A cult classic, Catch-22 is also considered a classic in American literature. It tells the story of Captain John Yossarian, bombardier in the U.S. Army Air Force in the Second World War. Yossarian sees himself as one powerless man in an overpoweringly insane situation. Heller himself was a bombardier for the U.S. Army in the Second World War, flying in combat over Italy. He flew 60 missions before he was discharged as a lieutenant at the end of the war. After the war, Heller took a job as a copywriter for a small New York advertising agency. In 1953 he started working on Catch-22 --which he didn't complete until 1961. Th