Yossarian Slept Here: When Joseph Heller Was Dad, the Apthorp Was Home, and Life Was a Catch-22

Written by Erica Heller

Narrated by Karen White

Like his most famous work, Joseph Heller was a study in contradictions: eccentric, brilliant, and voracious, but also mercurial, competitive, and stubborn, with a love of mischief that sometimes cut too close to the bone.

Yossarian Slept Here is a daughter's mordantly funny, poignant, and incisive memoir about growing up Heller-from her colorful family members and her parents' passionate and tumultuous 38-year marriage, to her father's celebrity friends and the family's eccentric neighbors in New York City's historic Apthorp apartment building. Mel Brooks, Zero Mostel, and Mario Puzo were close confidantes of Joe; George Balanchine, Sidney Poitier, and Lena Horne shared the elevator. This authentic and vibrant portrait of life in the Heller household unfolds alongside the saga of the family's move into four distinctive apartments within the Apthorp, each representing a different phase of their lives together-and apart. It is a story about achieving a dream, about fame and its aftermath, about lasting love, squandered opportunities and how to have the best meal in Chinatown.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Sep 27, 2011
• ISBN: 9781452674537

Erica Heller

Erica Heller is the daughter of Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22. An advertising copywriter, creative consultant, and novelist, her work has appeared in the New York Observer and on The Huffington Post. She lives in New York City.

Reviews for Yossarian Slept Here

[thomas_cannon-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great book. Erica gave a lot of insights into the man and author. She related some crazy and sad things about her dad that I almost wish I didn't know.

[robreads · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

A disjointed, disorganized series of anecdotes about her father. A good editor would have helped the author introduce characters three chapters before she started tossing their names around, not three chapters after, and would have helped her understand the difference between "complimentary" and "complementary." Why don't publishers invest in their products?

[Edward L. Singer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It delivers a well-rounded, profoundly honest account of the lives of the Hellers!

[thomas.cannon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great book. Erica gave a lot of insights into the man and author. She related some crazy and sad things about her dad that I almost wish I didn't know.

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Adult nonfiction; biographical essays. Joseph's daughter is a good writer, but the book is better if you read it as a collection of essays (as in, pick selections but don't bother to read straight through) rather than a narrative biography. I ended up skipping a bunch of "chapters" towards the end because the thing just went on and on, seemingly without any sort of direction. Perhaps it would be better if read a chapter or so at a time, as if Erica is sharing one anecdote at a time over the course of many, many, many conversations, rather than a whole pile of anecdotes digested over 3 or four sittings.