“A ROAR OF PROTEST”

KESEY, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. New York: Viking, (1962). Octavo, original green cloth, original dust jacket. $7000.

First edition of Kesey’s most “popular and enduring” work, in scarce dust jacket.

"Ken Kesey's first novel remains his most popular and enduring… Cuckoo's Nest resonates with the classic theme of the individual rebelling against the controlling forces of society" (Books of the Century, 98). On publication in 1962, "Time magazine called Cuckoo's Nest 'a roar of protest against middlebrow society's Rules and the invisible Rulers who enforce them" (New York Times). Adapted to the stage in 1963, with Kirk Douglas in the lead, the novel was the basis for the highly successful 1975 film starring Jack Nicholson. First issue, with "that fool Red Cross woman" on page 9, lines 12-13, in first issue dust jacket containing Kerouac's endorsement on the front flap.

Dust jacket with light expert restoration. Book bright and about fine. A most desirable copy.