332

Ken Kesey (1935-2001)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, First Edition.

New York: Viking Press, 1962.
First edition, first printing, octavo; with no subsequent printing dates on the copyright page, "that fool Red Cross woman" on page 9, and "Red Cross woman named Gwen-doe-lin, with the blond hair the patients are always arguing about," on page 86; bound in bright green publisher's cloth, spine lettered in yellow; with first issue dust jacket featuring Jack Kerouac's short blurb on inside front flap (price just clipped, creasing to top edge, light staining to rear, minor spotting to verso; small dampstain to fore-edge affecting the margin of a few pages and lower corners of cloth); 8 x 5 ¼ in.

A hallmark of 60's counterculture literature, Kesey's first novel was frequently censored in the 1970s and 80s for its racist language and glorification of defiance against institutional authority. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was inspired by Kesey's time working as a night shift orderly in a California mental health institution, enhanced by his simultaneous involvement with the notorious Project MKUltra. The result made waves as a scathing critique of the current establishment's approach to psychology and rehabilitation. Milos Forman's 1975 film adaptation became the second film to win all five major Academy Awards after It Happened One Night (1934).

Karolides et al., 100 Banned Books, pp. 398-401.

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