''Closing Time'' is a 1994 novel by Joseph Heller, written as a sequel to his popular 1961 novel ''

Catch-22 ''Catch-22'' is a satirical war novel by American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, it uses a distinctive non- ...

''. It takes place in New York City in the 1990s and revisits some characters of the original, including

Yossarian :''Also covered in this article are the characters Snowden and Yossarian's tentmates.'' Capt. John Yossarian is a fictional character, the protagonist of Joseph Heller's satirical 1961 novel ''Catch-22'' and its 1994 sequel '' Closing Time'' ...

Milo Minderbinder First Lieutenant Milo Minderbinder is a fictional character in Joseph Heller's 1961 novel, ''Catch-22''. As the mess officer of Yossarian's squadron, Minderbinder is an entrepreneur during World War II, "perhaps the best known of all fictional bu ...

, and

Chaplain Tappman Chaplain Captain Albert Taylor Tappman (A.T. Tappman) (usually referred to as "the Chaplain") is a fictional character in Joseph Heller's 1961 novel ''Catch-22'' and its 1994 sequel '' Closing Time''. In earlier editions he was called Chaplain Ro ...

. The book has two stories that are interwoven throughout: that of Yossarian in the last stages of his life, and that of Sammy Singer and Lew Rabinowitz, two men from

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the s ...

who also fought in World War II (the Sammy Singer character makes a brief appearance in ''Catch-22'' as the tailgunner aboard Yossarian's bomber who kept waking up and fainting when he saw Yossarian trying to attend to the wounds of Snowden). As with ''Catch-22'', the topic of death is omnipresent, only in this case from usually age-related illnesses, in particular cancer rather than dying in battle, as with its predecessor. One notable inconsistency in the book is that although Yossarian was 28 in ''Catch-22'', which took place in 1944, in ''Closing Time'' Yossarian is 68, and the time of ''Catch-22'' is referred to as "50 years ago". When asked about the inconsistency in an interview with '' The New York Times'', Heller replied, "I know, but I decided to ignore it." There is a man mentioned by Lew named "Vonnegut", whom he met while in Dresden. This is a reference to Kurt Vonnegut's experiences in the

Bombing of Dresden The bombing of Dresden was a joint British and American aerial bombing attack on the city of Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony, during World War II. In four raids between 13 and 15 February 1945, 772 heavy bombers of the Ro ...

and his book '' Slaughterhouse-Five''. A character named Joey Heller is also mentioned who, like the author, was a bombardier during the Second World War and suffers from Guillain–Barré syndrome.

Plot

References

1994 American novels American comedy novels American satirical novels Catch-22 Novels by Joseph Heller Novels set in New York City Sequel novels Simon & Schuster books {{1990s-satirical-novel-stub