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Closing Time (Abridged): The Sequel to Catch-22 Audiobook
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(2.01) - 2,444 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Thirty-three years and over ten million copies later...the classic story continues. Yossarian returns -- older, if not wiser -- to face a new foe.
An instant classic when published in 1961, Joseph Heller's Catch-22 still ranks among the funniest -- and most serious -- novels ever written about war. Now Heller has dared to write the sequel to his 10-million copy bestseller, using many of Catch-22's characters to deftly satirize the realities and the myths of America in the half century since they fought World War II.
In Closing Time, a comic masterpiece in its own right, Heller spears the inflated balloons of our national consciousness -- the absurdity of our politics, the decline of society and our great cities, the greed and hypocrisy of our business and culture -- with the same ferocious humor that he used against the conventional view of warfare. Back again are characters familiar from Catch-22, including Yossarian and Milo Minderbinder, the chaplain, and little Sammy Singer, as they come to the end of their lives and the end of the century -- all linked, this time, in uneasy peace and old age...fighting not the Germans, but The End.
Outrageously funny and totally serious, and as brilliant and successful as Catch-22 itself, Closing Time is a fun-house mirror that captures, at once grotesquely and accurately, the truth about ourselves.
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"To anyone who's read the first, which is Heller's Catch-22, read the sequel! It's good."
— Tara (4 out of 5 stars)
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“Contains a richness of tone and of human feeling...Powerful and disturbing.”
— New York Times -
“A summing up by one of the last of the great writers of the Second World War generation;...we can celebrate Catch-22’s anniversary by welcoming Yossarian, Sammy, Milo, Lew, Wintergreen, and Chaplain Tappman even as we take leave of them.”
— New Yorker -
“A lively, brilliant and influential writer’s look back at the 20th-century American culture he has seen.”
— Washington Post -
“Heller is savage as ever, and—particularly in his brutal portrait of the decline of New York City—mournful.”
— Booklist
Closing Time Listener Reviews
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" A great book but a not so great sequel. "
— David, 2/19/2014 -
" A consistently inconsistent book. Sections of great dialogue that evoke its predecessor, followed by many, many pages of rambling near incoherence. Heller pulls it together for the big finish, but it certainly seems like his editors failed him here... "
— Cullen, 2/14/2014 -
" Not nearly as good as catch 22, but still a great read "
— Vijayaraghavan, 2/3/2014 -
" So far I am not disappointed--I thought about Heller when adding to the books I have read--and the bookstore in our little town was going out of business--so I bought Closing Time. Will let you know more as I get further into it--I am now on Chapter 3 with my old friend Youssarian--a much older Youssarian who is insisting he is dieing. Aren't we all dieing? Youssarian does not look to disappoint me from what I have read so far...Finished the book and remained disappointed in the novel. I was so looking forward to this book and I hate I was so disappointed in the novel. "
— Jeanine, 2/3/2014 -
" What the hell? Seriously, what the hell? The book started off with a much different tone than Catch-22. It was much more serious and I wouldn't have minded if it kept that serious tone. The book was interjected with Yossarian craziness, which I didn't mind until it became too ridiculous. As the book progressed, I slowly began to lose track of everything and the characters began to blend together. The beginning of the book held some promise, but by the end, I was very happy to be finished. "
— Natasha, 2/2/2014 -
" Good book, but not as good as Catch. "
— Adam, 1/27/2014 -
" Heller had the daunting task of living up to Catch-22 when he wrote this book. He was essentially competing with himself and I must say he lost -- the second time around. I enjoyed this book but Catch-22 is a far superior book. "
— iram, 1/16/2014 -
" Not as funny as Catch 22 but still entertaining "
— Kristi, 1/13/2014 -
" Sequel to my favorite book of all time. It was enjoyable. Interesting. Fun to revisit these characters, but I don't think it adds much to the original. "
— Kevin, 12/30/2013 -
" Just finished re-reading Catch-22, so decided to follow it with the sequel.. not a good idea. A boring re-hash of some ideas and characters from the original. Perhaps will write more about it later. "
— Jeremy, 8/23/2013 -
" This was very good, but I think I was expecting it to be as good as Catch-22, and it wasn't. "
— Devin, 8/2/2013 -
" Heller spent his genius on Catch-22. You can avoid this and still live a full life. "
— Idaman, 4/19/2013 -
" Ugh... so random.. why even try to relate the characters to Catch-22? Was surprised I got through it. "
— Jarad, 4/12/2013 -
" Se avete amato Comma 22, non leggetelo. E' una delusione immensa. Non sembra neppure lo stesso scrittore. "
— Arwen56, 3/3/2013 -
" Hated it, it does not come close to the awesomeness that is catch 22. "
— Liz, 2/10/2013 -
" Not quite what the prequel (Catch 22) was. Still highly entertaining. "
— Hunter, 10/12/2012 -
" Catch 22 was great, but this isn't that good. Of course absurdal and dark, but I was missing something. Too twisted for me. "
— Anna, 8/31/2012 -
" So painful! I loved Catch-22, but this is nothing like Catch-22. It's boring, tedious, and (except for Gaffney) really unfunny. I plan to forget this book happened as soon as possible. "
— Michael, 8/14/2012 -
" This book was filled with characters I didn't care about who were written poorly. There is a reason for this though, and it's given at the end of the book, but I really didn't like waiting that long to have those terrible characters justified. A poor sequel to an amazing book. "
— Trevor, 4/26/2012 -
" Not so much "The Sequel to Catch-22" as a great companion piece to Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation. No less greatly written than can be expected of Heller, it still could be cut by about 1/3 and retain its integrity as a novel. "
— Jason, 11/28/2011 -
" can't disagree with the commentary on the mindless excesses of late 2oth century materialism but probably only read it all because I had recently given up on a re read of Catch 22 "
— Simon, 11/18/2011 -
" The perfect follow up of Catch-22 and oddly enough, Kurt Vonnigut. "
— Stan, 10/21/2011 -
" Some glorious insights into human nature but never really connects with its Catch 22 predecessor. A good read but not of Catch 22 class. "
— Keiron, 4/24/2011 -
" One of the most disappointing sequels I've ever read. "
— Charley, 1/2/2011 -
" This story gave me the feeling that I had fallen down the rabbit hole and/or that I was dull. It is the sequel to Catch-22 written about 1994. The loss of privacy was a main theme, what would Heller think of 2011? "
— Ct, 1/1/2011 -
" "The Two Jakes" of book sequels. "
— Daniel, 9/8/2010 -
" A mere shadow of the book before it. I'm not sure what Heller was thinking with this one. "
— Brett, 9/6/2010 -
" So painful! I loved Catch-22, but this is nothing like Catch-22. It's boring, tedious, and (except for Gaffney) really unfunny. I plan to forget this book happened as soon as possible. "
— Michael, 8/23/2010 -
" Hit and miss really. Showed flashes of the brilliance of Catch-22 but also dragged along interminably at times. Satisfying return to the characters, but underwhelming overall. "
— Mike, 6/2/2010
About Joseph Heller
Joseph Heller (1923—1999) is the highly acclaimed author of Catch-22, a story loosely based on his own experiences during World War II. A bestseller, instant classic, and later feature film, Catch-22 secured his place in literary history. He later went on to write such novels as Good as Gold; God Knows; Picture This; Closing Time; and Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man.
About Elliott Gould
Stefan Rudnicki first became involved with audiobooks in 1994. Now a Grammy-winning audiobook producer, he has worked on more than three thousand audiobooks as a narrator, writer, producer, or director. He has narrated more than three hundred audiobooks. A recipient of multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards, he was presented the coveted Audie Award for solo narration in 2005, 2007, and 2014, and was named one of AudioFile’s Golden Voices in 2012.