Catch-22

Catch-22 is a darkly comic anti-war novel that follows Captain John Yossarian, a U.S. Army bombardier during World War II, as he desperately tries to escape the madness and bureaucracy of military life. Trapped by the paradoxical logic of "e;Catch-22"e;-which states that trying to avoid combat missions proves one is sane, but asking to be grounded is evidence of insanity-Yossarian finds himself in an endless cycle of absurdity, fear, and frustration. Through satire and surreal humor, Joseph Heller exposes the cruelty, contradiction, and futility of war and institutional logic.