by George Giannakos and Robyn Yager | Slowing down a little and breaking out a good book is never a bad idea. But what to read? You could walk into any bookstore and roll the dice on a recent release, but here’s another option: pick up a book that you last put down 5, 10, or 20 years ago. For the next book in Scout’s Read It (Again) series, we’ve picked Joseph Heller’s timeless 1961 World War II novel, Catch 22.

Why You Should Read It Again | Catch-22 is Heller’s masterpiece. The anti-war satire is filled with humour of all sorts – though mainly of the dark and paradoxical type. The story follows the mis-adventures of Yossarian, a bombardier who is constantly forced to fly more missions due to the infamous ‘Catch-22’ while weaving back and forth non-linearly in time through a web of characters and sub-plots that make for an wonderfully entertaining read.

Pair It With | Leading up to your next unanticipated flying assignment, it’s probably best to sip slow from an aptly named Aviation. Made of gin, maraschino, lemon, and liqueur de violette, it’s a drink that’s just as “swift and straining” as each of Yossarian’s flying missions. The chosen venue for this drink is Chinatown’s Mamie Taylor’s. With their modern American provisions and decorations of mortality (taxidermy), it’s just the sort of place the late and cynical Joseph Heller would appreciate.

OTHER CLASSIC PAIRINGS