Readers who delighted in Heller's verbal wit and exposure of bureaucratic absurdities in Catch-22 may be disappointed in Something Happened.

Often animated debate results between those who find reading the over five hundred-page pessimistic novel an exercise in tedium and those who view the book as a penetratingly accurate capturing of the stultifying routines of middle-class life and a brilliant rendering of psychic disintegration. Discussion groups may also consider whether they find successful Heller's use of a first person monologue.

Discussion of this novel make take a personal turn as participants compare Heller's depiction to their own experiences and perceptions of the corporate world and family life, especially the changing dynamics between husband and wife, parents and children as time passes.

1. Some reviewers complained that in Something Happened, nothing happens. Is that complaint fair?

2. Does Bob Slocum seem a reliable or unreliable narrator? Does his paranoia...