Ken Kesey's diverse creative works provide a colorful testimony to his talent and myriad interests. His reputation as a writer depends mainly on his first two novels, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962) and Sometimes a Great Notion (1964), both of...

Writer Ken Kesey has often said that he would rather live a novel than write one--be a lightning rod rather than a seismograph. A lightning rod is exactly what Kesey has been, attracting not only the admiration of the literary establishment with his...

A writer who came of age on the West Coast during the late 1950s. Ken Kesey has been profoundly influenced by the Beats both in his life and in his work. Strictly speaking, he is not a Beat writer in his early books, although he admired Jack Kerouac...

Described as a psychedelic outlaw and the "Dr. Strange" of American letters, Ken Kesey's fame as a counterculture luminary was assured with the impact of his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962). Kesey was a...

Ken Kesey (1935–2001) (Full name Ken Elton Kesey) American novelist and nonfiction writer. Kesey became acquainted with the Beat Generation during the 1950s, when he was a teenager in California. He later cited Beat writers Jack Kerouac, John...

Born September 17, 1935La Junta, Colorado Died November 10, 2001Eugene, Oregon Author and prankster Ken Kesey. © Ken Kesey was one of the central figures in the...

Kenneth Elton Kesey (September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American author, best known for his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as a counter-cultural figure who, some consider, was a link between the Beat Generation of the...

In the following essay, Semino and Swindlehurst focus on the metaphors that inform Chief Bromden's worldview in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, asserting that the character's idiosyncrasies lead to both his mental and physical liberation.

In the following interview, originally conducted during several visits between 1992 and 1993, Kesey discusses his literary influences, his relationship with the Beat writers, the effects of drugs on his writings, the cultural influence of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, the nature of evil and terror in America, and popular American culture.

In the following essay, Scally analyzes Chief Bromden's narration in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest in terms of the truth of its meaning rather than the facts of its events.

Ken Kesey's life and literary achievements.

Provides a biography of writer Ken Kesey. Explores his experiences with drugs and arrest for marijuana possession. Describes how events in his life relate to his novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."