Books: Life in a Loony Bin

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (311 pp.)—Ken Kesey—Viking ($4.95).

The world of this brilliant first novel is Inside—inside a mental hospital and inside the blocked minds of its inmates. Sordid sights and sounds abound, but Novelist Kesey has not descended to mere shock treatment or isolation-ward documentary. His book is a strong, warm story about the nature of human good and evil, despite its macabre setting. For as the boardinghouse provided a stock slice-of-life locale for another generation of writers, the sanitarium seems to appeal to many modern writers as a comparable microcosm...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!