There was only one catch, and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he were sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to.
Catch -22 is 50 years old this year. It should have been called Catch-18 but the publishers asked Heller to change the number to avoid confusion with another war novel out that year, Mila 18 by Leon Uris. Heller suggested Catch-11 but because Rat Pack film Ocean's 11 was still in cinema's that wouldn't do either. Catch-17 was Heller's next offer. But no, that could confused with Staleg 17, which was also about American airmen in the Second World War. Catch-14? The publisher thought 14 wasn't a 'funny number'. They eventually settled on Catch-22, Heller liked the repetition of '2' because it gave a sense of deja vu, rather like events in his novel.
Catch-22 might have been fifth choice, but that didn't stop it entering the English language to describe any absurd choice or no-win situation. Neither did it stop it becoming a classic.
The above is adapted from a piece in Shortlist magazine whici I enjoyed. If the information is correct I'm possibly guilty of plagiarism, if it is incorrect I'm more likely to get away with it but what's better - it's a catch-22 situation.
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