Joseph Heller

1
Joseph Heller

• Born in 1923
• Fought in WWII as a bombardier
• For U.S.A.F. in Italy -- 3 yrs/60 missions
• B.A. from NYU MA from Columbia
• Fulbright scholar _at_ Oxford

2
Catch-22

• Published in 1961 after 8 years of work
• Immediate commercial hit/mixed critical reviews
• The satire of war and military bureaucracy spoke
  to the disenchantment w/Vietnam
• Heller created the term Catch-22, which has
  become part of our culture and lexicon

3
Yossarians Flight Experience
Bomber in Flight
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Bomber Note the location of the Bombardiers
Bubble
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A view of the bombardier in place. Notice the
tight quarters!
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Lead Bomber
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Waist Gunners
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Radio Gunner
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The Bishop with a group of Army Chaplains
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The Setting
Avignon
Pianosa
Arrows indicate settings for our story
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Major to the fourth power
Major Major is cursed by a strong resemblance to
Henry Fonda (left), a famous movie star from the
20s and 40s
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A little chronology

• Boot Camp at Lowery Field, Colorado
• Cadet Aviation School, Santa Ana, CA
• Pianosa, Italy
• Ferrara around the target twice
• Great Big Siege of Bologna
• Avignon - Snowden

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Structure

• déjà vu watch for repeating scenes when they
  repeat, note similarities and differences
• Circular humor pay attention to the hook in
  the scene
• Satire pay attention to the tone is it light
  hearted or dark or biting, etc.