Don't Miss ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST

Do you have a few book titles in mind as "must-reads" you'll get around to knocking out some day? Me, too. Lately though, I've blocked out the time to scratch a few titles off my must-read list.

One such classic is One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962) penned by the Merry Prankster leader, Ken Kesey. Par for the course, I saw the terrific film at the theater when it came out in 1975. A young, fit Jack Nicholson chewed the scenery as the indomitable R.P. McMurphy. I figured back then, oh sure, I'll check out the novel.

Around the same time, I read an excerpt of Cuckoo's Nest from an anthology in a creative writing class I was taking. I liked the excerpt, but again I was too lazy or something to find and read the book.

While in Bermuda, I bought a U.K. edition of Demon Box and sent a letter to Mr. Kesey asking if he'd consider inscribing it. He generously agreed, and he even dedicated a line from the novel to me: "She told me the razor blade is heavier than the book of Job, and a brass madonna." Yep, it was from page 269. Is that cool beans, awesome to the max, or just what?

At any rate, I've read Cuckoo's Nest, and it's top-notch. Wonderful prose with its addictive surrealism. Chief Broom is an original narrator with a distinctive voice.

I'm rechecking my must-read list again for the other classics I've been putting off for too long.

By Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles
"Nice addition to anyone’s summer beach reading schedule."
Florida Times-Union