One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Since its first publication fourteen years ago, Ken Kesey’s astonishing first novel has achieved the status of a contemporary classic.

Chief Bromdem, half American-Indian, whom the authorities believe is deaf and dumb, tells the story of a mental institution ruled by Big Nurse on behalf of the all-powerful Combine. Into this terrifying grey world comes McMurphy, a brawling gambling man, who wages total war on behalf of his cowed fellow-inmates. What follows is at once hilarious and heroic, tragic and ultimately liberating.