Catch-22 is probably the best book I've ever read.

When I was younger, I remember trying to fall asleep and suddenly hearing my mom laughing hysterically in her bedroom. I slipped out of bed, tiptoed to her room, peeked in, and there was Catch-22 in her hands while she shook with laughter.

And, in the words of Joseph Heller, “It was love at first sight.” For reasons I now know, my mother forbid me from reading the book until I was 16, so naturally, my friend and I bought a copy when I was 14.

This book is amazing. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard. From Orr's apple-cheeks and Hungry Joe's midnight screams, to Colonel Cathcart's obsession with attractive aerial photographs, this story makes me think and laugh hysterically at the same time. Sure, I disagree with the book's view on women, but hey, something's got to give.

Although the crazy antics of Yossarian and his comrades made me shake with laughter, there was a hidden meaning. The solution to Snowden's secret is probably the most obvious and unthinkable to anyone who calls himself or herself a human being. Heller shoves it right in our faces: All men are matter. Not only does Heller prove that all of us will eventually die, he makes us question what insanity really is and if positions of power are what make us who we are and define how sane we are.

I recommend Catch-22 to anyone with a strong stomach and a mind for the most pensive books of the twentieth ­century.