In 1961, the New York Times was a newspaper with eight columns. And on November 11 of that year, one day after the official publication date of Catch-22, the page with the book review carried an unusual advertisement that ran from top to bottom and was five columns wide. To the eye the effect was stupendous. The book review that day, of a work by some-body else, was squeezed aside to the fold of the page, as were the crossword puzzle and all else. The ad had this caption:WHAT'S THE CATCH? And displayed at the top in sil-houette was the comic cartoon of a uniformed figure in flight,glancing off to the side at some unspecified danger with an expression of panic.

Set in the closing months of World War II in an American bomber squadron off the coast of Italy, Catch-22 is the story of a bombardier named Yossarian who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he has never even met keep trying to kill him.

Joseph Heller's hilarious and tragic satire on military madness was adapted into a film in 1970. Directed/by Mike Nichols, the film starred Alan Arkin as Yossarian and featured Art Garfunkel,Jon Voight, Martin Sheen and Orson Welles.