Grand man of letters: Tracy Daugherty celebrates Joseph Heller and 'Catch-22'

GRAND MAN OF LETTERS: Tracy Daugherty celebrates Joseph Heller and Catch-22.

Heller survived both traumas and eventually remarried, living the remainder of his life in East Hampton, frequenting, for a time, what he called “Gatsby parties.” Here, in this last glimpse of the grand man of letters, he becomes the defining American writer once more, transcending genres, the way Catch-22 transcended, transformed, and forever refashioned war stories. He lives out his life among the pages of arguably our country’s greatest single novel, gazing, like Nick Carraway, at the late-evening sea as boats beat against the current along the continent’s wild, fresh edge. In reading Heller’s vivid, wry, and hilarious accounts of his generation, and in following the various genres of his life as he tried to stay one step ahead of the dark angels, we may, like Nick, like the Great American Novelists, “come face to face … with something commensurate to [our American] capacity for wonder.”

You might recall that I posted a link to Daugherty's recent piece on Heller for Vanity Fair, which was also a good (albeit longer) celebration of Heller's life and achievements. Incase you're wondering (as explained in both articles), the attention on the writer is due to Catch-22's fiftieth anniversary.