44 What is "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test?"
Description
This article is from the Kool-Aid FAQ, by Paul and Bess Dawson-Schmidt dawsons@visi.com with numerous contributions by others.
44 What is "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test?"
"The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" is a book about author Ken Kesey ("One
Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" etc.), the Merry Pranksters (the band to
later become The Greatful Dead), and assorted other "60s types" going
around in a refurbished school bus and giving people Kool-Aid spiked
with LSD to see how they react. This was in the real early days of the
hippie culture, (1965-66) before LSD was criminalized (in late 1966).
I daresay the publicity people at Kool-Aid were not very happy about
having their product associated with such things. You won't find it in
official company histories.
"The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" was written by Tom Wolfe ("The Right
Stuff") and published in 1968(first edition hardback). Apparently,
Kesey et al. weren't too fond of Wolfe or the book. He seems to have
hung around for a few days and then headed back for the big city, where
they know how to look after guys in white suits.
-David Jones (djones@eng.mc.xerox.com)
-Mats Fjellner (d94-mfj@nada.kth.se)
-Donovan (donovan@misslink.net)
This link will let you see the orginal dust jacket of this book:
Front cover and inside:
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/LeftBank/6558/ekaatfnt.jpg
Back cover and inside:
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/LeftBank/6558/ekaatbck.jpg
Amazingly enough, it is back in print and available from Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0553264915/musicscapeinternA/002
-6409973-2995440
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