American · 1923–1999
Joseph Heller published "Catch-22" in 1961 and gave the English language a new term for impossible situations. The American author's satire of World War Two bureaucracy created a style of absurdist comedy that influenced everything from "M*A*S*H" to "The Office." Heller wrote other novels, none matching his debut's impact. He once told a critic that he'd never written anything as good as "Catch-22"; the critic replied, "Who has?"