The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test: FSG 80th Anniversary Special Edition

In this seminal work of New Journalism, Wolfe follows Ken Kesey, one of the most charismatic and influential figures of the era, as he travels across America with his band of Merry Pranksters. Along the way, they experiment with psychedelics, encounter the Hells Angels, and become part of a cultural shift that connects the Beat generation of the 1950s with the emerging hippie movement.

Written in Wolfe’s vivid, energetic, and unmistakably unconventional style, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test captures a nation in the midst of profound cultural change. Part road story, part cultural portrait, and part journalistic experiment, it chronicles the birth of a new American consciousness while permanently expanding the boundaries of what nonfiction and journalism could become.