Book picks similar to
Acid Tests by Ken Kesey


fiction
favorites
intoxicated
beat-lit

Down at the Dinghy


J.D. Salinger - 1949
    

The Picture of Dorian Gray / Riders of the Purple Sage: CD-Rom Pack


F.H. Cornish
    

On Booze


F. Scott Fitzgerald - 2011
    Scott Fitzgerald once noted, “then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.” Fitzgerald wrote alcohol into almost every one of his stories. On Booze gathers debutantes and dandies, rowdy jazz musicians, lost children and ragtime riff-raff into a newly compiled collection taken from The Crack-Up, and other works never before published by New Directions. On Booze portrays “The Jazz Age” as Fitzgerald experienced it: roaring, rambunctious, and lush — with quite a hangover.

The Nigger of the Narcissus and the Secret Sharer


Joseph Conrad - 1910
    In "The Nigger of the 'Narcissus'" a ship's crew struggles with morale as a black member of the crew lay dying. In the shorter work "The Secret Sharer" a captain on his night watch discovers an officer that has come aboard has been accused of a murder. In both works through the context of a voyage at sea Conrad masterfully explores the psychological and moral issues that are at the heart of mankind.

The Weather of the Heart: Selected Poems


Madeleine L'Engle - 1978
    When she admits arrogance in Gethsemane, we, too, remember glutting on unleavened loaves. But as she herself declares:"Never was a feast finer than this. Come, eat and drink, unfreeze and live." --Calvin Miller, author of The Singer Trilogy

The One Plus One: Free Ebook Sampler


Jojo Moyes - 2013
    But it's hard on your own. And sometimes you take risks you shouldn't. Because you have to . . . One chaotic family Jess's gifted, quirky daughter Tanzie is brilliant with numbers, but without a helping hand she'll never get the chance to shine. And Nicky, Jess's teenage stepson, can't fight the bullies alone. Sometimes Jess feels like they're sinking . . . One handsome stranger Into their lives comes Ed Nicholls, a man whose life is in chaos, and who is running from a deeply uncertain future. But he has time on his hands. He knows what it's like to be lonely. And he wants to help . . . One unexpected love story The One Plus One is a captivating and unconventional romance from Jojo Moyes about two lost souls meeting in the most unlikely circumstances. Praise for Jojo Moyes: 'Majestic, utterly compelling, tremendous. A heart-stopping read' Independent on Sunday'Truly beautiful. Made us laugh, smile and sob like a baby - you simply have to read it' Closer'A triumph. Packs such an emotional punch, you'll need a box of tissues' ElleJojo Moyes is a novelist and a journalist. She worked at the Independent for ten years before leaving to write full time. Her previous novels have all been critically acclaimed and include The Ship of Brides, Foreign Fruit, The Last Letter From Your Lover, winner of Spring 2012's most popular Richard and Judy Book Club title Me Before You and most recently The Girl you Left Behind. She lives in Essex with her husband and their three children.

Finn's Hotel


James Joyce - 1923
    Finn's Hotel is a luminous and often funny work, and it reveals Joyce's creative process during the transition between Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.

Old Shirts & New Skins


Sherman Alexie - 1993
    Native American Studies. Amongst the poems and prose of OLD SHIRTS & NEW SKINS appear illustrations by Elizabeth Woody, an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Oregon. In the best tradition of confronting American reality and exacting vision and meaning from it, Sherman Alexie chooses to use poetic power. His vision is an amazing celebration of endurance, intimacy, love, and creative insight; finally, it is a victory that can be known only by a people who refuse to submit to the thieves, liars, and killers that have made them suffer tremendous loss and pain. "Like the woman who pours her life into a stew of survival, Sherman Alexie has created a meal, not for a reader to consume but for a reader to be changed by. Survival is being documented, changes measured"--Linda Hogan.

Arizona Clan


Zane Grey - 1958
    Kansas rider Dodge Mercer is an ex-gunslinger hungry for the quiet life and seeking only a little corner of peace in Arizona, so he drifts west looking for a spread of his own, but he runs up against the Southwest's three most dangerous things: a beautiful young woman, sorghum booze runners, and hot-flying lead!

Dinners and Nightmares


Diane di Prima - 1961
    It remains a powerful testament to the complications and triumphs of Beat bohemia for women.Publisher Last Gasp proud to bring back this early Beat classic Diane di Prima has long been recognized as one of the strongest voice of her generation, and one of the few women who was able to break through the male-dominated beatnik scene. Her poetic portrayal of lowlife Bohemians and revolutionary mentalities shatter the conservative myths of the Fifties and lay bare the emerging sexual experimentation that would shape the Sixties.

13 For Luck


Agatha Christie - 1961
    Brain-twisters, spine-chilling perils, secret codes, daring deductions, well-hidden clues, suspicious-looking characters—these are just a few of the tantalizing ingredients Miss Christie serves up to Hercule Poirot, Jane Marple, Harley Quin, Mr Parker Pyne, Tommy and Tuppence, and Inspector Evans in this collection.Contents: The veiled lady — The Nemean lion — The girdle of Hyppolita — The Market Basing mystery — Tape-measure murder — The blue geranium — The four suspects — The face of Helen — The bird with the broken wing — The Regatta mystery — Problem at Pollensa Bay — The unbreakable alibi — Accident

The Gonzo Tapes: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson


Hunter S. Thompson - 2008
    Hunter S. Thompson, filmmaker Alex Gibney and archivist Don Fleming were given permission by Thompson's widow to explore boxes of tapes stored in the basement of his Owl Farm home in Woody Creek, Colorado. Recorded by Thompson between 1965 and 1975, these audio notes capture his thoughts and descriptions both as they're happening and during the writing process, from his travels with Terry the Tramp and the rest of the Hell's Angels, through the infamous Las Vegas trips, to Thompson's trek across Southeast Asia during the fall of South Vietnam. Fleming—former front man of the band Velvet Monkeys and now a music producer for the likes of Sonic Youth and Alice Cooper—transferred the tapes and cassettes to digital files for use in the film, but also realized their tremendous value as a direct window into Thompson's thoughts and methods. Here Fleming presents these recordings in a 5-CD set, boxed in a 6 x 12-inch coffee-table format with a booklet full of never-before published images from Thompson's estate, as well as photos and an introduction from Gibney, and an essay by Thompson's fellow correspondent Loren Jenkins.- Daedalus Books Online

The Forgotten


Elie Wiesel - 1989
    "A book of shattering force that offers a message of urgency to a world under the spell of trivia and the tyranny of amnesia."--Chicago Tribune Book World.

Burroughs Live: The Collected Interviews, 1960-1997


William S. Burroughs - 2000
    The book provides a fascinating account of Burroughs's life as a literary outlaw. Illuminating many aspects of his work and many facets of his mind, it brings out his scathing humor, powerful intelligence, and nightmarish vision.

Gasoline & The Vestal Lady on Brattle


Gregory Corso - 1955
    Take in your hands a refinement of beauty out of a destructive atmosphere. These combinations are imaginary and purein accordance with Corso's individual (therefore universal) desire." - Allen Ginsberg