The Literary Mystery of Catch-22's Hero
I began to wonder...if my grandfather's circle of friends inspired some of the characters, could my grandfather have also inspired a character in Catch-22's broad supporting cast? Heller stated that fellow comrade Francis Yohannan only provided the name for Yossarian and that "the rest of Yossarian is the incarnation of a wish.”
Catch-22 opens with a curious disclosure right before the dedication page stating: "The island of Pianosa lies in the Mediterranean Sea eight miles south of Elba. It is very small and obviously could not accommodate all of the actions described. Like the setting of this novel, the characters too, are fictitious.” Click image to read more...
My research received a huge boost when I came across a paper written by Daniel Setzer, titled “Historical Sources for the Events in Joseph Heller’s Novel, Catch-22.” Click image to read more...
One item in the Catch-22 50th Anniversary Edition appendix was a portion of a large handwritten table Heller used to organize the novel. Down one side were the mission limit levels, down the other side was a timeline of the war, and each column represented one of the main characters. Click image to read more...
The leatherbound diary was tucked away alongside items collected by my grandparents over nearly a century, but my father recognized it immediately while cleaning out my grandparents house after their passing. During my youth, this was the diary my father suggested I compare to Joseph Heller’s classic novel Catch-22. Click image to read more...
Yossarian Lived! 