Catch-22
At your speed≈ 9½ hrs
Pages472
Audiobook≈ 15½ hrs
Every reading time on the site updates to your pace. Page counts are an estimate, so treat the hours as a good guide, not a stopwatch.
472 pages works out to roughly 142,000 words. At an average 250 words a minute that is 9½ hrs — a weekend's reading.
Readers on Hardcover rate it 4.03 out of 5, from 1,600 ratings.
Worth-it score 6.6/10 — Worth the time. Readers 6.9 (Hardcover's 4.03★ from 1,600 ratings) − length 0.3 = 6.6. How the score works →
How long does it take to read Catch-22?
Catch-22 is 472 pages, or roughly 142,000 words. How long that takes depends on how fast you read:
| Your pace | Words per minute | Time to finish |
|---|---|---|
| Slow | 175 | 13½ hrs |
| Average | 250 | 9½ hrs |
| Fast | 400 | 6 hrs |
Estimated at about 300 words per page. Most adults read between 200 and 300 words a minute — set your own pace and every time on the site adjusts. Prefer to listen? At a typical narration pace of 150 words a minute the audiobook runs about 15½ hrs — an estimate from the word count, since narrators vary.
Common questions
- How long does it take to read Catch-22?
- About 9½ hrs at an average reading speed of 250 words per minute. Catch-22 runs 472 pages, roughly 142,000 words — so at a slower 175 wpm it is nearer 13½ hrs, and at 400 wpm closer to 6 hrs.
- How many pages is Catch-22?
- 472 pages, which is about 142,000 words and 9½ hrs of reading. Editions vary, so we use the figure two of our sources agree on.
- Is Catch-22 worth reading?
- We score it 6.6 out of 10 for the time it takes — worth the time. Readers on Hardcover rate it 4.03 out of 5 from 1,600 ratings, which counts for 6.9; at about 9½ hrs at an average pace it gives back 0.3 for its length.
- How long is the Catch-22 audiobook?
- About 15½ hrs, estimated from the 142,000 words at a typical narration pace of 150 words a minute. Real editions vary by narrator, usually by well under an hour.
From the publisher
Fifty years after its original publication, Catch-22 remains a cornerstone of American literature and one of the funniest—and most celebrated—books of all time. In recent years it has been named to “best novels” lists by Time, Newsweek, the Modern Library, and the London Observer.
Set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of…
the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy—it is his own army, which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he’s assigned, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes a formal request to be removed from duty, he is proven sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved. This fiftieth-anniversary edition commemorates Joseph Heller’s masterpiece with a new introduction by Christopher Buckley; a wealth of critical essays and reviews by Norman Mailer, Alfred Kazin, Anthony Burgess, and others; rare papers and photos from Joseph Heller’s personal archive; and much more. Here, at last, is the definitive edition of a classic of world literature.
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