WRITER

Ken Kesey

1935 - 2001

Ken Kesey

Ken Elton Kesey (; September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. Kesey was born in La Junta, Colorado, and grew up in Springfield, Oregon, graduating from the University of Oregon in 1957. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Ken Kesey has received more than 3,265,873 page views. His biography is available in 55 different languages on Wikipedia (down from 56 in 2019). Ken Kesey is the 1,307th most popular writer (down from 1,121st in 2019), the 1,561st most popular biography from United States (down from 1,367th in 2019) and the 145th most popular American Writer.

Ken Kesey is most famous for being the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Memorability Metrics

3.3M
Page Views (PV)
59.72
Historical Popularity Index (HPI)
55
Languages Editions (L)
3.81
Effective Languages (L*)
5.19
Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Little Tricker the squirrel meets Big Double the bear

1990

The sea lion

Indians of North America

Although taunted for his small size and bad leg, Eemook proves his worth by saving his tribe from an evil and powerful spirit that comes visiting one stormy night.

1991

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Fiction / Classics, Fiction / Literary, Fiction / Thrillers / Psychological

A Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition of a counterculture classic with a foreword by Chuck Palahniuk Boisterous, ribald, and ultimately shattering, Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel has left an indelible mark on the literature of our time. Now in a new deluxe edition with a foreword by Chuck Palahniuk and cover by Joe Sacco, here is the unforgettable story of a mental ward and its inhabitants, especially the tyrannical Big Nurse Ratched and Randle Patrick McMurphy, the brawling, fun-loving new inmate who resolves to oppose her. We see the struggle through the eyes of Chief Bromden, the seemingly mute half-Indian patient who witnesses and understands McMurphy’s heroic attempt to do battle with the powers that keep them all imprisoned. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

19624 / 5

Sailor song

1992

Sometimes a Great Notion

Fiction

The magnificent second novel from the legendary author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Following the astonishing success of his first novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey wrote what Charles Bowden calls "one of the few essential books written by an American in the last half century." This wild-spirited tale tells of a bitter strike that rages through a small lumber town along the Oregon coast. Bucking that strike out of sheer cussedness are the Stampers. Out of the Stamper family's rivalries and betrayals Ken Kesey has crafted a novel with the mythic impact of Greek tragedy.

19644 / 5

Demon Box

Fiction, Fiction, general, Fiction, short stories (single author)

1986

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Allegories, psychiatric nursing, medical novels

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a novel written by Ken Kesey. Set in an Oregon psychiatric hospital, the narrative serves as a study of institutional processes and the human mind; including a critique of psychiatry, and a tribute to individualistic principles

1962

Sometimes a Great Notion

Fiction, Strikes and lockouts, Lumber trade

Sometimes a Great notion is a book about about the Stamper family. A tough crew who keeps getting pushed west by the youngest Stamper's whim after looking out the window. Finally they can not go any further west than a raging river on Oregon coast. Hank and the Father run a Logging operation against all odds to unionize Great characters Biggie Newton and Finally the youngest son Leland returns after his drug lab exploded. Hank and Leland fight over a Woman and Leland grows up

1964

Last go round

Western stories, Pendleton Round-Up (2d : 1911), Fiction

1994

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

American fiction (fictional works by one author), Fiction, psychological

1963

Sailor Song

Motion pictures, Production and direction, Motion picture industry

1992

Sometimes a Great Notion

Fiction, Strikes and lockouts, Lumber trade

1964

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

American fiction (fictional works by one author), Fiction, psychological

1963

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Allegories, psychiatric nursing, medical novels

1962

Last go round

Western stories, Pendleton Round-Up (2d : 1911), Fiction

It was around a sagebrush campfire in eastern Oregon that Kesey first heard the tale from his father - about the legendary "last go round" that took place at the original Pendleton Round Up in 1911. Hundreds of riders were competing for the first World Championship Broncbusting title, but it was one special trio of buckeroos that provided the drama: a popular black cowboy, George Fletcher; a Nez Perce Indian cowboy, Jackson Sundown; and a fresh-faced kid from Tennessee name of Johnathan E. Lee Spain. Who would walk away with the prize money and the silver-studded saddle? When the dust cleared, everyone knew they'd witnessed something extraordinary. . Kesey has journeyed back into Oregon history to reclaim this long-remembered moment, beefed up the bare bones of fact, and whipped them into a full-blown rip-snorting Tale of the True West. Sixteen pages of rare Round Up photographs provide graphic testimony of the time. The tiny town of Pendleton is swollen to bursting that memorable weekend and bristling with colorful characters like Buffalo Bill Cody, wrestler Frank "The Cruel Crusher" Gotch, cowgirl Prairie Rose Henderson, and a formidable medicine man named Parson Montanic. From the teepees along the river to the teeming saloons on Main Street, Round Up fever blazes like a prairie fire. This story of love, sweat, and horseflesh is a unique Western, wild and wooly and full of fleas. Let 'er buck!

1994

Demon Box

Fiction, Fiction, general, Fiction, short stories (single author)

1986

Sailor Song

Motion pictures, Production and direction, Motion picture industry

1992