The Electic Kool-Aid Acid Test

You can get a lot out of 'Kool-aid' if you read it in the right direction. I read it as a kid, and the view I got then was 'skewed'; then life grabbed me up and threw me on another bus in another dimension, so to speak. On the reread, I read between the lines instead and related differently because I'd 'been there'. What I love are the cosmic realities and the repeating of vibrations within the time-space continumum; riding the crest of the cosmic wave without trying to control it. (You can tell that Wolfe didn't actually 'get' that part, his describtion is, at best, a matchstick trying to imitate the sun.')

 

i was wondering if anyone has ever read this book... whats it about?

 

Read it read it read it... then you'll know

It's about a bunch of hippies called the Merry Pranksters on the ORIGINAL hippy bus (not the beatles' one, they copied the idea from the people this book describes apparently)
Judging by your signature photo, you'll enjoy the book. Ken Kesey who wrote One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest was the ringleader and Neal Cassady, Jack Kerouac's friend from the 'beat' days is the bus driver in some parts.

Lots of drugs and crazy experiences.

 

TerrapinStation, Sundew was right, except (and I just re-read it a month ago), Neal Cassady , Dean Moriaty in ON THE ROAD, was the driver ALL THE TIME!


FURTHUR! (The original name of the 1939 International schoolbus.)

This bus trip, when LSD was legal, was in the early 60's, still in the Beatnik days.Tom Wolfe's non-fiction book is considered the beginning of the "New Journalism" which Hunter S. Thompson would shamelessly mine in years to come.

After you read this book, read THE PUMPHOUSE GANG and MAU-MAUING THE FLACK-CATCHERS, also by Tom Wolfe.

 

All the time ah... It's been a few years since I re-read it...
I agree about Thompson (R.I.P.) that whole 'Gonzo' journalism thing seems like a whole bunch of nothing.

What I mean is, some of his books like Hell's Angels and Fear & Loathing were great reads of course, but when people get hung up on this whole 'Gonzo Journalism' concept and think he's the originator or something, I don't agree with that nor do I like the term.

You could almost say that books like "Down and Out..." from Orwell or even Thomas DeQuincey's "Confessions of an English Opium Eater" are the type of books such as Fear and Loathing in a way. Have strong enough personality, a bit of mystique and do something crazy enough and you can name your own fad and have people follow you for generations to come.

 

so what if HST wasnt the sole gonzo journalist? he rocked ass at it..

i havent read the electric kool-aid acid test, but my mom really thinks i should

 

Hi TSSweater... I guess I just don't like the term "Gonzo Journalism" that's all. I agree that HST was very good at writing in his own style though, for sure. I enjoyed it a lot, but it's just that when something has existed before and then someone else does it again, gives it a new name and everyone thinks of the person and their style as a pioneering or completely unique thing, then it's a little annoying.

Kind of like if some new singer started singing Reggae, and it was just plain old Reggae, but they called it "Jumping Music" and then everyone talks about how they're a genius and how cool "Jumping Music" is, without realising it's been done before.

hahah...man.. I sound uptight don't I? hmm..
It's only a minor pet-peeve type thing, doesn't bother me hugely.

In the Kool-Aid book, the first LSD parties were written about in it, and the part where LSD is dissolved into some kind of solvent which gets absorbed into the skin via the hand..that was pretty crazy. People opening a door and getting a dose without even knowing because of a doorknob coated in it.

 

I've just bought it; I'm about to read it, but I'm working my way through One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest first. From what I've read, I can conclude that One Flew is a really good book. I've read a little about the Merry Pranksters, and they sound hilarious, so I can't wait to start Electric...

The Beatles had a hippiebus?

 

T.E.K-A.AT. is really a book you would understand if you were stoned off your gourd. I read it sober, and it's a lot of "WTF?" but then you smoke a few bowls, and it makes sense. You have to keep in mind the fact that this guy was on acid too.

But a good book, nonetheless.

 

wolfes book was good, but what was more important to me was the PEOPLE IN IT, not who wrote it. they're what make it a great read, imo. HST went and got right into the thick of things and pulled no punches - he's an entirely different animal than wolfe. And screw style anyway - it was the substance of his day in day out journalism (written in his own way - yes) that made HST a good writer. if all youve read is fear and loathing.. your totally missing the point. the man had a world view, he wasnt JUST an effing drughead.

read, t e k a t. its a beautiful book about people breaking down the boundaries between each other. among many other things. and read sailor song too. That was Keseys last book before he died, i believe. Its nothing relevatory, its just a good book.

 

hey wideyed when did Kesey die? this is the first I've heard of it. I'm a huge fan of HST and agree with the points you made

 

i dont remember exactly, could already be three years ago... or less.

 

he died in 2001

 

I'm sorry I missed the bus but such is life. Long live Kesey and his Pranksters. R.A.T AUZTRALIA

 

"Tom Wolfe's non-fiction book is considered the beginning of the "New Journalism" which Hunter S. Thompson would shamelessly mine in years to come."

-although it's true he was influenced by the other journalists' new edge, gonzo journalism took it a step "furthur" if you will (kesey's bus was called furthur, just a bad joke). Hunter actually fully included himself in the journalist story which is something wolfe failed to do (if he had, it would have been a horrible book[he was never considered "on the bus"{you get it or you don't, "you're either on the bus, or off the bus"}]). i mean, subjective journalism is great, but, in my opinion, only when it's very blatantly so.

"but when people get hung up on this whole 'Gonzo Journalism' concept and think he's the originator or something, I don't agree with that nor do I like the term."

-gonzo journalism took it further then "new journalism" as they called it at the time.

"I enjoyed it a lot, but it's just that when something has existed before and then someone else does it again, gives it a new name and everyone thinks of the person and their style as a pioneering or completely unique thing, then it's a little annoying."
" In the Kool-Aid book, the first LSD parties were written about in it"

-how can you say that was the first lsd party? i mean, they may have took it furthur, but it's just that when something has existed before and then someone else does it again, gives it a new name and everyone thinks of the person and their style as a pioneering or completely unique thing, then it's a little annoying. lol, sorry, i just had to point out your hypocrisy.

oh, and the "solvent" was DMSO, or dimethyl sulfoxide.

The history of DMSO as a pharmaceutical began in 1961, when Dr. Jacob was head of the organ transplant program at Oregon Health Sciences University. It all started when he first picked up a bottle of the colorless liquid. While investigating its potential as a preservative for organs, he quickly discovered that it penetrated the skin quickly and deeply without damaging it. He was intrigued. Thus began his lifelong investigation of the drug.- http://www.dmso.org/articles/information/muir.htm

 

In addition, DMSO can carry other drugs with it across membranes. It is more successful ferrying some drugs, such as morphine sulfate, penicillin, steroids, and cortisone, than others, such as insulin. What it will carry depends on the molecular weight, shape, and electrochemistry of the molecules. This property would enable DMSO to act as a new drug delivery system that would lower the risk of infection occurring whenever skin is penetrated.

 

I am reading it now, and I find it to not be as exciting and enrich with life than did "On the Road" did for me. I'm not quite sure, I only read the first few chapters, so maybe it shall get interesting as I read on.

 

Yes, it gets better. I'm reading it too, and I'm up to The Unspoken something or other.

 

it took me a week to finish that chapter its so intense read it over and over again to soak up the stuff from it

 

man that book is really amazing. i love how tom wolfe gives so many details and whatnot it makes it a good read. it was one of the first books i ever read about the hippie generation and really got me into the 1960's.