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by Patricia Chapman Meder.
Softcover (6.0×9.0 inches). 240 pages. 2022.
Subtitle: The Real Men and Missions of Joseph Heller’s 340th Bomb Group in World War II
Catch-22 is one of the many books foisted upon high school teenagers in the name of literature classes. Of Mice and Men. To Kill a Mockingbird. Flowers for Algernon. Don’t even get me started on Shakespeare.
The problem with such great literature is that teenagers, or at least this teenager back in the day, held a complete disinterest in such subjects. What makes sense to an adult makes little sense to a teenager.
In any case, this true story offers the historical basis for the novel by following the 340th Bomb Group in Italy through its missions and the men who flew them or ground crew who took care of the aircraft. Specific historical men and missions are linked to specific characters and events in the novel.
A possible typo: “working lightly delivering telegrams” (p39) is likely “working nightly.”
A greater typo: Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese on “December 7, 1942” (p101) should be 1941.
In the Appendix, the full mission booklet of pilot George Wells is transcribed with all 102 missions he flew. That’s not a typo: 102 missions.
The book contains 106 black and white photos, two black and white maps, and four black and white illustrations.
To be fair, I still do not enjoy reading Shakespeare, but I rather enjoy attending live theater productions and watching movies of the plays that use original language (sorry “modern” adaptations). As for Catch-22 and other classic literature, maybe, but doubtful, that I will pick them up again. I have too many other books I want to read.
As for this history of the 340th BG, some anecdotes are repeated a number of times, but other than that, it’s clean prose by someone more familiar with the novel than I.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
