Yes, Virginia, before Milos Forman’s 1975 movie starring Jack Nicholson, Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest was making waves in 1962. The story about a group of mental patients trying to withstand their cruel hospital administrator first published fifty years ago today. Kesey was inspired to write his novel while working as a nurse’s aid in the psych ward of the Menlo Park Veteran’s Hospital in California in 1960. Most of the characters in his book are based on people who were institutionalized during his time there. The counterculture icon didn’t care for the cinematic version of his work  — and even sued the production company — but his exploration of conformity and individuality has endured, even inspiring some compelling art. We took a look at several Cuckoo’s Nest book covers past the break to celebrate the classic story’s 50th anniversary. … Read More

Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, is perhaps not as well-known as Milos Forman’s 1975 darkly humorous drama of the same name starring Jack Nicholson. Kesey, however, was a major counter-cultural figure in the ’60s, and his Merry Pranksters antics were documented in Tom Wolfe’s 1968 book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. The author wasn’t fond of Forman’s film and even went so far as to sue the production company, which is why we think he might be tickled to know that his signature recently sold for a cool $9,000. The psychedelically-inclined author — who passed away in 2001 — left his imprint in one of the Cuckoo’s Nest novels, which recently became the third most expensive book sold on the AbeBooks website last month. Find out what Kesey has to say about sex, drugs, and politics in the ’60s after the jump. … Read More