606. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
Tom Wolfe
1968

Around 420 pages

I loved Bonfire of the Vanities, but I typically don't enjoy drug-fueled romps. I'm not judgmental about all drug use, I just don't find it terribly interesting. It's like getting stuck at the party with the stoned guy and having to listen to him ramble. 

Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters take acid and roam around in a bus called the Furthur. It's pretty creepy to me that this is taking place at the same time as the Manson family. Obviously the groups are very different, but cults of any kind always freak me out. Kesey is idolized in an unsettling way to me. 

So this is interesting from a social history perspective, as we transition from beatniks to hippies. But I imagine many people connect to this novel because they feel disenfranchised and believe Kesey holds some answer key to society's problems. I don't feel that way.

I still think this is an essential read, but not my cup of drug laced Kool-Aid. Some creepy foreshadowing with the Jonestown mass murder.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts: 

Gus Van Sant has said he is working on the film adaptation, but there have been no new reports of the project progressing.

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