CAPITAL®

G•R•I•L•L•E

"We don't have as many choices as

— eve think we have, so things seem to

happen the way they have to happen.
I think people become what they have
to be," Heller says. In his case, a nov-
elist destined to write an American .
classic.
He recalls that the notion for
Catch-22, or more aptly the first sen-
tence of the book, came to him when
e was trying to get to sleep in his
small Manhattan apartment in 1953.
"It was love at first sight. The first
time Yossarian saw the chaplain, he
fell madly in love with him," the
opening line reads. "I don't start my
novels with the subjects, I don't know
what I want to write about. But some-
how lines will come to me, sentences
— most of them don't lead to any-
thing," Heller recalls.
All his works have grown from a
single sentence, he insists. "The sen-
tence dictates the rest," he says.
It took Heller, a methodical writer
who prefers longhand to a computer,
eight years to compete Catch-22.
"Writing anything is a difficult
process for me. It's almost painful.
Conceiving [novels] is easy," he says.
Originally called "Catch-18," the
title was changed before being pub-
lished in 1961 to avoid confusion
with Leon Uris' novel Mila 18. The
book, Heller argues, is probably more
relevant today than it was back in the
'60s, especially with the current politi-
cal climate.
"Societies don't change much.
People don't change much.
g overnments don't change much," he
says.

l

Joseph Heller: A Jewish outlook.

In many respects, Heller shares
much the same attitude as John
Yossarian, the reluctant World War II
bombardier in Catch- 22 who vowed
"to live forever or die in the
attempt."
Heller realizes that he doesn't have
the time or desire for quibbling and
insecurity. This is a man who cherishes
his life and writing, not to mention
good friends, jazz, scotch, a very cold,
very dry martini and food.
"I've never been fussy about what I
ate," Heller says. "I enjoy a hot dog as
much as I enjoy filet mignon or a sir-
loin steak. Sex and food seem to be
what I associate with living."
He admits, however, the he can
come close to being depressed if "I
have nothing to do between books.
I'm fine if I have things to do."
About his Jewish identity, he quotes
Bernard Malamud: "If you forget
you're a Jew, someone else will remind
you.." Although he's not a believer —
"God and I have a covenant. We leave
each other alone" — he admits to
praying to the God he didn't believe in
during his last flying mission in World
War II.
"I have what I think is a Jewish
outlook, a feeling toward children,
self-doubt, self-consciousness and
irony," he says.
So as the 20th century draws to a
close, where will Heller ultimately
rank among fellow novelists?
"I don't know if anybody will be
around to look back in 50 years" and
decide, he laughs. "It doesn't concern
me. I'm more concerned with how
they treat me now ❑

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