- Unknown Binding: 416 pages
- Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1973)
- Language English
- ASIN: B0007DWZOO
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've savored just about every word this man's ever written. I still vividly recall him at a lecture he gave in Berkley in 1972 standing at the lectern in his white Gatsby suit, starched pink shirt and nattily knotted tie. I can't recall the ostensible topic. He covered so much ground and had such a wealth of ideas and insights that the topic was irrelevent anyway. He's always been our keenest observer of American culture, on subjects ranging from hippies, art snobs, wall street, the space race, to the Southern nouveau-riches.
In terms of unadulterated reading enjoyment, however, this book is still my favorite. He captures the era perfectly. This was the period in the mid-sixties when the hippie philosophy and lifestyle was still genuine, before it had become commercially exploited by the mass media, before Manson and Altamont and the seeds of evil. It was an uncorrupted, pure, joyous movement and moment. Owsley was the bay area chemist who produced hits of Sandoz-quality acid that sent the children out dancing blissfully through the night and into the purple dawn. It truly looked like a brave new world. If you are young and can't undertand why former hippies wax nostalgic about it, it's primarily (at least to me) because that tiny era of innocence can never be recreated.
In terms of unadulterated reading enjoyment, however, this book is still my favorite. He captures the era perfectly. This was the period in the mid-sixties when the hippie philosophy and lifestyle was still genuine, before it had become commercially exploited by the mass media, before Manson and Altamont and the seeds of evil. It was an uncorrupted, pure, joyous movement and moment. Owsley was the bay area chemist who produced hits of Sandoz-quality acid that sent the children out dancing blissfully through the night and into the purple dawn. It truly looked like a brave new world. If you are young and can't undertand why former hippies wax nostalgic about it, it's primarily (at least to me) because that tiny era of innocence can never be recreated.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As somebody slightly obsessed with the major happenings of the sixties, but who missed the period by a good 10 years, I found this book compelling. I've heard stories for years by old hippies about their crazy travels, but nothing as lucid as Wolfe's excellent commentary on the Merry Pranksters. Kesey is painted as a zarathustra-esque messiah of hippiedom, leading his dedicated crew of followers into an awesome social experiment.....and not with small thanks to a little LSD! Slightly crazy, slightly dark at times, frequently funny, constantly fascinating. Wolfe seems to capture the idealistic notions of the pranksters' attempts to subvert society perfectly; as a reader you're literally bumping around the back of the bus with them. Oh for a big psychedelic school-bus!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ken Keysey is a myth in his own time. The author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest, the guru of LSD culture as the more gritty and real reflection of Timothy Leary (or I should rather say Leary was Keysey's reflection).
Given this, it is only right that he should be the central subject of a book written about this culture and time, which is in essence what the Electric Kool-aid Acid Test is.
This account describes the rise and fall of LSD culture from the early 1960s. Tom Wolfe, a prominent journalist of the time documents Keyseys journey from his early involvement in official LSD experiments and his establishment of an LSD community whose primary aim was to seek enlightenment using LSD as a tool, to Keysey's ultimate rejection of LSD.
This book is a testament to the charisma and strength of Keysey's character in his ability to lead his merry bunch through their escapades across America, outraging the local conservatives in doing so. Keysey's will and skill is put to the test from such tasks as wooing the cultural intelligentia of the day to the altogether more hazardous pursuit of entertaining the Hell's Angels.
There are some excellent scenes in the book, for example incorporating the person on whom Kerouac's "On The Road" hero Moriarty, is based upon, and also a description of the meeting between Keysey and Kerouac, where the egos of the two appear to clash in a "this town ain't big enough for two intellectual authors"-type scene.
My only criticism is that Wolfe sometimes appears a little star-struck by Keysey, who is clearly highly seductive. However, he manages to maintain enough objectivity to make this book a fascinating description of the culture and politics of the 1960's, as told through the inspiring anti-convention adventures and escapades of Keysey and his disciples. I cannot but give this book 5 stars as an account of the truth behind the pop myth of the 1960's psychedelic revolution.
Given this, it is only right that he should be the central subject of a book written about this culture and time, which is in essence what the Electric Kool-aid Acid Test is.
This account describes the rise and fall of LSD culture from the early 1960s. Tom Wolfe, a prominent journalist of the time documents Keyseys journey from his early involvement in official LSD experiments and his establishment of an LSD community whose primary aim was to seek enlightenment using LSD as a tool, to Keysey's ultimate rejection of LSD.
This book is a testament to the charisma and strength of Keysey's character in his ability to lead his merry bunch through their escapades across America, outraging the local conservatives in doing so. Keysey's will and skill is put to the test from such tasks as wooing the cultural intelligentia of the day to the altogether more hazardous pursuit of entertaining the Hell's Angels.
There are some excellent scenes in the book, for example incorporating the person on whom Kerouac's "On The Road" hero Moriarty, is based upon, and also a description of the meeting between Keysey and Kerouac, where the egos of the two appear to clash in a "this town ain't big enough for two intellectual authors"-type scene.
My only criticism is that Wolfe sometimes appears a little star-struck by Keysey, who is clearly highly seductive. However, he manages to maintain enough objectivity to make this book a fascinating description of the culture and politics of the 1960's, as told through the inspiring anti-convention adventures and escapades of Keysey and his disciples. I cannot but give this book 5 stars as an account of the truth behind the pop myth of the 1960's psychedelic revolution.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The definative title on the counterculture
There is little i can say that has not een said already aout Woolfe's classic tales of Ken Kesey any his merry band of pranksters, So i will instead share its effect on the... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Stalepixel
Self indulgent trip
Overrated, over hyped, self indulgent and badly written. This is a difficult book to get to the end of. Read more
Published 10 months ago by M. Daly
Thanks very much
Id just like to thank you for the book "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" I really enjoyed it, its a shame you got rid of the book, I received it very quickly and I appreciated your... Read more
Published 12 months ago by James
Electric Kool Aid
Ken Kesey is one of the most interesting people from the sixties without a shadow of a doubt. After getting the money from his book "one flew over the cuckoo's nest", he and his... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Rockywhitt
Has not aged well over the years.
Once upon a psychedelic time this was one of the best reads around and no doubt there are some who would say it still is. Read more
Published 22 months ago by ANITA
Groovy baby
To me this is the definitive guide to the start of psychedelic hippy culture and makes an excellent read for those with an interest in the history of youth culture. Read more
Published on 7 Sep 2009 by nicholas hargreaves
Excellent account of psychedelic outlaw underculture in the '60s
Ken Keysey is a myth in his own time. The author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest, the guru of LSD culture as the more gritty and real reflection of Timothy Leary (or I should... Read more
Published on 15 Nov 2007 by Talc Demon
Not only a great read but also a great reference work of the era
Where did the saying "You're either on the bus or you're off the bus" come from ?
Who were the real people in Kerouac's On The Road ? Read more
Who were the real people in Kerouac's On The Road ? Read more
Published on 13 Aug 2007 by Greysuit
Excellent account of psychedelic outlaw underculture in the '60s
Ken Keysey is a myth in his own time. The author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest, the guru of LSD culture as the more gritty and real reflection of Timothy Leary (or I should... Read more
Published on 19 Feb 2007 by Talc Demon
The true identity of the sixties
The True Identity Of The Sixties
By:Brittany Wankowski
By:Brittany Wankowski
Reading Tom Wolfe’s “The electric Kool-aid acid test” is a true experience. Read more
Published on 7 May 2003 by brittany Wankowski
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