Catch-22 CD
There was a time when reading Joseph Heller's classic satire on the murderous insanity of war was nothing less than a rite of passage. Echoes of Yossarian, the wise-ass bombardier who was too smart to die but not smart enough to find a way out of his predicament, could be heard throughout the counterculture. As a result, it's impossible not to considerCatch-22to be something of a period piece. But 40 years on, the  novel's undiminished strength is its looking-glass logic. Again and again, Heller's characters demonstrate that what is commonly held to be good, is bad; what is sensible, is nonsense.Yossarian says, &quot;You're talking about winning the war, and I am talking about winning the war and keeping alive.&quot;&quot;Exactly,&quot; Clevinger snapped smugly. &quot;And which do you think is more important?&quot;&quot;To whom?&quot; Yossarian shot back. &quot;It doesn't make a damn bit of difference who wins the war to someone who's dead.&quot;&quot;I can't think of another attitude that could be depended upon to give greater comfort to the enemy.&quot;&quot;The enemy,&quot; retorted Yossarian with weighted precision, &quot;is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on.&quot;Mirabile dictu, the book holds up post-Reagan, post-Gulf War. It's a good thing, too. As long as there's a military, that engine of lethal authority,Catch-22will shine as a handbook for smart-alecky pacifists. It's an utterly serious and sad, but damn funny book.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.