The book Catch-22 takes place during the closing months of WWII, in an American bomb squadron on an island off of the west coast of Italy. The main character, a bombardier named Yossarian, is trying to be grounded instead of flying more missions for the Air Force by declaring himself insane. He technically is, for flying at all, but he can’t be grounded because of the infamous “Catch-22,” a paradox which specifies that if one is crazy, “All they have to do is ask to be grounded; and as soon as they knew they did, they would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions.” Yossarian and his buddies have their misadventures flying around Mediterranean and trying their best to survive the war. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is a historical fiction novel about survival and obedience, and reveals that when faced with a life or death scenario, humans tend to disregard responsibility or orders that they have been given. In the first half of the novel, Joseph Heller goes deeply into the character’s backstories and doesn’t seem to follow any chronological order. The second half, however, becomes an actually story and a tragic one, too. Catch-22 is one of the funniest novels I have ever read, and I love the complex yet foolish humor the characters display. On the other hand, I don’t like how depressing it gets towards the end; it borders on being just another gloomy, tragic war story. I would definitely recommend this book to another student or adult looking to show more enjoy themselves while learning about WWII, despite the melancholic ending. show less