born Sept. 17, 1935, La Junta, Colo., U.S.
died Nov. 10. 2001, Eugene, Ore.
U.S. writer.
He attended Stanford University and later served as an experimental subject and aide in a hospital, an experience that led to his novel One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962; film, 1975), which in the U.S. became one of the most widely read books of the 1960s. It was followed by Sometimes a Great Notion (1964) and several works of nonfiction that detailed Kesey's transformation from novelist to guru of the hippie generation. They recount psychedelic, fancy-free travels on a brightly painted bus with a group of friends, relatives, and fans who called themselves the Merry Pranksters. Their story is recounted in Tom Wolfe 's Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968), itself a minor classic of the era.