The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

I was born in 1964, so by the time I came of age, the psychedelic movement was over, and the war on drugs was full on. I was just behind it though, and it shaped in explicit and subtle ways everything I experienced in the 70’s and 80’s. There is a lot to read out there about psychedelics, about the late 60’s, about the war and the Haight and everything that was going on, and I’ve read much of that, too. But reading this is different because of the way Wolfe wrote it. Its not just a documentary, and it’s not a journalistic account. It’s more like a Picasso. Wolfe puts words on the page in an attempt to give the reader the first hand experience of being there. Since I missed it, and couldn’t be there, I’m thankful for that because the movement improved the world at the time. It elevated the collective awareness and I think we need a shot of that again now. America needs a good trip, a day-glo movie, another bunch of Pranksters!

I have been to over 160 grateful dead shows in my life and reading this book ranks right up there among them all makes me long for those days gone by and remember boys and girls never trust a prankerster. Tom Wolfe was at his best when he put pen to paper on this book

Every time I re-read Electric Kool-aid Acid Test I get something different and unexpected from it. I have been moved from total fixation to repulsion, then empathy, fascination, exhilaration, envy, and most recently, sorrow. I lived during the 60's, experienced an acid test type happening in Madison, Wisconsin, and feel as the many participants in the original tests, that my life was profoundly changed by the experiences of several life changing trips. As I aged I came to the same conclusion that the Pranksters did; after you've passed through the doors of expanded perception several times, I can access those depths without drugs. This book should be required reading for every student of sociology and psychology everywhere.