Ken Kesey





Ken Kesey

Author profile


born
September 17, 1935 in La Junta, Colorado, The United States

died
November 10, 2001

gender
male

genre


About this author

American writer, who gained world fame with his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962, filmed 1975). In the 1960s, Kesey became a counterculture hero and a guru of psychedelic drugs with Timothy Leary. Kesey has been called the Pied Piper, who changed the beat generation into the hippie movement.

Ken Kesey was born in La Junta, CO, and brought up in Eugene, OR. Kesey spent his early years hunting, fishing, swimming; he learned to box and wrestle, and he was a star football player. He studied at the University of Oregon, where he acted in college plays. On graduating he won a scholarship to Stanford University. Kesey soon dropped out, joined the counterculture movement, and began experimenting with drugs. In 1956 he married his school s...more


Average rating: 4.12 · 138,752 ratings · 3,564 reviews · 20 distinct works
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's ...
4.13 of 5 stars 4.13 avg rating — 130,264 ratings — published 1962 — 127 editions
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Sometimes a Great Notion
4.22 of 5 stars 4.22 avg rating — 6,003 ratings — published 1964 — 27 editions
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Sailor Song
3.48 of 5 stars 3.48 avg rating — 888 ratings — published 1992 — 9 editions
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Demon Box
3.5 of 5 stars 3.50 avg rating — 591 ratings — published 1986 — 11 editions
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Last Go Round: A Real Western
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3.7 of 5 stars 3.70 avg rating — 247 ratings — published 1994 — 4 editions
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Acid Tests.
3.54 of 5 stars 3.54 avg rating — 101 ratings2 editions
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The Further Inquiry
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3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 avg rating — 99 ratings — published 1990 — 2 editions
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Kesey's Garage Sale
3.68 of 5 stars 3.68 avg rating — 96 ratings — published 1973 — 3 editions
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Kesey's Jail Journal
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3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 84 ratings — published 2003
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Little Tricker the Squirrel...
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4.16 of 5 stars 4.16 avg rating — 50 ratings — published 1990 — 2 editions
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More books by Ken Kesey…
“Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing.”
Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

“Because he knows you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy. He knows there's a painful side; he knows my thumb smarts and his girl friend has a bruised breast and the doctor is losing his glasses, but he won't let the pain blot out the humor no more'n he'll let the humor blot out the pain.”
Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

“You can't really be strong until you can see a funny side things.”
Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

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Runoff poll: What adult-themed banned or challenged book should we read in September?

 
  34 votes, 40.0%

 
  26 votes, 30.6%

 
  25 votes, 29.4%

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