Joseph Heller

[Peter K.]

>I just learned that the great Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22, has died
at
>the age of 76.  Five years ago Heller wrote a sequel to Catch-22, Closing
>Time, that contained one of the best send-ups of plutocratic excess I've
>ever read -- the wedding of uber-entrepreneur Milo Minderbinder's daughter,
>set at a lavishly redecorated Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City.

I thought it was interesting that the only blurb on the back of
Hitchens's recent best-seller, No One Left to Lie To, was by Heller.
"Christopher Hitchens is a remarkable commentator. He jousts
with fraudulence of every stripe and always wins. I regret he has
only one life, one mind, and one reputation to put at the service of
my country."

I wonder how Sid Blumenthal's doing these days. Oh, you don't say. He's
accompanying Clinton on trips to "third way" conferences in Europe?
Must be rough.

Peter K.