Catch 22 by Joseph Heller (1961) – A satire of the American military, capitalism, and morality set in a WWII bomber squadron in the Mediterranean. At the center of it all is the way out of the madness – Catch 22. That may be the greatest madness of them all.
Two devastating World Wars stripped a lot of the “romanticism” away from the concept of war. It was no longer a gentleman’s pursuit (if it ever was), but a bureaucratic machine. The machine was designed to crush individuality, and it was very good at it.
Capt. John Yossarian refuses to give in to the system. It makes no sense and the final result appears to be the inevitable death of everyone. Surrounding him are those who have been crushed by the bureaucracy (Major Major Major Major), those who want to believe (Clevinger), and those who discover that the system can be used for personal profit (Milo Minderbinder). Yossarian picks a path that might lead him past the minefield of Catch-22. It is a story filled with fear, sex, mystery, ambition, avarice, madness, spiritual defeats and curious victories.
The result is one of the Great American Novels and a great war story. Heller would never reach these heights of brilliance and popularity. But the title has become a cultural icon referring to any situation that can’t be won.
I read this for the first time while in college. It was the perfect time for it, and the book has stuck with me all these years later. I haven’t read it in a decade, but the names were instantly called to mind. It is a brilliant and challenging story even nearly 60 years after it was published.
In a time of madness once again, it may be time to read this one again.
Stories Are My Life 
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