Franklin Library leather edition of Joseph Heller's "Now and Then: From Coney Island to Here," a limited edition, Illustrated by Period Photographs, Frontispiece by Kirsten Soderlind, one of the SIGNED FIRST EDITION series, PERSONALLY SIGNED by JOSEPH HELLER, published in 1998. This volume includes a 'Special Message' from Kurt Vonnegut.  Bound in blue leather, the book has paper end leaves, satin book marker, acid-free paper, Symth-sewn binding, hubbed spine, gold gilding on three edges---in near FINE condition. Joseph Heller, who lived from 1923 – 1999, was an American satirical novelist, short story writer, and playwright who was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of poor Jewish parents from Russia. In 1942, he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps. Two years later he was sent to the Italian Front, where he flew 60 combat missions. After WW II, Heller completed his MA and taught English at Penn State for a couple of years. "Now and Then" is Heller's 1998 memoir. The first half of the memoir focuses on Heller's childhood in CONEY ISLAND and is, in fact, as much about the place as it is about the man. Heller describes growing up, his mother and half-siblings in a fundamentally safe and fun neighborhood of punch ball, football, amusement parks and Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Stand. Heller describes his early passion for writing and some of the primary school papers that preview his adult fiction. Picking up late in high school, Heller reviews the various jobs he held before enlisting in the Air Force: telegram messenger boy, clerk at an insurance company, and blacksmith's helper in a shipyard. With World War II looming, Heller enlisted in the US Army Air Corps, where he served as a bombardier. Heller describes several of his fellow soldiers and the events that would later become part of "Catch 22." Heller completed his required number of missions, was discharged, and was married to his first wife within five months. Heller describes his early attempts at writing fiction; he reminds the reader of the many prominent American writers who have been unable to support themselves on their words alone. Heller provides interesting details from his own life. 259 pages. I offer Combined shipping.