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Rating: 
Summary: A beautiful retrospective about a fairytale time.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful retrospective about a fairytale time.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: CREAMY, DREAMY
Review: From the author's point of view the devil's bargain involved in producing a massive, iconic work like Catch 22 precludes literary relaxation. Like it or not, the reader-fanship base will forever be on the lookout for those nuggets of pure genius that enriched, even changed, their lives. But, like it or not, literary relaxation is what Heller delivers in this beautiful, delicate memoir, a book that easily transcends the nostalgic epitaph it might have been and instead, appropriately, resonates like a profound, spiritual coda, inciting the would-be writer. This is mostly about the rites of passage of an average young man, bred averagely in Coney Island in the thirties and forties, growing through the anguish of war to the illuminated empowerment of a life of the imagination. Heller writes with such ease that is surprising to read of his literary failures - and surprising to discover that editor Ron Gottlieb cut 50 pages off the front of Catch 22 before publishing it. There is color and anecdote aplenty, but what prevails is a sense of modesty and curiosity, a delight in humanity and a cast-iron sense of humor. This isn't a "how to" writer's manual, but it has that kind of inspriational energy. It also possesses that leanness of exposition that makes for great American writing - a sinewy, non-adjectival poetry in direct lineage from Mark Twain and far superior to the flowery excesses of comparable contemporary memoirs from the other side of the Atlantic. Poetry it is. Heller's descriptions of Coney Island and New York in the middle century have a creamy, dreamy impact that lingers long after the book is done with. Philosophical musings and self-analysis, scattered like fairy dust, heighten the experience. This is among the best of Heller, written "on spec" (as opposed to by publisher's decree), and vastly the better for that. How beautifully and simply and honestly he wrote! How we miss him!
Rating: 
Summary: Neal Simon did it better
Review: Heller's memoir isn't badly written. It's more that his life is rather dull. Most of the book focuses on his childhood in Coney Island, where he has no bad memories and no exciting ones. The Depression didn't affect him. His father's death didn't affect him. Nothing affected him. And not much happened. As a result, the memoir tends to drag out. Chapters 8 and 9, titled 'Peace' and Psychiatry' respectively, were very good. That's the period of the war and afterward. Those are the chapters that get into his writing, and this is where the memoir picks up (though it drags again in the final chapter, when we go back to Coney Island and more discussion on what happened to the people he grew up with--which is to say, nothing interesting). And there is little insight into Catch-22 (and if you are Joseph Heller, Catch-22 is the most important thing you've done, an instant classic, and what everyone knows you for--there should have been more of a focus on it), which is truly a shame.
Rating: 
Summary: A great memoir, even if it isn't that linear
Review: I bought this book solely on my admiration of Heller's great book Catch-22, and I wanted to find out more background on the guy who wrote this strange and cynical bit of humor. But once I started reading, I got pulled into another realm, the world of Coney Island during the depression, where a fatherless Jewish family struggled to make ends meet while living in the shadows of this wonderland boardwalk and amusement park area. I live near Coney Island, and always wonder about its past, the demographic that lived there and made it mighty, and then watched it coast back down to what it is today. Heller's book is such a wonderful and detailed display of this childhood, that after fifty pages, I didn't even care about what happened to him in the war. This is covered a bit, and he does lay down some interesting facts about how some people and events in Catch-22 really happened. But he doesn't spend that much time on the war, and instead drifts into how his writing career got started, how he worked the chump jobs and waited for the magazines to pay him $10 a story, until he really made it. The book is a bit anticlimactic in the end, especially when you realize Heller is gone now and this is the end of the road. But despite his habit of jumping forward and backward in time (A lot like Catch') I'd call this book a success, although maybe in an area that wasn't as advertized by the jacket or publicity.
Rating:
Summary: A Fine Representation of Heller's Psychology and Style
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Not enough insight into Catch 22
Review: Many years ago I picked up a copy of 'Catch 22' and found myself totally engrossed for a whole weekend. The book was funny, original and unlike anything I have read before or since. I have read this novel no less than 5 times and have been recommending it to people for years.
I picked up Heller's memoir expecting the same witty bizarre writing as that in C22 but alas it was not to be. Quite a lot of Heller's memoir is based around growing up in Coney Island. I would suggest that this section of the memoir would be of interest to people either live or have lived in or around that locale. What I was hoping for was more detail into the events which shaped Heller's views and eventually gave rise to C22. There is some detail of his wartime exploits but it is very quickly skirted over and dosen't leave one any wiser as to how/why Heller developed his bizarre comical view of the world and war as depicted so clearly in C22. Perhaps I do him an injustice with the inevitable comparison but there is little evidence of the witty, clever writing so abundant in C22. In fairness though Heller seems to have been more interested in writing a frank succinct account of his life and times, particularly growing up in Coney Island. Notwithstanding these criticisms Heller does bare his soul here and discusses openly very personal details of his life. There is some sadness . The Father he never knew is an aspect of his life he discusses in great detail. The memoir however ends on a positive note as he reflects on his health, his achievements and his general outlook on life. One is left with the impression of a fundamentally decent guy. Someone whom it would be nice to know and maybe share a beer with.
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