Postmodernism / Realism
Show of hands: who knows anything about postmodernism? Anyone?
Yeah, let's review.
One of the hallmarks of postmodernism is fragmentation, and Something Happened is all about fragmentation. We're in Slocum's head the whole time, and Slocum's head can be pretty random. He bounces all over the place in his narration, mixing up stories about the past with stories from the present like it's no big deal. The main plotline is relatively simple, but the presentation of facts in non-linear order is what makes the storytelling so compelling. And so postmodern.
The work is clearly experimental in its presentation of information and key events. However, Something Happened is also pretty realistic, even with all the intrusions from dreamland. The novel is uncomfortably accurate in its depiction of upper-middle-class life in 1960s America. The story explores suburban disillusionment and the meaninglessness of life in corporate America so thoroughly and frighteningly that it might make you squirm a bit. Joseph Heller takes no prisoners here.