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jonjas 's review for:
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
by Tom Wolfe
Really interesting read if you have interest in Kesey, the Merry Pranksters, the hippy movement in general, but I wish it got more focused instead of less-so in the second half. Wolfe is a great writer and he wanted to try and capture the spirit and the substance (so to speak), the feeling of the hippies, and for large portions of the book it works- he describes what’s actually happening, then throws in some crazed text more indicative of how the feeling might have been- but for the most part actual description/explanation comes first. As it all disintegrates, however, so does the writing- as the movement grows more confused so too does the narrative- and that really might have been intentional. It’s tough to read though, and I would have preferred it just stop at a certain point with Wolfe offering more explanation as to what happened with everyone/what went wrong, etc. Even Wolfe’s own thoughts or reflections would have been appreciated- instead characters just disappear as the song continues on until it just doesn’t, anymore. Matching the mood worked through much of the book, but when the mood turned sour the crazed text just increases when I wish it had taken a step back to explain more. Still a classic, still a great read, just be prepared to skip some bad poetry and stream-of-consciousness stuff.