Ken Kesey – One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest – Easton Press – 2000 - Great Books of the 20th Century Series This Easton Press edition presents Kesey's debut novel, first published in February 1962. The book emerged from Kesey's experiences as a night-shift aide at the Menlo Park Veterans Hospital psychiatric ward, where he also volunteered for government-sponsored experiments with psychoactive drugs including LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline. During one such session, Kesey hallucinated the face and voice of an American Indian and wrote the opening pages that would establish Chief Bromden as the novel's narrator. The story follows Randle McMurphy, a charismatic convict who feigns insanity to serve his sentence in a psychiatric hospital rather than a prison work farm. His arrival disrupts the rigid order maintained by Nurse Ratched, and the ensuing battle of wills becomes a broader allegory about individuality, institutional control, and the definition of sanity. Bromden's perspective allows Kesey to blur the boundaries between hallucination and reality throughout. Kesey dedicated the novel to Vik Lovell, the friend who introduced him to the drug experiments. This edition features illustrations by Kent Bash and cover design by Michael Mendelsohn, with a vivid frontispiece capturing the hallucinatory quality of Bromden's narration. Full genuine leather binding in black Covers with repeating gilt spiral pattern in diamond grid with decorative border Spine with raised bands and 22kt gold lettering Gilt page edges Satin ribbon marker Moiré fabric endsheets Smyth-sewn binding Acid-neutral archival paper Color frontispiece and black-and-white illustrations by Kent Bash Includes publisher's Collector's Notes insert Printed and bound in the United States Condition is fine. Binding tight and square. Leather shows no wear. Gilt on covers, spine, and page edges remains bright. Interior clean throughout with no foxing, annotations, or previous owner markings. Ribbon marker intact. A well-preserved collector's copy. Ships from Germany. Carefully packed in cardboard book mailer with protective wrapping.