The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is a 1968 nonfiction book by Tom Wolfe written in the New Journalism literary style. By 1970, this style began to be referred to as Gonzo journalism, a term coined for the work of Hunter S. Thompson. The book presents a firsthand account of the experiences of Ken Kesey and a group of psychedelic enthusiasts, known as the Merry Pranksters, who traveled across the United States in a colorfully-painted school bus they called Furthur. Kesey and the Pranksters became famous for their use of psychedelic drugs (such as LSD) to achieve expansion of their consciousness. The book chronicles the Acid Tests (parties with LSD-laced Kool-Aid) and encounters with notable figures of the time (Hells Angels, Grateful Dead, Allen Ginsberg), and describes Kesey's exile to Mexico and his arrests.