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Joseph Heller and the Errors of Comedy: From Heller's Catch-22 to Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man

Ozias, Joseph Eugene
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oduhonors1512648671501957

Abstract Details

2017, Honors Theses, Ohio Dominican University, Honors Theses.
Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 (1961) is so famous that the title has become a part of our everyday speech and is often listed as one of the best American novels of all time. This, of course, is untrue of the six works of fiction that Heller wrote after Catch-22. This project explores Heller’s six works following Catch-22, with a focus on his second novel, Something Happened. This project not only seeks to redeem Heller’s works, discussing them independently of Catch-22 and discovering their individual value, but explains exactly why Heller’s career failed; because he became immediately associated with comedy, and his works, no matter the genre, were advertised as such, his readers never felt as if they had read what they expected to read – and not in a positive, surprising way. After Something Happened, Heller tried to return to comedy, but his audience grew tired of the familiarity very quickly. Understanding why this happened to Heller could help improve the publishing world as a whole and save future authors from failing in the same way.
Kelsey Squire, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Jeremy Glazier, M.F.A. (Other)
30 p.
American Literature; Literature
Joseph; Heller; Joseph Heller; genre; American literature; American; literature; reception; reception study; reception theory; criticism; Catch-22; Something Happened; comedy; marketing; reader-response; new criticism

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Ozias, J. E. (2017). Joseph Heller and the Errors of Comedy: From Heller's Catch-22 to Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man [Electronic thesis or dissertation, Ohio Dominican University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oduhonors1512648671501957

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Ozias, Joseph. Joseph Heller and the Errors of Comedy: From Heller's Catch-22 to Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man. 2017. Ohio Dominican University, Electronic thesis or dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oduhonors1512648671501957.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Ozias, Joseph. "Joseph Heller and the Errors of Comedy: From Heller's Catch-22 to Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man." Electronic thesis or dissertation, Ohio Dominican University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oduhonors1512648671501957

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio Dominican University Honors Theses and OhioLINK.