The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (The Sixties in America)
At a glance:
- Author: Tom Wolfe
- First Published: 1968
- Type of Work: New Journalism
- Genres: Nonfiction, New Journalism
- Subjects: 1960’s, Literature, Manners or customs, Social life, Drugs, Youth, Popular culture, Biography
The Work
Tom Wolfe characterizes Ken Kesey, acclaimed author of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest(1962) and Sometimes a Great Notion (1964), as one of millions of post-World War II “superkids” living out the American Dream of power, possibility, and immunity from inhibiting obstacles. Portrayed as a modern pioneer exploring inner space through psychedelic drugs, Kesey first took LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide, or acid) as a volunteer for government drug experiments in 1959 while studying creative writing at Stanford University. For Kesey, LSD was a religious...
[The entire page is 659 words long]
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