Books

First edition of his first book. Named one of Time Magazine's 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. Basis for the classic movie starring Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher and Danny DeVito. A story evolving from Kesey's time working as an orderly at a mental health facility during which he spoke with patients and witnessed the inner workings of the institution -- sometimes while on psychoactive drugs himself. PLEASE NOTE: the lines relating to the "Red Cross woman" character appearing on pp. 9 & 86 are the same in at least the first two printings of the Viking edition and are therefore not valid issue points. As best we can tell, the points being cited were mistakenly perpetuated by Kesey himself in an inscription recorded at auction in 2005. He did have to make changes to the text due to the threat of a lawsuit against him for libel over the character of the "Red Cross woman" but those changes came after the first Viking printing. Also, the Kerouac blurb on the front flap of the dust jacket differentiates the first printing dust jacket from later printing ones (and is not technically an issue point). 8vo green cloth boards stamped in yellow on spine; top edge tan (or perhaps pale pink or peach?); 311 pages. Near fine in very good, correct first-printing dust jacket with spine toned, and with few rubbed creases and small tears.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a novel written by Ken Kesey, first published in 1962. The book is a powerful critique of the mental health system and a poignant study of institutional processes and the human mind.