BOOK 99: THE ELECTRIC KOOL-AID ACID
TEST: TOM WOLFE
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is
a nonfiction book by Tom Wolfe
that was published in 1968. The book is remembered today as an early – and
arguably the most popular – example of the growing literary style called New Journalism. Wolfe
presents an as-if-firsthand account of the experiences of Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters, who
traveled across the country in a colorfully painted school bus named "Furthur". Kesey and
the Pranksters became famous for their use of LSD and other psychedelic drugs in hopes
of achieving intersubjectivity.
The book chronicles the Acid Tests
(parties in which LSD-laced Kool-Aid
was used to obtain a communal trip), the group's encounters with (in)famous
figures of the time, including famous authors, Hells Angels, and The Grateful Dead, and it
also describes Kesey's exile to Mexico and his arrests.
No comments:
Post a Comment