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Was Joseph working title for Catch-22 actually Catch-18?

Yes, you're right! The working title for Joseph Heller's "Catch-22" was indeed Catch-18.

He changed the title to Catch-22 after another novel with a similar number in the title, "Catch-18," was published before his book.

There's a fun story behind this. Heller reportedly chose the title "Catch-18" because he thought it was a good, attention-grabbing title. He even went so far as to design the book jacket with the title "Catch-18." However, he found out that a book by the same name had been published by another author.

To avoid confusion, Heller changed the title to "Catch-22," which he thought still had the same ironic and absurd feel. He didn't want to change the number altogether, so he went with a different number that was just as nonsensical and symbolic.

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