Now and Then: From Coney Island to Here

If you are like me, you are tempted by autobiographies of writers whose work you love. You hope to get that extra bit of insight that will expand your appreciation of their writing. Usually, these hints come from long passages about writing and inspiration concerning those works. In Now and Then, Mr. Heller is more laconic about that sort of information than many writers are. On the other hand, he is very generous in explaining his personal psychology, demons, work habits, and writing blocks. You will come to appreciate that Mr. Heller is a man beset by some important demons who overcomes them with wry wit that delights almost everyone. The book's weakness is that you will perhaps get more knowledge about Coney Island in the 1930s than you had counted on. If you are from Coney Island, on the other hand, you will revel in all of the myriad details and will want to give this book more than five stars. Mr. Heller takes great pleasure in his success, his career, his recognition, and his accomplishments. He takes equal delight in his ability to use language with precision and erudition. The autobiography allows him plenty of opportunities to focus on all of these pleasing elements. To make this self-indulgence more palatable to the reader, he pokes a bit of fun at himself with gentle irony. But all of this seeming self-indulgence is really procrastination to delay dealing with the painful parts of his life story. His father's death while he was young, and later exposure to the horrors of war in World War II left a deep stamp on his emotional make-up. The book describes an important catharsis as Mr. Heller identifies what he learned from psychoanalysis and the pscyhological testing that his employers applied. His self-descriptions perfectly mirror his characterization of what happened in a typical psychoanalysis session. He would tell witty stories, jokes, and did everything possible to please the analyst . . . so he would not have to focus on the problems that faced him that day. And so the book does the same. I came away with a new appreciation for Mr. Heller after coming to see how much of his great writing and humor serve as his defense against deep emotional wounds. I hope that we can all learn how to cope as well. After you finish this book, think about where you procrastinate. What is it that you are trying to avoid facing about yourself?Tell the truth . . . and make it interesting if you want to help others! You may also help youself.

As a person who also grew up in Coney Island all be it some thirty years after Mr. Heller did, I found this book to be a delight. It was really something to read about some of the people that I knew and some that my parents had told me about, as well. I totally disagree with the premise of some of the other reviewers about Heller not giving insight into how he came about to write such a classic as, "Catch 22". Actually it is in fact the environment, ethnicity and characters of Coney Island of that era that gave him his wonderful wit. I should know I have plenty of them in my immediate family. It was also nice to know that I am not the only one who felt the way that he did about swimming out to the bell buoy. All that aside, the book is very interesting and profound, and definately gives us all an insight into the heart, mind and life experiences of one of Americas great satirical authors.

Although I'm but a visitor in N.Y.C.: Coney Island is my N.Y.C. as well - more than Greenwich Village or Soho, although the beach is actually closed and Luna Park and so don't exist any more! How do I like going around there with Joseph Heller in the past of this neighbourhood

Great book. Provides background on Heller's life. You can see how he based Catch-22 on his real life experiences.

I enjoyed this autobiography immensely. Mr. Heller is warm, kind,and affectionate of the people in his life- half-brother and half-sister and many friends. His memories of Coney Island before WWII are well drawn and memorable. The immediate pre-war period and air force experiences are also well written and engaging. Mr. Heller's voice here is casual, friendly, amusing, and sometimes very funny. This is a wonderful book, totally enjoyable and I encourage Mr. Heller to do another book covering parts of his life not included here.