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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
I am devastated that I missed the wildest parts of the 60s and 70s. This book let me live in them for a little while without compromising my mental health.
I didn't find much interest in the twin themes of this book (1. people did drugs in the 1960s and 2. Tom Wolfe is really cool). Of course, if you're interested in reading people's ramblings about their drug experiences, or are wondering how impressed Tom Wolfe is with himself, this might be the book for you. As for me, call me a prude, but putting ::::four colons:::: before and after groups of words and adding lots of ellipsis...and italics...doesn't make a story profound
Found Sandy’s thoughts and distress particularly intriguing. Kesey and Babbs must have been a hell of a lot of fun/stress to be around
I love books from this time period. I love Beatnik literature. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is unique amongst these to say the least. It is somewhat a non-fiction account of Ken Kesey and his merry band of pranksters. I say somewhat because Tom Wolfe has said he compiled most of these stories through interviews with the people who were there, which seems extremely unreliable. Interspersed through these stories are recounted acid trips and poems and philosophy of people who were clearly out of their minds when they were being interviewed. It is very entertaining and interesting. Although it is largely about Ken Kesey, almost every big name in the beatnik scene makes an appearance in this book. At times I felt like I was reading a sequel to [b:On the Road|70401|On the Road|Jack Kerouac|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1413588576s/70401.jpg|1701188] because Neal Cassady was (to my surprise) a pretty big member of the pranksters. I highly recommend this to anyone familiar with the hippie culture of the 60's or who likes to read about psychedelic drugs. If you are not one of those people I don't think you'd gain anything from reading this. It is not a book for everyone.
Spoiler
and I'll even admit that I like reading about psychedelic drugs
felt like I was on acid reading this. very good book but slightly confusing but I think that’s what I was supposed to feel. the ending came as a shock but mostly bc kesey or somebody didn’t die
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
informative
i wanted to like this but unfortunately it seems i am off the bus
Traversing the nation with the Merry Pranksters as they “transcended the bullshit” felt like a hellacious hallucination, but I love reading about 60s counterculture. I can’t say I was a huge fan of this particular story, mostly due to that pompous ass Ken Kesey, but Wolfe’s writing is mesmerizing. The audio is fabulous.