The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

Rating:
Summary: Acid Test a trip, lesson in literary genius
Review: Let me preface this review by saying I was not alive in the 60's, and I never talked to my parents about their experiences, yet through this book, I feel as though I shared in the madness that were the Acid Tests. Tom Wolfe's masterpiece "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test," is an absolutely amazing book written about a group of Hippies hell-bent on spreading they're organized chaos throughout the nation. Apart from the subject matter (which I'll get to) this book is as well written as you could imagine. Somehow, Wolfe captured the experiences of the Merry Pranksters with his writing style. His use of the elipses (...), run on sentances, and his insightful commentary actually puts the reader into this experience. The experience itself is a whirlwind journey accross the US, in a cloud of pot-smoke, a rush of speed and a series of mescaline and lsd induced hallucinations. All the while, this seemingly nonsensical journey is carefully laid out as only Wolfe could have done. To read a book about 15 men and women that travel the nation not knowing right from left, Wolfe explains everything in stunning imagery and intense detail. Whether or not you approve or liked the hippies movement, and even if your offended by drug related subject matter, you should read this book. As a purely literary work, it's easily top 10, and as a story of the acid movement and a historical look at the 60's, there's none better.

Rating:
Summary: Testing the electric Kool-aid acid test
Review: Trying to sum up The Electric Kool-Acid Test. By Tom Wolfe, in one word is impossible. So I won't try. This enticing piece of literary journalism dives into the counter-cultural upheavals that were the 60's. It follows Ken Kesey and his merry band of pranksters as they travel across the United States, and parts of Mexico, spreading self-awareness, as well as a good deal of hallucinogenic drugs. Their efforts were aimed to shake the roots of conformist, consumerist society to its core and understand the purpose of human existence along the way. In effect "transcending the bull****", that is a stereotypical existence. They were a group devoted to the "here and now" and. Along the path they meet with the likes of Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead, Thomas Leary, and the police. This book details their journey, it drags you through the ocean of this decade and pulls you out, wet, but better informed about what lies at the bottom of the sea.
Some contend that this is a muddled account of the era, one with too many characters and not enough plot, that the details are superfluous and that in the end it fails to convey the true spirit of the times. Sadly, they are wrong.
This diary of history is outstanding not only in literary technique, but also because it recognizes an elemental theme of American culture; change. It is "our strange and haunting paradox in America- that we are fixed and certain only when we are in movement", as stated by Tom Wolfe. The Acid Test records these movements and sets them in stone for future generations to look back upon, and expand upon. His insight into sociological trends is wisdom for generations to come. It parallels the counter-cultural movements of the 60's: the Psychedelic movement, the Free love movement, the summer of love, the rebellion of youth against authority and conformity, the beat generation. Here is an essential key to understanding not only the past, but modern American culture as it exists today. The growing sense of independence and uniqueness is still felt by today's generations. Freedom of expression is still a controversial issue. Finding something more in existence and "transcending the bull****" is what so many still strive for today.
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, by Tom Wolfe is an essential read simply due to its interesting nature, but also because it shows the basis of American culture as well as its future, change.

Rating:
Summary: Drug Culture Simplified
Review: Tom Wolfe did an incredible job with this book. The book is interesting because of its' content and also Wolfe's style of writing. Not many subjects can be written about in this fashion: almost broken and incoherent, but completely attatched and perfectly sensible. The books chronicles the lives of Ken Kesey's group of Merry Pranksters with day-to-day happenings and character insights. It tells of where the Grateful Dead got their start, and also catches the great beat generation writer, Jack Kerouac, in his later days. Alan Ginsberg, arguably one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century also appears from time to time throughout the book. This book is a must-read for any aficionado of modern day literature. Read The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test! Another Amazon quick-pick I liked: The Losers Club by Richard Perez

Rating:
Summary: Sneaky Critique of '60's Hipsters
Review: Ken Kesey took LSD in the early '60's while working in a California mental hospital. One result of that experience was the brilliant novel 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'; another was the decision to pursue drug experimentation as a new way of interpreting reality. With his novel's revenues supporting him Kesey became the west-coast guru of the emerging Psychedelic Movement, surrounding himself with a gang of hippies known as 'The Merry Pranksters' and leading a wild life partying with the Grateful Dead, Neal Cassady, Owsley, the Hell's Angels, Timothy Leary and assorted hangers-on, promoters and victims.

In the late '60's Tom Wolfe, a leading exponent of 'the new journalism', paid Kesey a visit and sat in on the decline and eclipse of Kesey as a major player in the California counterculture. Wolfe's cool but funky irony seems like a perfect match for Kesey and co., but in fact there's a subtle mocking undercurrent to Wolfe's narrative. The whole point of the 'new journalism' was subjectivity, of course, so presumably the whole thing is MEANT to be suspect, but still... I've seen a Kesey-version of the Prankster's tale, a trade paperback that looked self-published, but don't see anything about it here at Amazon.

The novel's ending is a neat skewer of Kesey and the Pranksters, and it's not giving the whole story away to describe it. The gang is scheduled to perform a psychedelic music gig at a local bar. After 'accidentally' ruining the preceding band's performance the Pranksters get their turn on stage... and can't get it together. But hey! Nothing lasts... Cassady is dead, the Psychedelic Movement was a bust, and some of the Pranksters aren't too merry anymore, and are leaving the bus... a dismal metaphor for the counter-culture.

Rating:
Summary: Get on the bus!
Review: "You're either on the bus...or off the bus." This is the choice facing you as you begin to read Tom Wolfe's classic saga of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters as they test the boundries of consciousness and test the limits of other human's patience. What is almost as amazing as the lengths to which the pranksters went to enjoy their existence on Earth, is the style that Wolfe has chosen to narrate the adventures. Brillliantly blending stream of consciousness writing and a journalistic sense of description, Wolfe immerses himself in Kesey's world in an attempt to understand the thoughts of a group of adults who would paint a school bus with day-glo colors and trek across the United States with pitchers full of acid and a video camera keeping an eye on it all. Who could resist a chance to find out what it was like to spend a quaint evening in the woods reaching altered states of consciousness with a group of Hell's Angels, or taking a peek inside the world of the budding hippie stars led by a youthful Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead. Whether or not you approve of massive drug use will not impact your liking of this book, and for anyone who takes an interest in the counterculture movement this book is a must-read. Also acts as a perfect companion to Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," and Jack Kerouac's "On the Road." Now you must decide, "Can YOU pass the acid test?"

Rating:
Summary: Tour Guide to the 60's
Review: Although I bought this book when it was first out in paperback, I didn't actually get around to reading it until 1993. I wondered at the time if I would have appreciated it more as a teenager or as someone in his 40's. I'm of the opinion that it works better as a retrospective on an indulgent generation rather than a "how to" book for on-going hedonism. I'm sure that there are other opinions on this, however. I must admit that it is really an enjoyable book and one wonders about the extent of detachment or involvement of Tom Wolfe. He obviously spent a great deal of time with Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters and hung with them long enough to see a beginning as well as an end. I think that the ability of the book to bring things to a conclusion was helpful. Nonetheless, the journey Wolfe takes us through is fast paced and exciting and we meet many familiar names along the way. Perhaps the most surprizing familiar name for me was Larry McMurtry whom I did not associate as one who might have followed that crowd. It was certainly a time of awakening although often in ways that may have been better to sleep off. There is an electricity to the book (as there was to the era) and Wolfe certainly helps keep it charged up. For those who don't know much about the 60's, this book is essential to understanding those times. To those who lived it, this book is a reminder of how much fun it was as well as how lucky most of us were to survive it. Things are different now. As evidence of that, consider our recent president who "smoked but never inhaled". Tom Wolfe wrote something that many of can now read with a red-faced smile. Who knew anyone was taking notes at the time?

Rating:
Summary: Liked it very much
Review: While not an enormous fan of Tom Wolfe's writing style, I like this book nevertheless. After a few chapter I really got into it, and because of the quirkiness of the situation and characters, I found myslef unable to put it down. It's not your average book. If you like books like "Gravity's Rainbow," "Water Music" by Boyle, or "Bark of the Dogwood," you'll proably get into this work.

Rating:
Summary: Acid Testies
Review: I have just finished reading the electric kool aid acid test by Tom Wolfe for my college literature class. I enjoyed reading about the epic adventure that Key Kesey, the main character who is suble and alegorical in his methode of comunication amongst the other characters. Unlike most modern central characters he is not a mook begging attention but quite the oppisite. His method of using a light, relaxed, and even comforting tone served him well as he led his gang of friends and strays known as the merry pranksters on an adventure to new york on an old bus.

Rating:
Summary: Should be read, despite writing style
Review: This should be read along with Hunter Thompson's 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'. Many colorful characters are found in this book. Often I've been curious about what made the 60's "the 60's" and this book shines a light on a the roots of the American psychedelic movement. In terms of American literature, this book picks up where Kerouac's On The Road left off (Neal Cassady's in this one too).

I've always been lukewarm to Tom Wolfe's writing style. Too often, the story suffers from unwanted intercessions of the writer. Having an author literally shout to his own characters "Run, you fool!" and "What do we learn from this?" is really an unwise writing trick. Very distracting and pointless, really.

At its best, this book manages to capture a time period - peripherals and all. At its worst, it's dull and skim-worthy.

Rating:
Summary: Take a trip, no LSD required
Review: My first review; reader beware, it'll suck.

This book, however, does not suck. Tom Wolfe's writing has always unnerved me, while also stimulating/invigorating many of my seldom-used brain pathways. Electric Kool-aid Acid Test is written in Wolfe's usual manic lots-of-words-but-every-word-means-something-explosive style...he explores drug trips better than anyone I've ever read before, his descriptions are packed with ever-expansive meaning and valuable details, etc. I picked up this book to learn a bit more about Ken Kesey, and ended up learning a lot more about a lot of other things.

The mid-sixties seem like very extraordinary times to young people today, in part due to chronicles like this one. There are certainly people in this book that are larger-than-life, and were trying to make life larger.

This is a book about pushing the boundaries, about mapping terra incognita, about vast underground movements that are still shaking the foundations...it's a trip, and ultimately, it's a reminder that even the most well-outfitted expeditions must end at some point, and the adventurers will grow older and must return to their nests.