Most of the surface humor is contradiction and subversion of expectations (and remains wonderful), but the deeper humor and satire is biting. I am catching more of the second on my third journey through. The volume of the surface humor dips precipitously at the 25% mark and the deeper humor and satire moves in. However, the author does a deft job of slowly turning the knobs for impact. 
 I am still unclear as to the purpose of the non-linearity of the plot (is it supposed to be more hallucinatory dreamlike?) and it still drags in places, but I appreciate the whole package a lot more. The audiobook really helped me make it through the third time, as I stopped in the middle of my second read when I ran out of funny parts I remembered and was looking forward to. 
 The chapter on Milo Minderbinder is a scathing indictment of rampant industrial war capitalism. The chapter on the psychologist is an indictment of psychology, particularly poking holes in Freudian logic. But the book could have been tightened up without some of these sidebars. I did appreciate Heller's occasional drift into high prose and describing the dark places that our characters were walking through (literally and figuratively).