Ken Kesey was born in 1935 and is most famous for his novel 'One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest'. In 1959 he volunteered for the CIA project MK-ULTRA. Basically he ingested many illegal drugs and they would study the experiences; the best part was that he didn't even have to pay for them! He explains that his role is being somewhat of a medical guinea pig gave him inspiration for his novel which I am currently reading. Afterwards when he had somewhat settled down after his book, Kesey would freqently have parties called 'Acid Tests,' where he would invite people over to do lots of LSD. It has even been said that he experimented with acid with Ringo Starr. Even though he is without a doubt the lamest member of the Beatles, I'm still rather impressed.
In 1965, Ken Kesey ran into some legal trouble. Following his arrest for the possession of Marijuana he attempted to fake his own death and run away to Mexico. This decision was probably just a little bit influenced by all the dope he smoked prior to his arrest.
I believe that Kesey would not have been able to produce the same quality of writing in his novel without his prior experiences being heavily medicated throughout the process. The way he tells the story through the main character Chief Bromden, i think could only be accomplished by first having some experience delving into the realm of delirium and hallucinations both shared by Lsd users and psychiatric patients alike. I guess what i'm saying is, he certainly did his homework before writing the book and its shows in his literary techniques and choice of words.
