Catch as Catch Can: The Collected Stories and Other Writings - Softcover

Heller, Joseph

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0743257936 ISBN 13: 9780743257930

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2004

Synopsis

A collection of short stories and other miscellaneous writings by Joseph Heller, one of America's most influential and idiosyncratic writers.

Years before the publication of Catch-22--which was called "a monumental artifact of contemporary literature" by The New York Times, "an apocalyptic masterpiece" by the Chicago Sun-Times, and "one of the most bitterly funny works in the language" by The New Republic--Joseph Heller began sharpening his skills as a writer, searching for the voice that would best express his own peculiarly wry view of the world.

In Catch As Catch Can, editors Matthew J. Bruccoli and Park Bucker have for the first time collected the short stories Heller published prior to that first novel, along with all the other short pieces of fiction and nonfiction that were published during his lifetime. Also included are five previously unpublished short stories, most reflecting the influence on Heller of urban naturalist writers such as Irwin Shaw and Nelson Algren.

The result is an important and significant addition to our understanding and appreciation of Joseph Heller, showing his evolution as a writer and artist. For those unfamiliar with his work, it will serve as an excellent introduction; for everyone else, Catch As Catch Can is a chance to explore a new aspect of Heller's remarkable career.

About this title

Review:

With his first book, the seminal anti-war novel Catch-22, Joseph Heller became one of American literature's most important 20th-century writers. The posthumous collection, Catch As Catch Can: The Collected Stories and Other Writings, shows Heller's early development as a writer, but in essence provides the "outtakes", "B-sides" and sketches related to Catch-22 and several non-fiction pieces regarding it, mixed with juvenilia. A more appropriate title might have been The Making of Catch-22.

This collection contains a great many works that revolve around or contain characters from Catch-22, including two chapters cut from the novel published here as independent stories: "Love, Dad" and "Yossarian Survives". Not surprisingly, these are the strongest works in the book. "Love, Dad" provides the first introduction to Edward J Nately III, who "was often lonely and nagged by vague, incipient longings. He contemplated his sophomore year at Harvard without enthusiasm, without joy. Fortunately, the War broke out in time to save him". Joseph Heller will be known forever for his great novel, Catch-22, and Catch As Catch Can serves to back up this notion. --Michael Ferch, Amazon.com

Review:

The San Diego Union-Tribune Read this collection chronologically to appreciate Heller's growing command of tone and plot. Or dip in and out to sample his variety, which encompassed theater..., stories of romance, violence and heroin, travel writing and the memoir. He was so versatile that he could have concentrated on any one of these genres.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0743257936
• ISBN 13: 9780743257930
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352
• Editor: Bruccoli Matthew J, Bucker Park