"The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" Book Discussion

All Merry Pransters, Hippies, Tom Wolfe, and assorted acid heads who are on the THE FREE REPUBLIC WELCOMES THE MERRY PRANKSTERS!!! Thread, can post your book discussions here.

1 posted on 09/09/2002 4:32:42 PM PDT by PJ-Comix

To: Bahbah; contessa machiaveli; BADJOE; Mr.Clark; Betty Jane; Orblivion; Non-Sequitur; dixie sass; ...

Post your book discussions here.

2 posted on 09/09/2002 4:36:30 PM PDT by PJ-Comix

Following Merry Pranksters through the agency of Tom Wolfe's book was like visiting the various sites of the 60s revolution. That, in turn, was catalyzed by JFK's assassination, and nourished by the war in Southeast Asia. Anyway, MPs wouldn't have been heard of without the book and without visiting famous people; they were the vehicle for documenting the linkages from Beatniks through Happenings. MP seemed like the new generation's experiment with Dadaism.

3 posted on 09/09/2002 4:45:58 PM PDT by RightWhale

That thread you referenced? You might want to check on it.

4 posted on 09/09/2002 4:45:58 PM PDT by Huck

What I found interesting is how the Merry Pranksters influenced the counter-culture. Remember, Timothy Leary was also into acid but going the serious meditation type route in stark contrast to the Pranksters. BTW, when did Leary drop his serious routine and become more like the West Coast Pranksters?

5 posted on 09/09/2002 4:49:31 PM PDT by PJ-Comix

I read the book a long time ago. I remember Neal Cassady swining his hammer? I remember the bit about the hippie kid who still carries a toothbrush. And I remember the Beatles concert was freakish. And I think the last lines were something like "We blew it! We blew it!"

Or else I'm confusing it with another book.

6 posted on 09/09/2002 4:50:42 PM PDT by Huck

Leary might have gotten to the next level where the old Dharma doesn't work anymore and the new Dharma hasn't been worked out yet.

7 posted on 09/09/2002 4:53:13 PM PDT by RightWhale

Here is a working link for THE FREE REPUBLIC WELCOMES THE MERRY PRANKSTERS!!! The link at the top of thread refers to a thread that was pulled.

Anyway, don't take it personal if comments are on the light side tonight. After all, it's almost time for Monday Night Football and I'm sure a lot of Freepers will be catching the Patriots vs Steelers.

8 posted on 09/09/2002 4:53:38 PM PDT by SamAdams76

Or else I'm confusing it with another book.

You got the right book. BTW, I'm wondering what happened to The Hermit.

9 posted on 09/09/2002 4:55:46 PM PDT by PJ-Comix

As to your link, I find it totally appropriate for a Merry Prankster. FWIW, here's Ken Kesey's web site (maintained by others, now that he has assumed room temperature:

www.key-z.com

Was never much of a fan of Kesey myself, although I thoroughly enjoyed EKAAT.

10 posted on 09/09/2002 4:56:04 PM PDT by Richard Kimball

I will be back for this tomorrow :-)

"NO LEFT TURN UNSTONED!"

11 posted on 09/09/2002 5:02:39 PM PDT by fnord

I recently read Hunter Thompson's HELL'S ANGELS and so I was pleasantly surprised to see you recommend this book as I probably never would have picked it up otherwise even though I have read all of Wolfe's books since THE RIGHT STUFF (and enjoyed them all).

Anyway, I got the impression that the book might glorify the LSD lifestyle when I picked it up. I was wrong.

I must say the book was a difficult read at first but then once I got the terminology down, I started getting into it. Even re-read the first few chapters and then it made a lot more sense to me.

My favorite part of the book was when Berkeley invited Kesey to speak at their anti-war rally. They placed Kesey as next to last speaker and hoped that he would really motivate the students to march against to Oakland, confronting the National Guard along the way.

Well Kesey shows up with all his Merry Pranksters in tow, escorted by Hell's Angels, and shows up on stage with a harmonica in which he proceeds to suck the air right out of the rally...

You know, you're not gonna stop this war with this rally, by marching... That's what they do... They hold rallies and they march... They've been having wars for ten thousand years and you're not going to stop it this way... Ten thousand years, and this is the game they play to do it... holding rallies and having marches... and that's the game you're playing...their game...

At which point he produces his harmonica and starts playing a somber version of Home On The Range. The crowd is totally bewildered. They start shuffling about and losing their enthusiasm. The organizers of the rally are PISSED and they try to figure out how they can drag him off the stage!

Home, home on the ra-a-a-a-a-a-ange -
I was just looking at the speaker who was up here before me...and I couldn't hear what he was saying...but I could hear the sound of it...and I could see the gestures...and you know who I saw...and who I heard? ... Mussolini ... Yep, I saw and I heard Mussoline here just a few minutes ago... Yep...you're playing their game.
Home, home on the ra-a-a-a-a-a-a-nge...

This continued on and on and eventually the crowd had totally lost its enthusiasm. Even the barnburning speaker they had lined up to speak last couldn't revive them. Kesey basically "ruined" the rally!

12 posted on 09/09/2002 5:10:34 PM PDT by SamAdams76

"You're either on the bus, or off the bus."

"We're working on many levels here."

- Ken Kesey.

13 posted on 09/09/2002 5:13:22 PM PDT by 45Auto

My favorite part of the book was when Berkeley invited Kesey to speak at their anti-war rally.

Yeah, Kesey ruined both an anti-war rally AND a California Unitarian conference. So can he be all bad?

14 posted on 09/09/2002 5:13:49 PM PDT by PJ-Comix

At which point he produces his harmonica and starts playing a somber version of Home On The Range. The crowd is totally bewildered. They start shuffling about and losing their enthusiasm. The organizers of the rally are PISSED and they try to figure out how they can drag him off the stage!

It sounds like Andy Kaufman stole Kesey's act.

15 posted on 09/09/2002 5:15:08 PM PDT by PJ-Comix

Don't forget the Free Republic Fireheads. Rush is a big Firesign Theater fan too.

16 posted on 09/09/2002 5:22:13 PM PDT by Ukiapah Heep

And I think the last lines were something like "We blew it! We blew it!"

You're thinking of Easy Rider, man.

17 posted on 09/09/2002 5:23:25 PM PDT by monkey

That was a pretty clever play on words. Just before the entrance to Kesey's home in La Honda was this sign:

NO LEFT TURN UNSTONED

That must have had a lot of people scratching their heads, including the cops.

BTW, I get the impression that things were a lot more permissive in the 1960s than they are today. All the wild all-night parties at the La Honda house and the other strange-goings on. Couldn't get away with that today. You can't even have a Saturday night keg party at your house these without the neighbors calling the cops on you.

18 posted on 09/09/2002 5:32:50 PM PDT by SamAdams76

You are right, this is the book. It does end with "We blew it! We blew it! We blew it!" This was when Kesey and the Pranksters realized that they were irrelevant and yesterday's news. They had just been forced out of having their "Graduation Test" at Winterland by Bill Graham (the rock promoter) and had it in some sleazy, filthy warehouse instead, in which only a few hundred showed up, most of whom left in disgust before the night was over.

19 posted on 09/09/2002 5:37:14 PM PDT by SamAdams76

I liked the part where Kesey asked Sonny Barger (leader of the Hell's Angels) how they chose their members.

"We don't pick our members," replied Barger, "We recognize 'em."

20 posted on 09/09/2002 5:38:55 PM PDT by SamAdams76

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794