Joseph Heller

American writer · United States · Writers · Lived 1923 to 1999 · aged 76

Joseph Heller is read about 454 times a day, in 53 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 21 October 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 396 days, one point a day.

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He gave the language a phrase for the impossible trap: "Catch-22," the title of his 1961 debut that turned war's bureaucratic madness into a synonym still used when logic eats itself.

Writers Writer / Author Literature Screenwriting Fiction Theatre Journalism Stand Up

A life in dates

1999Died12 December 1999“Everyone in my book accuses everyone else of being crazy. Frankly, I think the whole society is nuts - and the question is: What does a sane man do in an insane society?”In their words13 December 1999As quoted in CNN, 13 December 1999Read the whole statement

1997“When I read something saying I've not done anything as good as Catch-22 I'm tempted to reply, "Who has?”In their wordsAs quoted in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Quotations (1997) edited by Peter Kemp, p. 303Read the whole statement

1985Prix Médicis étrangerAward1961“It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him.”In their wordsOpening LinesRead the whole statement

“Open your eyes, Clevinger. It doesn't make a damned bit of difference who wins the war to someone who's dead.”In their wordsCatch-22 (1961)Read the whole statement

“The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on.”In their wordsCatch-22 (1961)Read the whole statement

“He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt, and his only mission each time he went up was to come down alive.”In their wordsCatch-22 (1961)Read the whole statement

1923Born1 May 1923

Also in Deutsch

Photos 4

Joseph Heller circa 1979

Joseph Heller1986 (cropped)

Joseph Heller1986 crop

Something Happened (1974) 1st edition front cover

In their own words 10

Joseph Heller

10 statements, newest first

Everyone in my book accuses everyone else of being crazy. Frankly, I think the whole society is nuts - and the question is: What does a sane man do in an insane society?
Dec 13, 1999, As quoted in CNN, 13 December 1999, Own words
The only wisdom I think I've attained is the wisdom to be skeptical of other people's ideology and other people's arguments.
1998, In an interview for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: "Joseph Heller - Closing Time" (1998) by Ramona Koval, Own words
When I read something saying I've not done anything as good as Catch-22 I'm tempted to reply, "Who has?
1997, As quoted in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Quotations (1997) edited by Peter Kemp, p. 303, Own words

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Awards

Prix Médicis étranger1985

Fulbright Scholarship

About this person

Joseph Heller was born May 1, 1923, and spent decades as an American author working across novels, short stories, plays, and screenplays. His first novel, Catch-22, arrived in 1961 as a satire on war and bureaucracy - a book that didn't just succeed but colonized the vocabulary, its title becoming shorthand for absurd or contradictory choices. The Nobel committee noticed: he was nominated for the prize in literature at least twice, in 1972 and 1975. He kept writing until his death on December 12, 1999, but nothing else carried the weight of that first perfect trap.

Country

United States

In common with Joseph

Mel FerrerAlso in Sex and the Single Girl (1964)

Martin BalsamAlso in Catch-22 (1970)

Bob BalabanAlso in Catch-22 (1970)

Lois NettletonAlso in Dirty Dingus Magee (1970)

Nicholas HammondAlso in Catch-22 (1973)

Stubby KayeAlso in Sex and the Single Girl (1964)

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