Ken Kesey

Quotes:I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismograph.

Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing.

To hell with facts! We need stories!

There's something about taking a plow and breaking new ground. It gives you energy.

You can't really be strong until you see a funny side to things.

You don't lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case.http://www.brainyquote.com

BackgroundBorn in La Junta, CO on September 17,

1935

Moved to Springfield/Eugene, OR in 1946, attended Springfield High School

Family owned a dairy farm, grew up fishing, hunting, river-rafting

Champion wrestler, “Most Likely to Succeed”

Involved in the arts--theater

Attended U of O, graduated (Journalism) in 1957—sports, fraternity, acting

Married Faye Haxby in 1957 (met in 7th grade) three children, 4th by another

woman

Scholarship to study creative writing at Stanford—connected with Beat

generation, wrote first book (unpublished)

Menlo Park Veteran's Hospital: paid experiments with drugs used in

psychotherapy (led to Cuckoo’s Nest)

http://www.notablebiographies.com/supp/Supplement-Ka-M/Kesey-Ken.html

Ken Kesey:Where the Beat Generation met the

Hippies—said he was too young to be a Beatnik and too old to be a Hippie

While at Stanford, participated in US Army experiments involving

psychedelic drugs (notably LSD)

These tests, along with his interactions with patients and

treatment while working the night shift at the psychiatric ward at Menlo Veteran’s Hospital greatly affected his writing, especially Cuckoo’s Nest

Conceived Chief Broom during peyote hallucination

Wrote much of the book high, edited post-trip

Beat Generation

Post WWII generation—1950sNYC-SF

Experimented/associated with: rejection of materialism

Eastern religionexuberant means of expression,

spontaneous creativitynon-conformity

jazzDrugs

sexual freedom

Major players:Alan Ginsberg

William S. BurroughsJack Kerouac

City Lights Bookstore

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s

NestPublished in 1962—first published novel,

took about 10 months to write

Time Magazine: “A roar of protest against a middlebrow society’s rules and the invisible Rulers who enforce them”

Very successful

Wasserman play hit on Broadway 1963-64

Inspired “Best Picture” winning movie in 1975 starring Jack Nicholson (Kesey not a

fan=sued/settled)

Counter-culture: questioned the powers at be, and societies definitions of “sane”

and “insane”

Cuckoo’s Nest Themes/Central Questions:

What is society and what is its ideal role in our lives?

Is every society equally good for every person?

What do we owe to society?

What is more important, safety or freedom?

What do we, as humans, owe each other?

What is the role of nature in our lives?

What do we lose when we lose touch with nature?

What is manly? Womanly?

What is culture? What is its role in our lives?

How is sanity defined? Who defines it?

How do we recognize and define good and evil?

Cover Art

Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters2nd novel Sometimes a Great Notion

published in 1964

1964—bought a 1939 school bus named it “Further,” decorated with psychedelic

colors, stereos, and traveled cross-country as a group spreading counter-

culture movement —LSD acid tests

Supported the band named Warlocks (later Grateful Dead)

Back in OR, eventually came under fire for drug possession and after second arrest, left for Mexico for 9 months to

avoid jail.

Served less than a year, and then moved to Pleasant Hill, OR with family and

members of Merry Pranksters.

Eventually distanced himself from prankster lifestyle and drug use. http://www.ohs.org/the-oregon-history-project/biographies/Ken-Kesey.cfm

After Acid Tests

Wrote 2 more novels (one a collection of graduate writing from U of O course he

taught) a children’s book, last book Sailor Song in 1992

Smithsonian wanted to obtain “Further” from Kesey’s home (swamp) recognizing

his cultural impact, but didn’t want to pay.

Family man. Grew blueberries, raised sheep, ranched cattle, worked on school boards, helped small businesses, taught writing at U of O, ran a website, edited a magazine (Spit in the Ocean), coached

high school wrestling

Died in 2001