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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

(Penguin Orange Collection)

Part of Penguin Orange Collection

Author Ken Kesey
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$18.00 US
Penguin Adult HC/TR | Penguin Classics
On sale Oct 18, 2016 | 304 Pages | 978-0-14-312951-6
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  • English > Comparative Literature > Psychology and Literature
  • English > Literature > American Literature – 20th Century
  • English > Literature > American Literature – Fiction
  • About
  • Table of Contents
  • Excerpt
  • Author
The inspiration for the new Netflix original series Ratched

Part of the Penguin Orange Collection, a limited-run series of twelve influential and beloved American classics in a bold series design offering a modern take on the iconic Penguin paperback


Winner of the 2016 AIGA + Design Observer 50 Books | 50 Covers competition
 
For the seventieth anniversary of Penguin Classics, the Penguin Orange Collection celebrates the heritage of Penguin’s iconic book design with twelve influential American literary classics representing the breadth and diversity of the Penguin Classics library. These collectible editions are dressed in the iconic orange and white tri-band cover design, first created in 1935, while french flaps, high-quality paper, and striking cover illustrations provide the cutting-edge design treatment that is the signature of Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions today.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
 
Boisterous, ribald, and ultimately shattering, Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a seminal novel of the 1960s. Here is the unforgettable story of a mental ward and its inhabitants—a counterculture classic that inspired the 1975 film adaptation, widely considered one of the greatest movies ever made.
Sketches by Ken Kesey   vii
Introduction by Robert Faggen   ix

Part One   1
Part Two  127
Part Three  173
Part Four   223
Sketches

Psychedelic sixties. God knows whatever that means it certainly meant far more than drugs, though drugs still work as a pretty good handle to the phenomena.

I grabbed at that handle. Legally, too, I might add. Almost patriotically, in fact. Early psychedelic sixties...

Eight o'clock every Tuesday morning I showed up at the vet's hospital in Menlo Park, ready to roll. The doctor deposited me in a little room on his ward, dealt me a couple of pills or a shot or a little glass of bitter juice, then locked the door. He checked back every forty minutes to see if I was still alive, took some tests, asked some questions, left again. The rest of the time I spent studying the inside of my forehead, or looking out the little window in the door. It was six inches wide and eight inches high, and it had heavy chicken wire inside the glass.

You get your visions through whatever gate you're granted.

Patients straggled by in the hall outside, their faces all ghastly confessions. Sometimes I looked at them and sometimes they looked at me. but rarely did we look at one another. It was too naked and painful. More was revealed in a human face than a human being can bear, face-to-face.

Sometimes the nurse came by and checked on me. Her face was different. It was painful business, but not naked. This was not a person you could allow yourself to be naked in front of.

Six months or so later I had finished the drug experiments and applied for a job. I was taken on as a nurse's aide, in the same ward, with the same doctor, under the same nurse—and you must understand we're talking about a huge hospital here! It was weird.

But, as I said, it was the sixties.

Those faces were still there, still painfully naked. To ward them off my case I very prudently took to carrying around a little notebook, to scribble notes. I got a lot of compliments from nurses: "Good for you, Mr. Kesey. That's the spirit. Get to know these men."

I also scribbled faces. No, that's not correct. As I prowl through this stack of sketches I can see that these faces bored their way behind my forehead and scribbled themselves. I just held the pen and waited for the magic to happen.

This was, after all, the sixties.

Ken Kesey

Copyright © 2002 by Ken Kesey. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
© Brian Lanker
Ken Kesey was born in 1935 and grew up in Oregon. He graduated from the University of Oregon and later studied at Stanford with Wallace Stegner, Malcolm Cowley, Richard Scowcroft, and Frank O'Connor. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, his first novel, was published in 1962. His other books include Sometimes a Great Notion, Demon Box, and Sailor Song. Kesey's two children's books are Little Tricker the Squirrel Meets Big Double the Bear and The Sea Lion. He died on November 10, 2001. View titles by Ken Kesey

About

The inspiration for the new Netflix original series Ratched

Part of the Penguin Orange Collection, a limited-run series of twelve influential and beloved American classics in a bold series design offering a modern take on the iconic Penguin paperback


Winner of the 2016 AIGA + Design Observer 50 Books | 50 Covers competition
 
For the seventieth anniversary of Penguin Classics, the Penguin Orange Collection celebrates the heritage of Penguin’s iconic book design with twelve influential American literary classics representing the breadth and diversity of the Penguin Classics library. These collectible editions are dressed in the iconic orange and white tri-band cover design, first created in 1935, while french flaps, high-quality paper, and striking cover illustrations provide the cutting-edge design treatment that is the signature of Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions today.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
 
Boisterous, ribald, and ultimately shattering, Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a seminal novel of the 1960s. Here is the unforgettable story of a mental ward and its inhabitants—a counterculture classic that inspired the 1975 film adaptation, widely considered one of the greatest movies ever made.

Table of Contents

Sketches by Ken Kesey   vii
Introduction by Robert Faggen   ix

Part One   1
Part Two  127
Part Three  173
Part Four   223

Excerpt

Sketches

Psychedelic sixties. God knows whatever that means it certainly meant far more than drugs, though drugs still work as a pretty good handle to the phenomena.

I grabbed at that handle. Legally, too, I might add. Almost patriotically, in fact. Early psychedelic sixties...

Eight o'clock every Tuesday morning I showed up at the vet's hospital in Menlo Park, ready to roll. The doctor deposited me in a little room on his ward, dealt me a couple of pills or a shot or a little glass of bitter juice, then locked the door. He checked back every forty minutes to see if I was still alive, took some tests, asked some questions, left again. The rest of the time I spent studying the inside of my forehead, or looking out the little window in the door. It was six inches wide and eight inches high, and it had heavy chicken wire inside the glass.

You get your visions through whatever gate you're granted.

Patients straggled by in the hall outside, their faces all ghastly confessions. Sometimes I looked at them and sometimes they looked at me. but rarely did we look at one another. It was too naked and painful. More was revealed in a human face than a human being can bear, face-to-face.

Sometimes the nurse came by and checked on me. Her face was different. It was painful business, but not naked. This was not a person you could allow yourself to be naked in front of.

Six months or so later I had finished the drug experiments and applied for a job. I was taken on as a nurse's aide, in the same ward, with the same doctor, under the same nurse—and you must understand we're talking about a huge hospital here! It was weird.

But, as I said, it was the sixties.

Those faces were still there, still painfully naked. To ward them off my case I very prudently took to carrying around a little notebook, to scribble notes. I got a lot of compliments from nurses: "Good for you, Mr. Kesey. That's the spirit. Get to know these men."

I also scribbled faces. No, that's not correct. As I prowl through this stack of sketches I can see that these faces bored their way behind my forehead and scribbled themselves. I just held the pen and waited for the magic to happen.

This was, after all, the sixties.

Ken Kesey

Copyright © 2002 by Ken Kesey. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Author

© Brian Lanker
Ken Kesey was born in 1935 and grew up in Oregon. He graduated from the University of Oregon and later studied at Stanford with Wallace Stegner, Malcolm Cowley, Richard Scowcroft, and Frank O'Connor. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, his first novel, was published in 1962. His other books include Sometimes a Great Notion, Demon Box, and Sailor Song. Kesey's two children's books are Little Tricker the Squirrel Meets Big Double the Bear and The Sea Lion. He died on November 10, 2001. View titles by Ken Kesey

Additional formats

  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
    Ken Kesey, Joe Sacco
    978-0-14-310502-2
    $19.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Classics
    Nov 27, 2007
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    Ken Kesey
    978-0-14-118122-6
    $18.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Classics
    Dec 31, 2002
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    Ken Kesey
    978-1-101-12676-9
    $9.99 US
    Ebook
    Penguin Classics
    Dec 31, 2002
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    Revised Edition
    Ken Kesey
    978-0-14-023601-9
    $25.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Books
    Jan 01, 1996
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    Ken Kesey
    978-0-14-004312-9
    $18.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Books
    Aug 25, 1977
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
    Ken Kesey, Joe Sacco
    978-0-14-310502-2
    $19.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Classics
    Nov 27, 2007
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    Ken Kesey
    978-0-14-118122-6
    $18.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Classics
    Dec 31, 2002
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    Ken Kesey
    978-1-101-12676-9
    $9.99 US
    Ebook
    Penguin Classics
    Dec 31, 2002
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    Revised Edition
    Ken Kesey
    978-0-14-023601-9
    $25.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Books
    Jan 01, 1996
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    Ken Kesey
    978-0-14-004312-9
    $18.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Books
    Aug 25, 1977

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  • The Grapes of Wrath
    The Grapes of Wrath
    John Steinbeck
    978-0-14-303943-3
    $18.00 US
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    Mar 28, 2006
  • The Quiet American
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    (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
    Graham Greene
    978-0-14-303902-0
    $18.00 US
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    Aug 31, 2004
  • White Noise
    White Noise
    Text and Criticism
    Don DeLillo
    978-0-14-027498-1
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    Dec 01, 1998
  • Dubliners
    Dubliners
    Text and Criticism; Revised Edition
    James Joyce
    978-0-14-024774-9
    $23.00 US
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    Aug 01, 1996
  • Winesburg, Ohio
    Winesburg, Ohio
    Text and Criticism
    Sherwood Anderson
    978-0-14-024779-4
    $22.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Books
    Aug 01, 1996
  • The Crucible
    The Crucible
    Revised Edition
    Arthur Miller
    978-0-14-024772-5
    $20.00 US
    Paperback
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    Jan 01, 1996
  • Death of a Salesman
    Death of a Salesman
    Revised Edition
    Arthur Miller
    978-0-14-024773-2
    $21.00 US
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    Jan 01, 1996
  • A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
    A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
    Text, Criticism, and Notes
    James Joyce
    978-0-14-015503-7
    $20.00 US
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    Jun 30, 1977
  • The Grapes of Wrath
    The Grapes of Wrath
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    978-0-14-303943-3
    $18.00 US
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  • The Quiet American
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    (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
    Graham Greene
    978-0-14-303902-0
    $18.00 US
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    Aug 31, 2004
  • White Noise
    White Noise
    Text and Criticism
    Don DeLillo
    978-0-14-027498-1
    $24.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Books
    Dec 01, 1998
  • Dubliners
    Dubliners
    Text and Criticism; Revised Edition
    James Joyce
    978-0-14-024774-9
    $23.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Books
    Aug 01, 1996
  • Winesburg, Ohio
    Winesburg, Ohio
    Text and Criticism
    Sherwood Anderson
    978-0-14-024779-4
    $22.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Books
    Aug 01, 1996
  • The Crucible
    The Crucible
    Revised Edition
    Arthur Miller
    978-0-14-024772-5
    $20.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Books
    Jan 01, 1996
  • Death of a Salesman
    Death of a Salesman
    Revised Edition
    Arthur Miller
    978-0-14-024773-2
    $21.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Books
    Jan 01, 1996
  • A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
    A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
    Text, Criticism, and Notes
    James Joyce
    978-0-14-015503-7
    $20.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Books
    Jun 30, 1977

Other Books by this Author

  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    50th Anniversary Edition
    Ken Kesey
    978-0-670-02323-3
    $29.00 US
    Hardcover
    Viking
    Jan 19, 2012
  • Sometimes a Great Notion
    Sometimes a Great Notion
    Ken Kesey
    978-0-14-303986-0
    $20.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Classics
    Aug 29, 2006
  • Last Go Round
    Last Go Round
    A Real Western
    Ken Kesey, Ken Babbs
    978-0-14-017667-4
    $17.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Books
    Jul 01, 1995
  • Sailor Song
    Sailor Song
    Ken Kesey
    978-0-14-013997-6
    $18.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Books
    Jul 01, 1993
  • Demon Box
    Demon Box
    Ken Kesey
    978-0-14-008530-3
    $18.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Books
    Aug 04, 1987
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    Ken Kesey
    978-0-451-16396-7
    $9.99 US
    Mass Market Paperback
    Berkley
    Feb 01, 1963
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    50th Anniversary Edition
    Ken Kesey
    978-0-670-02323-3
    $29.00 US
    Hardcover
    Viking
    Jan 19, 2012
  • Sometimes a Great Notion
    Sometimes a Great Notion
    Ken Kesey
    978-0-14-303986-0
    $20.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Classics
    Aug 29, 2006
  • Last Go Round
    Last Go Round
    A Real Western
    Ken Kesey, Ken Babbs
    978-0-14-017667-4
    $17.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Books
    Jul 01, 1995
  • Sailor Song
    Sailor Song
    Ken Kesey
    978-0-14-013997-6
    $18.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Books
    Jul 01, 1993
  • Demon Box
    Demon Box
    Ken Kesey
    978-0-14-008530-3
    $18.00 US
    Paperback
    Penguin Books
    Aug 04, 1987
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    Ken Kesey
    978-0-451-16396-7
    $9.99 US
    Mass Market Paperback
    Berkley
    Feb 01, 1963
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