The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
A New Journalism account of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters.
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The book chronicles Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters' cross-country bus trip and their Acid Tests featuring LSD-laced Kool-Aid.[1][2] Tom Wolfe's 1968 nonfiction work, written in the New Journalism style, is titled The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.[3]
Making and release
The book details Kesey's exile to Mexico and his arrests.[1] Entrepreneur Alfred Roven purchased the film rights shortly after the book was published.[4] In 2025, Sony Pictures and Atlas Entertainment revived the film adaptation project.[5][6] The book was first released in 1968.[3]
What the cited sources add
A 1969 Guardian review described Wolfe as the laureate of American pop journalism.[7] The same review noted the book explains the sudden change of the Beatles' music through Californian acid rock.[7] Cantor argued that Wolfe's messiah-like depiction of Kesey was too large, leaving "another acidhead and a bunch of kooky kids."[2][8] The KQED account states Kesey first encountered LSD while volunteering for a CIA-sponsored test at the Menlo Park VA hospital.[9]
A review in The Harvard Crimson by Cantor criticized the book for not explaining the ethical aspects of the LSD experience.[2][8]
References
- Wikipedia, "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Reynolds, "Acid adventures - review of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test: From the archive, 2 May 1969", The Guardian, 2014-05-02; "Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters -- a Celebration of Going Further", KQED, 18 June 2014 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "The Electric Kool' Aid Acid Test News The Harvard Crimson", www.thecrimson.com. facts only, no text reused. thecrimson.com
- Wikipedia, "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wolfe, "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test", Bantam, 1968 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fleming, "Van Sant in the 'Kool-Aid' mix", Variety, June 10, 2007 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fleming Jr, "Sony & Atlas Set Tom Wolfe Classic 'The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test' For Film; Fast Track For 'Cuckoo's Nest' Ken Kesey's Hallucinogenic Jaunts", Deadline Hollywood, September 30, 2025 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Fleming Jr, "Sony & Atlas Set Tom Wolfe Classic 'The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test' For Film; Fast Track For 'Cuckoo's Nest' Ken Kesey's Hallucinogenic Jaunts", Deadline Hollywood, September 30, 2025. facts only, no text reused. deadline.com
- Reynolds, "Acid adventures - review of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test: From the archive, 2 May 1969", The Guardian, 2014-05-02. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
- Wikipedia, "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cantor, "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test".; "The Electric Kool' Aid Acid Test News The Harvard Crimson", www.thecrimson.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters -- a Celebration of Going Further", KQED, 18 June 2014. facts only, no text reused. kqed.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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