One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide
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This engaging summary presents an analysis of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, which follows the inmates at a psychiatric hospital as they begin to push back against the oppressive system that aims to crush their spirits and stifle their individuality. Until the arrival of the rebellious McMurphy, the patients live a cowed existence under the harsh rule of Nurse Ratched, but as time goes on they fight to claim a modicum of dignity and freedom in spite of their circumstances. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is Ken Kesey’s best-known novel, and inspired an Academy Award-winning film starring Jack Nicholson.
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This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you:
• A complete plot summary
• Character studies
• Key themes and symbols
• Questions for further reflection
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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey (Book Analysis) - Bright Summaries
AMERICAN NOVELIST, ESSAYIST, POET, AND SHORT STORY WRITER
Born in La Junta, Colorado in 1935.
Died in Eugene, Oregon in 2001.
Notable works:
Sometimes a Great Notion (1964), novel
Sailor Song (1992), novel
Last Go Round (1994), novel
Ken Kesey was born in Colorado to two dairy farmers, Geneva and Frederick, and grew up in Springfield, Oregon. After graduating from the University of Oregon in 1957 with a degree in Speech and Communication, he completed a graduate fellowship in creative writing at Stanford University. He married Norma Haxby, known as Faye
, in 1957, and they had three children together: Jed, Zane, and Shannon. Kesey also had a daughter, called Sunshine, by Carolyn Adams, with whom he had an open affair. After publishing One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Kesey moved to La Honda, California, where he and Faye hosted bohemian social gatherings called Acid Tests
that combined creativity with recreational drug use. Kesey was arrested in 1965 for possession of marijuana, and served five months in prison after unsuccessfully faking his own death. He taught at the University of Oregon until 1989, and continued to write fiction and journalistic pieces for a number of publications. He lost his son, Jed, then 20, in a car accident in 1984.