Joseph Heller, the Author
In 1942, at age 19, Joseph Heller joined the US Army Air Corps. Stationed in Italy, he flew 60 combat missions as a B-25 bombardier. On his 37th mission, a tragedy occurred that changed him forever. The idea for how to create a novel loosely based on his war experience didn’t come to him until 10 years later, in 1953. It was published as a full-length novel after 8 more years of work and became an instant success in Great Britain. However, following WWII, many Americans had a euphoric and romanticized view of the war and the military. Most had not witnessed war first-hand and were full of patriotic respect for the US military that had liberated or protected many countries, including America itself, from ruthless aggressors. Few had explored or questioned the impact of war and the military ‘machine’ on those directly under its control and on American society. As a result, it took well over a year for the novel to become widely read in the US, when growing concerns over a war in Vietnam led a new generation facing war to embrace the book’s anti-war theme. The story—as novel, play and movie—offer a significant commentary on an issue that looms very large in the minds and hearts of Americans today. That it would become one of the most praised works of the 20th century never occurred to Heller, who observed, "Everyone in my book accuses everyone else of being crazy. Frankly, I think the whole society is nuts -- and the question is: What does a sane man do in an insane society?"