CATCH-22 Audiobook By Joseph Heller cover art

CATCH-22

Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection of titles.
Yours as long as you’re a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for $8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

CATCH-22

By: Joseph Heller
Narrated by: Jay O. Sanders
Try Standard free

$8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $26.24

Buy for $26.24

This fiftieth-anniversary edition commemorates Joseph Heller’s masterpiece with a new introduction; critical essays and reviews by Norman Mailer, Alfred Kazin, Anthony Burgess, and others; rare papers and photos; and much more.

Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.

Now a Hulu limited series starring Christopher Abbott, George Clooney, Kyle Chandler, and Hugh Laurie.

Fifty years after its original publication, Catch-22 remains a cornerstone of American literature and one of the funniest—and most celebrated—books of all time. In recent years it has been named to “best novels” lists by Time, Newsweek, the Modern Library, and the London Observer.

Set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy—it is his own army, which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he’s assigned, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes a formal request to be removed from duty, he is proven sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.

This fiftieth-anniversary edition commemorates Joseph Heller’s masterpiece with a new introduction by Christopher Buckley; a wealth of critical essays and reviews by Norman Mailer, Alfred Kazin, Anthony Burgess, and others; rare papers and photos from Joseph Heller’s personal archive; and much more. Here, at last, is the definitive edition of a classic of world literature.
Jewish Heritage Literature & Fiction Funny Satire Literary Fiction Witty Comedy Fiction Dark Humor Classics Genre Fiction

Featured Article: 30+ of the Best Catch-22 Quotes on Power, Faith, and Death


Joseph Heller's 1961 novel Catch-22 is undoubtedly one of the most important literary works of the 20th century. Set during World War II, the novel mostly concerns the actions of Captain John Yossarian and his comrades in the fictional 256th US Army Air Squadron. Heller explores many hefty themes, which, along with Heller's sharp, observant, and lyrical prose, make the book fertile ground for thought-provoking discussions and memorable quotes.

Satirical Humor • Memorable Characters • Absurd Situations • Thought-provoking Themes • Clever Dialogue

Highly rated for:

All stars
Most relevant
Full day of Abbot & Castello meets MASH. Funny moments, but it can get old quick.

Full day of Abbot & Castello meets MASH

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

First, if you like smart, satirical humor, you can do no better than this book. It is hilarious!!

Next, this is hands down the best narrator performance I’ve ever heard. Sanders does amazing. In fact, he’s the reason I decided to write this review. I almost never write reviews for anything, but his performance was simply exemplary.

Best Audiobook Performance Ever

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This is a great story and a terrible one. I loved it and I hated it. I was inspired and discouraged at the same time.

Classic yet timeless

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

STARTLED - and wincing in pain, you frantically scratch your second pair of wireless earbuds free from your throbbing ears..
into the hot tub water.

The passage was something like this:

"OH! GOD! OH GOD-OH GOD-OH GOD!!
...he said, in a barely audible whisper"

Ironically, incompetency indicates a lack of the faculty to identify its presence.

Dear Narrator,
They're called exclamation marks, my good man. Screamation marks are something else, entirely, and have a peculiar tendency to not exist.

Ivy Leage Comedy - G.E.D. Narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I hate it when readers decide to mumble or scream. Accents are fine, but "realism" isn't worth not being able to hear the words or having to tear off my headphones in pain.

good story, awful reading

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews