The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test Study Guide

Character List

Ken Kesey

Novelist and leader of the Merry Pranksters

Babbs

Prankster, Vietnam veteran, and Kesey's second in command

Stewart Brand

Prankster; brains behind the Trips Festival

Neal Cassady

Prankster; real-life inspiration for the character Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road

Jerry Garcia

Band leader of The Grateful Dead

Allen Ginsberg

Writer, poet, and frequent party companion of the Pranksters

Larry McMurtry

Author of novels including Lonesome Dove and friend of Kesey

Owsley

Chemist and manufacturer of LSD

Faye Kesey

Ken Kesey's wife

Mountain Girl

Prankster; becomes pregnant with Kesey's child

Gretchin Fetchin

Also known as the Slime Queen; Prankster who covers herself in mud during their first bus trip East

Sandy Lehman-Haupt

Prankster; continually has mental breakdowns because of having taken too much LSD

Black Maria

Prankster; girl whom Kesey meets as a fugitive in Mexico

The Hermit

A kid who lives in the woods, at Kesey's house

Doris Delay

Prankster

Hassler

Prankster; tries to convince Wolfe of all the "games" that society plays

George Walker

Prankster; marries Mountain Girl

Paul Foster

Prankster; responsible for the audio and visual technology at the Acid Tests

Freewheeling Frank

Prankster; member of the Hell's Angels

Paul Sawyer

Unitarian Youth minister who invites Kesey to speak at a Unitarian conference

Zonker

Prankster; runs away to Mexico with Kesey

Fritz Perls

Head of the Esalen Institute; invites Kesey to lead a seminar

Big Nig

Allows the Pranksters to use his house for an Acid Test

Stark Naked

Prankster; loses her mind on the trip to New York