| Name: |
Joseph Heller |
| Birth Date: |
|
| Death Date: |
|
| Place of Birth: |
|
| Place of Death: |
|
| Nationality: |
|
| Gender: |
|
| Occupations: |
|
Despite his relatively small output, Joseph Heller is considered a major contemporary author. His reputation rests principally on his first book, the experimental antiwar novel Catch-22, one of the most highly regarded American fictions since mid-century. Heller's work is assigned in college literature courses and has generated a substantial body of scholarly criticism. Catch-22 has been made into a film; Heller appears on television; his novels are offered as book club selections. He is a rarity among writers, having secured both academic acclaim and popular success.
Heller was born to Russian immigrant parents in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, New York, at that time a heavily Jewish enclave. His father, a bakery-truck driver, died after a botched operation when the boy was only five years old. Heller, his older brother, and their mother were left to fend for themselves in the carnival-midway atmosphere of Coney Island. Several critics have suggested that Heller's characteristic mode of cynical, street-wise humor may have been nurtured by these early experiences and surroundings.
This is a free page. This page contains 151 words. This
biography contains 3,259 words (approx. 11 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Biography with our Joseph Heller Access Pass.
