The Review of Contemporary Fiction

Catch as Catch Can: The Collected Stories and Other Writings by Joseph Heller, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli and Park Bucker
reviewed by Thomas Hove

Joseph Heller. Catch as Catch Can: The Collected Stories and Other Writings. Ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli and Park Bucker. Simon & Schuster, 2003. 333 pp. $25.00.

This volume collects all of the short fiction Joseph Heller published in his lifetime. It also includes five previously unpublished stories, a variety of pieces relating to Catch-22 (1961) and its sequel Closing Time (1994), and some autobiographical reminiscences. Stories like “Castle of Snow,” “World Full of Great Cities,” and “MacAdam’s Log” are certainly interesting documents from Heller’s early career. But his journeyman stories don’t have the manic and darkly humorous style that makes his novels such unique experiences. Bruccoli’s introduction notes that this short fiction emulates the themes and realist techniques of Ernest Hemingway, William Saroyan, John O’Hara, and some of the proletarian writers of the 1940s. Most of these stories play out either during or soon after World War II, and they tend to focus on characters dealing with threats to their masculinity and autonomy. The rest of this collection, as the title suggests, revolves around Catch-22. Compared to Heller’s early efforts, that novel truly does mark a significant turning point in his development—not just in its exuberant style, but in Yossarian’s radically new take on traditional masculine anxieties. Several nonfiction pieces collected here are also of interest for their relation to Catch-22. Among these, the best is Heller’s hilarious reminiscence of his sporadic encounters with Mike Nichols and the others who put Catch-22 on film. As a whole, this collection will most likely appeal to Heller enthusiasts. Since enthusiasts would no doubt appreciate supplementary scholarly, historical, and biographical material, it’s unfortunate that Bruccoli’s introduction is so terse and that much of it merely reproduces large sections from Heller’s 1998 memoir Now and Then. But for anyone who wants to round off their collection of Heller’s works, this volume conveniently fills in some major gaps.