Closing Time (novel)

Closing Time follows John Yossarian of Catch-22, now an elderly man living in late 20th-century New York City, as he confronts old age, illness, and the absurdities of modern life. Yossarian, once a rebellious bombardier in Catch-22, has become a well-paid consultant for a major defense contractor but remains deeply cynical about the world and about his country. He stays mostly in the hospital, where he is found to be perfectly healthy, but stays there anyway. Milo Minderbinder and ex-PFC Wintergreen make appearances as defense contractors, as does Chaplain Tappman, who is retired. Yossarian finds himself drawn into a secretive and sinister government project involving underground survival bunkers. Yossarian becomes increasingly paranoid about the project, realizing that those in power have prepared for their own survival while leaving the rest of society to fend for itself. Despite his misgivings, he is unable to extricate himself from the system he despises. == Reception ==

The American review magazine Kirkus said, "Heller has written a sequel to a novel that needed no sequel", and "Heller spends most of the time kvetching about getting old and dying. Hardly any of the old, interesting characters make appearances ...The only connection to the original is that in a few places Heller sets up similar situations and dialogue to show that capitalism and the military mindset are still the same". Furthermore, Heller was "beating a very tired horse." ==References==