Heller’s 2nd novel, after CATCH-22,
and it’s a stunner. As good as, and probably
better, than 22. A novel about big-city corporate & suburban
home life, keeping up w/ the Smiths & Joneses and getting laid in the late
60s and early 70s of consumerist America, but its basic conceits are all still
pretty true today.
It’s funny, pissed-off,
paranoid, neurotic, ugly, sexually insecure, misogynistic, regretful,
self-loathing, narcissistic, perceptive, obtuse, bitter, jealous, petty and
vicious, frequently all at once.
It’s dense and it’s
layered and it’s pretty straightforward.
Bought my beat-up
paperback copy for a quarter at a yard sale 25 years ago, I still have it today. Worth every penny.
For me, Heller seemed to shoot his wad after these first 2 behemoths of awesomeness. Nothing I read by him after managed to hold my interest. Oh well.
some excellent reviews and thoughts on the book:
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