By way of introduction, Joseph Heller, the
author who introduced the phrase “Catch-22” into the English language, died on
December 12th at the age of 76 in his home in East Hampton, New York. In 1961,
Heller published his first novel, Catch-22, a surreal anti-war story set in World War II.
Heller's protagonist, a fighter pilot, comes to understand that a man deemed
insane by the military bureaucracy may be released from duty. The “Catch-22” of Heller's title is that when a man
recognizes his condition,
he is no longer insane. Heller spoke at numerous college campuses throughout
the 60s, and Catch-22 seemed to capture the anti-war sentiment of many protesters during the New
York War.