Comic novelist and critic, Paul McDonald, provides an accessible, revealing guide to Joseph Heller's seminal anti-war novel, Catch-22. McDonald succinctly contextualises the book both in relation to the author's life, and key developments in modern American literature. The book offers a thorough summary and analysis of the plot, addresses important characters such as Colonel Cathcart, Milo Minderbinder, Major Major, and Doc Daneeka, and explains the various ways in which Yossarian's hilarious predicament has been interpreted. Among other things it considers Yossarian's status as a mythic...