Acid Christ

Book excerpt: Following the leader of the notorious "Merry Pranksters" from his birth in Colorado to his literary success and the cross-country journey that inspired the "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test," this candid biography chronicles the life and times of 1960s cultural icon Ken Kesey. Presenting an incisive analysis of the author who described himself as "too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a hippie,” this account conducts a mesmerizing journey from author Mark Christensen's point of view, who grew up in Southern California and migrated to Oregon to be part of the Kesey "flock." From interviews with family members and those within his inner circle, this exploration reveals the bestselling author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in his many forms, placing him within the framework of his time, his generation, and the zeitgeist of the psychedelic era.