Joseph Heller is, of course, famous for his first novel, Catch-22, by now an acknowledged American classic whose title has entered the language.
But, although a slow and not prolific writer, Heller produced a half-dozen other novels, as well as short stories, plays, and an autobiographical account of his battle with Guillain-Barré Syndrome. None of these works are inconsiderable, yet few get much critical comment. Probably they suffer in the shadow of the reputation of his initial, signature work.
Lately I've been reading Picture This, something between a novel and a commentary on human history, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in a thought-provoking and smile-provoking excursion in reading.
Heller was America's Anatole France. France is another writer too little read today, the most recent of the trinity of great satirists the nation bearing his surname produced, following Voltaire and Hugo. He had the facility of producing acid stilleto stabs at hypocrisy with a quiet smile. Heller follows in that tradition.
Picture This is a whimsical, but well-researched, excursion into the world of Rembrandt, during the peak of Dutch commercialism in the 17th century, and by time amalgam, into the Ancient Greek world of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. It was published in 1988. It is filled with acerbic comments that accurately describe the economic debacle that slammed the world twenty years later, things like:
With the invention of money by the Lydians in the seventh century before Christ the possibility of profit spread, and as soon as there was profit, there were people who wanted to make it, more than they wanted to make anything else . . . Whenever there is more money than products to buy with money, much money will be spent to buy more money.
Heller was a unique, iconoclastic force in the American fiction tradition of the 20th century.
caw
But, although a slow and not prolific writer, Heller produced a half-dozen other novels, as well as short stories, plays, and an autobiographical account of his battle with Guillain-Barré Syndrome. None of these works are inconsiderable, yet few get much critical comment. Probably they suffer in the shadow of the reputation of his initial, signature work.
Lately I've been reading Picture This, something between a novel and a commentary on human history, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in a thought-provoking and smile-provoking excursion in reading.
Heller was America's Anatole France. France is another writer too little read today, the most recent of the trinity of great satirists the nation bearing his surname produced, following Voltaire and Hugo. He had the facility of producing acid stilleto stabs at hypocrisy with a quiet smile. Heller follows in that tradition.
Picture This is a whimsical, but well-researched, excursion into the world of Rembrandt, during the peak of Dutch commercialism in the 17th century, and by time amalgam, into the Ancient Greek world of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. It was published in 1988. It is filled with acerbic comments that accurately describe the economic debacle that slammed the world twenty years later, things like:
With the invention of money by the Lydians in the seventh century before Christ the possibility of profit spread, and as soon as there was profit, there were people who wanted to make it, more than they wanted to make anything else . . . Whenever there is more money than products to buy with money, much money will be spent to buy more money.
Heller was a unique, iconoclastic force in the American fiction tradition of the 20th century.
caw