Demon Box (book)

Demon Box
Hardcover edition
AuthorKen Kesey
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreFiction and non-fiction
PublisherViking Press
Publication date
1986
Media typePrint
ISBN9780140085303
OCLC911911149
813.54
LC ClassPS3561.E667

Demon Box is a 1986 collection of works by Ken Kesey. The book includes nonfiction and fiction short stories as well as some of Kesey's essays.[1]

Background[edit]

Kesey explained why the collection of semi-autobiographical essays was titled Demon Box: "When Viking was bringing it out," he said, "they were desperate for something to call it. I told them, 'Don't call it anything .' It isn't a novel; it isn't an autobiography; it isn't journalism; I think of it as a box in which all this stuff goes."[2] To his publisher, Kesey started calling the book a "box novel," a new form of literature. "If I were to think of it as a (traditional) novel, I would have joined it together and had a gradual progression of thematic movement and character change through it, but I didn't want to do that."[2] Kesey also explained he considered the idea of publishing the essays in pamphlet form, then putting the pamphlets in a box and selling the box.[2]

Contents[edit]

  • D Tank Kickout
  • Joon the Goon was What
  • Mother's Day 1969: Quiston's Report
  • Tranny Man Over the Border
  • Abdul & Ebenezer
  • The Day After Superman Died
  • The Search for the Secret Pyramid
  • Killer
  • Oleo: Demon Briefs and Dopey Ditties
  • Finding Doctor Fung
  • Run into Great Wall
  • Little Tricker the Squirrel Meets Big Double the Bear - by Grandma Whittier
  • Good Friday - by Grandma Whittier
  • Now We Know How Many Holes It Takes to Fill the Albert Hall
  • The Demon Box: An Essay
  • Last Time the Angels Came Up

References[edit]

  1. ^ Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher. "Books of the Times; Demon Box". The New York Times (August 4, 1986). Retrieved on February 25, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c Donovan, Dianne (1986-09-24). "Author Ken Kesey at Home on Farm With 'Demon Box'". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-02-12.