The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

I looked for this book on-and-off for three years. I don't know where I heard about it, but I believe it was in the summer, during my middle school years, that I first went to the public library to request this book by interlibrary loan, by which I had gotten many rare books in the past. The library had a kind of networked computer, so they could search the whole database of libraries all over Iowa. For those three years, the librarian told me that the book was not in the database, meaning, likely it didn't exist. (At this point, I consider the possibility that 1. she didn't know how to spell Kool-Aid, or 2. she found the book, but deemed it inappropriate for me, and refused to order it.) Either way, since it wasn't in the database, that meant that in the whole state of Iowa, not one public library, not even the Des Moines Public Library, had it. Therefore, in the mind of the libarians, I was crazy, and this book that I kept asking for was a total myth and a hoax.

Perhaps that's why the whole idea of the library in 'The Abortion,' by Richard Brautigan is so delicious to me. Imagine a library, where anyone can contribute their book. No matter what, the library accepts the contribution, and even allows the author to place the book on any shelf they wish. The role of the librarian is to accept the books and to write them into a log book. Hopefully, 'The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test' was there, and if it wasn't, there was something similar that would keep my interest.

Well, now I know the book exists: it's on Amazon. It's a non-fiction book about Ken Kesey and his psychadelic bus. I've heard about Ken Kesey and seen a few interviews in documentaries. I suppose if I had gotten ahold of this book in middle school, I wouldn't have really understood it, but it's nice to know that adults lie.

-MsLin