Joseph Heller

A perfect morning (from The young lions) / Irwin Shaw Lunghua camp (from Empire of the Sun) / J.G. Ballard The journey (from A town like Alice) / Nevil Shute The birth of an idea (from The man who never was) / Ewen Montague The big day (from From here to eternity) / James Jones Abducting the general (from Ill met by midnight) / W. Stanley Moss The landing at Kuralei (from Tales of the South Pacific) / James A. Michener Shall I live for a ghost (from The last enemy) / Richard Hillary Billy Pilgrim (from Slaughterhouse Five) / Kurt Vonnegut Battalion in defense (from Officers and gentlemen) / Evelyn Waugh Anopopei (from The naked and the dead) / Norman Mailer 'Plane land here' (from Wingate's raiders) / Charles J. Rolo Mission asymptote (from The white rabbit) / Bruce Marshall Fraternizing with the enemy? (from Reach for the sky) / Paul Brickhill Shooting party (from Grand party) Graham Brooks H-hour (from The longest day) / Cornelius Ryan Into Germany (from Carve her name with pride) / R.J. Minney Ironbottom Sound (from Ironbottom Sound) / Lindsay Baly The first bid for freedom (from The Colditz story) / P.R. Reed Some were unlucky (from Enemy coast ahead) / Guy Gibson, VC May 1941 (from Nella Last's diary) / Nella Last Major major major major (from Catch 22) / Joseph Heller The battle of the bulge (from The face of war) / Martha Gelhorn The invasion of Papua (from Retreat from Kokoda) / Raymond Paull No trouble at all (from The stories of flying officer X) / H.E. Bates Stalingrad The story of the battle (from Stalingrad point of return) / Ronald Seth The soldier looks for his family / John Prebble The white mouse and the Maquis d'Auvergne (from The white mouse) / Nancy Wake Fear of death / F.J. Salfeld The invaders (from The Moon is down) / John Steinbeck The compass rose (from The cruel sea) / Nicholas Monsarrat The diary of a desert rat (from The diary of a desert rat) / R.L. Crimp The Mannerheim Line (from Of many men) / James Aldridge Midway (from Torpedo Junction) / Robert J. Casey Hiroshima the fire (from Hiroshima) / John Hersey

Catch-22 is like no other novel. It has its own rationale, its own extraordinary character. It moves back and forth from hilarity to horror. It is outrageously funny and strangely affecting. It is totally original. Set in the closing months of World War II in an American bomber squadron off Italy, Catch-22 is the story of a bombardier named Yossarian, who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he hasn't even met keep trying to kill him. Catch-22 is a microcosm of the twentieth-century world as it might look to someone dangerously sane. It is a novel that lives and moves and grows with astonishing power and vitality -- a masterpiece of our time. - Back cover.

"Paul Stone is an artist. One day, a beautiful woman named Zena walks into his studio. For Paul, it is love at first sight. Zena offers Paul a simple, but strange, job. When Paul takes the job, he steps into a world of trouble. Zena is mixed up with a crook. They are planning to steal three paintings. Paul finds himself dragged into an art theft worth $3 million. As time goes on, Paul learns he is being lied to, even by Zena. Will Paul stick to the plan? Who will end up with the money? And who will go to jail?"--Back cover.

"Of the stories in this collection, thirteen were written before 1961, when Catch-22 was published; of those, five have never before been published. After Catch-22, Heller forsook the short story form. Though five stories were published after 1961, one - "World Full of Great Cities" - was actually written in 1949, three of the other four are spin-offs of Catch-22, and one is a preview of Closing Time.". "Rounding out this collection of the complete published short writings of Joseph Heller are a short play and several nonfiction pieces, mostly related to Catch-22."--BOOK JACKET.

David (as in Biblical King David of Judea) remembers his life and times as he is old and near his time. We get a fresh perspective into his life, his complicated family, and even more complicated relationship with God. All well-written, funny, and moving.

Leila: What I meant to do: Quietly divorce my lout of a husband and then have a child all on my own. What happens instead: My crush comes back to town when I’m at my most vulnerable. After too many cocktails, I ask him to be my baby’s father. In my defense, it’s been a rough couple of months. Seeing Matteo Rossi again after fourteen years has done a number on my emotions. And my libido. In the morning, I’m hoping he’s forgotten the whole thing. But no such luck. In fact, Matteo has a few clarifying questions. And a few naughty ideas, too… Matteo: What I meant to do: visit Vermont for my brother’s wedding. Make amends to my family, and mourn the loss of a friend. What happens instead: a hot affair with the one who got away. But it can’t last. My life is two thousand miles away, and Leila deserves everything. She’s as good as gold.

The demented Army Air Force of Catch-22, the lethal business world of Something Happened, the dysfunctional family of Good as Gold - all these, we have assumed, had their roots in Joseph Heller's own past. Now, more than thirty-five years after the explosion of Catch-22 into the world's consciousness, Heller gives us his life. Here is his Coney Island childhood, down the block from the world's most famous amusement park. It was the height of the Depression, it was a fatherless family, yet little Joey Heller had a terrific time - on the boardwalk, in the ocean (dangerously out of his depth), playing follow-the-leader in and out of local bars, even in school. Then a series of jobs, from delivering telegrams (on his first bike) to working in a navy yard - until Pearl Harbor, the air force, Italy. And after the war, college (undreamed-of before the G.I. Bill), teaching, Madison Avenue, marriage, and - always - writing. And finally the spectacular success of Catch-22, launching one of the great literary careers.

Yossarian is a hero endlessly inventive in his schemes to save his skin from the horrible chances of war, and his efforts are perfectly understandable because as he furiously scrambles, thousands of people he hasn't even met are trying to kill him.

La acción se desarrolla durante los últimos meses de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y se centra en una escuadrilla de bombarderos estadounidense. El coronel Cathcart, jefe de la escuadrilla, quiere ser ascendido a general. Y no encuentra mejor manera que enviar a sus hombres a realizar las misiones más peligrosas. Con una lógica siniestra, Yossarian, un piloto subordinado de Cathcart que intenta ser eximido del servicio alegando enfermedad mental, recibe por respuesta que sólo los locos aceptan misiones aéreas y que su disgusto demuestra que está sano y que, por tanto, es apto para volar. La evolución psicológica de Yossarian refleja la aguda crítica que hace Joseph Heller de un patriotismo mal entendido, el cual exige sacrificios inadmisibles. Trampa 22, que se convirtió en el libro de cabecera del movimiento pacifista de los años sesenta, constituye un modelo de humor negro y absurdo en la literatura estadounidense. Fue llevada a la gran pantalla en 1970, bajo la dirección de Mike Nichols, con Orson Welles y Anthony Perkins en los papeles protagonistas

Preparations are being made in the briefing room of an American Air Force station to obliterate Constantinople. Captures the insanity of modern war.

A perfect morning (from The Young Lions) / Irwin Shaw -- Lunghua camp (from Empire of the Sun) / J. G. Ballard -- The big day (from From Here to Eternity) / James Jones -- The landing on Kuralei (from Tales of the South Pacific) / James A. Michener -- Shall live for a ghost? (from The Last Enemy) / Richard Hillary -- Billy Pilgrim (from Slaughterhouse Five) / Kurt Vonnegut -- Battalion in defence (from Officers and Gentlemen) / Evelyn Waugh -- Anopopei (from The Naked and the Dead) / Norman Mailer -- Some were unlucky (from Enemy Coast Ahead) / Guy Gibson, VC -- Major major major major (from Catch-22) / Joseph Heller -- The invasion of Papua (from Retreat from Kokoda) / Raymond Paull -- Stalingrad : the story of the battle (from Stalingrad : Point of Return) / Ronald Seth -- The White Mouse and the Maquis d'Auvergne (from The White Mouse) / Nancy Wake -- The invaders (from The Moon is Down) / John Steinbeck -- The blooding of the compass rose (from The Cruel Sea) / Nicholas Monsarrat -- Hiroshima : the fire (from Hiroshima / John Hersey.