectible books like old and vintage cookbooks. Be sure to check out our cook books and food section of our rare book room.
Learn about Bayntun-Rivière Binders
Are you enchanted by books clad in fine bindings? This is the gallery for you to peruse! Learn more about Bayntun, Rivière & Sons, and their combined work as Bayntun-Rivière.
