Ken Kesey

Author profile

born

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

died

November 10, 2001

gender

male

genre

Literature & Fiction

About this author

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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

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Books by Ken Kesey

Average rating: 4.12 · 138,752 ratings · 3,564 reviews · 20 distinct works

	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 4.13 avg rating — 130,264 ratings — published 1962 — 127 editions	My rating:
	Sometimes a Great Notion 4.22 avg rating — 6,003 ratings — published 1964 — 27 editions	My rating:
	Sailor Song 3.48 avg rating — 888 ratings — published 1992 — 9 editions	My rating:
	Demon Box 3.50 avg rating — 591 ratings — published 1986 — 11 editions	My rating:
	Last Go Round: A Real Western by Ken Kesey, Ken Babbs 3.70 avg rating — 247 ratings — published 1994 — 4 editions	My rating:
	Acid Tests. 3.54 avg rating — 101 ratings — 2 editions	My rating:
	The Further Inquiry by Ken Kesey, Ron Bevirt (Photographer) 3.59 avg rating — 99 ratings — published 1990 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Kesey's Garage Sale 3.68 avg rating — 96 ratings — published 1973 — 3 editions	My rating:
	Kesey's Jail Journal by Ken Kesey, Ed McClanahan (Introduction) 3.76 avg rating — 84 ratings — published 2003	My rating:
	Little Tricker the Squirrel Meets Big Double the Bear by Ken Kesey, Barry Moser 4.16 avg rating — 50 ratings — published 1990 — 2 editions	My rating:

More books by Ken Kesey…

Quotes by Ken Kesey

“Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing.”
― Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

tags: relationships

998 people liked it

“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

156 people liked it

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

tags: strength

136 people liked it

See all Ken Kesey's quotes »

Polls

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

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

34 votes, 40.0%

The Satanic Verses A Novel by Salman Rushdie

26 votes, 30.6%

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

25 votes, 29.4%

85 total votes

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