Top Ten Random Joseph Heller Facts

The Top Ten

1 Joseph Heller was born May 1, 1923 in Brooklyn, New York.

2 He flew 60 combat missions as a bombardier in World War II before finishing his studies at Columbia and Oxford and working as an advertising copywriter.

3 His satirical novel Catch-22 (1961), based on his wartime experiences, was one of the most significant works of postwar protest literature and a huge critical and popular success.

4 He was an Anti-War Activist.

5 He died on December 12, 1999.

6 He died in East Hampton, New York.

7 The initial chapter of his masterpiece was published in 1955 as "Catch-18", in Issue 7 of New World Writing.

8 Although he originally did not intend the story to be longer than a novelette, Heller was able to add enough substance to the plot that he felt it could become his first novel.

9 On Sunday, December 13, 1981, Heller was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome, a debilitating syndrome that was to leave him temporarily paralyzed.

10 On hearing of Heller's death, his friend Kurt Vonnegut said, "Oh, God, how terrible. This is a calamity for American literature."

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