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Let us face it: there's a whole lot about this crazy merry-go-round that we call life which may give us the impression that we've taken a couple too many mad pills. So here is the real question: what do you do about that atmosphere? Well, if you're Joseph Heller, you compose Catch-22, one of the most influential books of all time and a powerful indictment of humankind's most mad practice: warfare.

The book--Heller's most famous by far--was printed in 1961, at a time when America was between 2 of its messiest wars. The novel looks back in World War II, but in lots of ways it expects the anti-war motion as U.S. participation in Vietnam began to ramp up.

While many people could think about him as a hero because of his courageous service, Yossarian sees past all the pomp and patriotism and knows war as something else completely: utter madness.

The book condemns both warfare itself as well as the powers which execute this systematic carnage. It is famed for the satirical tone, fractured storyline, and linguistic yells--all of which signify the nonsensical nature of the military company which has Yossarian feeling hopelessly stuck. And that phrase--hopelessly stuck--pretty much sums up the entire novel. These boys, as the name suggests, are at a classic catch-22.

That is a term we use to describe a situation where there is not any way out, and--what do you know? From the story, Yossarian and his fellow pilots are made to follow crazy orders to demonstrate their sanity. Obviously, should they deny these orders, then they can be deemed "mad"--that, really, is the sanest position to take.

If this sounds a little difficult to follow, it is because, well, war is the greatest destruction of logic. This book has won innumerable accolades because of its capacity to drive that point home. But don't take our word for this. Given its cultural significance, leaving this book off your reading list could only be... crazy.

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