Joseph Heller Reads, Reflects at Brattle

Joseph Heller, author of the satirical black comedy Catch-22, read excerpts from his newly-published memoirs Now and Then Yesterday at the Brattle Theatre.

Before a crowd of about 200 people, Heller read passages from Now and Then relating to his childhood in Coney Island and his experiences as an aviator stationed in Corsica during World War II.

Heller's wartime experiences contributed greatly to the cynical view he expresses toward authority figures in Catch-22, he said.

Heller read an excerpt describing a mission he flew to Avignon, France, during which his plane came under heavy fire and a crew member was wounded badly.

For the remainder of the war, Heller said he went in the air with the view that the U.S. leadership was trying to kill him.

This same theme pervaded some of Heller's later writing.

"But as you can see," he said, "I'm here now so they haven't succeeded in killing me yet."

After reading from his memoirs, Heller spent about 45 minutes answering audience members' questions about his past as well as his opinion of current events.

After being asked if he had visited the brothels he describes in Catch-22, Heller said he had and spoke fondly of his visits to Rome during the war.

"It was a hedonistic experience--lots of food, lots of girls," Heller said. "Those were the good old days."

When one audience member asked for his opinion of President Bill Clinton's recent scandals, Heller responded, "I haven't had so much fun with the news since [President Gerald] Ford pardoned [President Richard] Nixon."

Dennis L. Rotoli, who drove from Manchester, N.H., to see Heller speak said he was impressed with Heller and was glad to have made the drive.

"He's wonderful; he's not pretentious," Rotoli said. "He's just like his novels--very real."

Benjamin B. Paloff '99, who attended the reading, said he has not read much of Heller's work but likes what he has.

"I'm not as cynical as he is, but I enjoy some intelligent cynicism," Paloff said.

Heller said in the future he expects to be doing what he has done for the past fifty years.

"I will continue writing because, frankly, I haven't much else that gives me pleasure," Heller said. "And I hope I'll be back here when I finish my next book."

Yesterday's reading was sponsored by Wordsworth Books. Wordsworth collected canned food from audience members. The cans will be donated to the Cambridge Food Pantry.