Just One Catch: A Biography of Joseph Heller
by Tracy Daugherty
71 Members (3.30)
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Description
"In time for the 50th anniversary of Catch-22, Tracy Daugherty, the critically acclaimed author of Hiding Man (a New Yorker and New York Times Notable book), illuminates his most vital subject yet in this first biography of Joseph Heller. Joseph Heller was a Coney Island kid, the son of Russian immigrants, who went on to great fame and fortune. His most memorable novel took its inspiration from a mission he flew over France in WWII (his plane was filled with so much shrapnel it was a wonder show more it stayed in the air). Heller wrote seven novels, all of which remain in print. Something Happened and Good as Gold, to name two, are still considered the epitome of satire. His life was filled with women and romantic indiscretions, but he was perhaps more famous for his friendships--he counted Mel Brooks, Zero Mostel, Carl Reiner, Kurt Vonnegut, Norman Mailer, Mario Puzo, Dustin Hoffman, Woody Allen, and many others among his confidantes. In 1981 Heller was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre; Syndrome, a debilitating syndrome that could have cost him his life. Miraculously, he recovered. When he passed away in 1999 from natural causes, he left behind a body of work that continues to sell hundreds of thousands of copies a year. Just One Catch is the first biography of Yossarian's creator, with cooperation by the estate"--Provided by publisher. show lessTags
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Imprinted This biography includes a lengthy section on the writing and publishing of Catch-22, the tragicomic 1961 novel that originated in Heller’s experience as a World War II bombardier
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Author Information
20+ Works 678 Members
Tracy Daugherty is the author of four novels, two of which, What Falls Away and Axeman's Jazz, won the Oregon Book Award. He's also the author of a volume of personal essays and two previous story collections, one of which, It Takes a Worried Man, won the Oregon Book Award
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2011
- People/Characters
- Joseph Heller
Classifications
- Genres
- Biography & Memoir, Literature Studies and Criticism, Fiction and Literature
- DDC/MDS
- 813.54 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English 1900-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PS3558 .E476 .Z63 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Individual authors 1961-
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 71
- Popularity
- 434,655
- Rating
- (3.30)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 1
