One flew over the cuckoo's nest

Since its first publication in 1962, Ken Kesey's astonishing first novel has achieved the status of a contemporary classic. Into the all-powerful mental institution comes McMurphy, a brawling gambling man of immense charm, who wages total war on behalf of his cowed fellow inmates. What follows is at once hilarious and heroic, tragic and ultimately liberating, as McMurphy's war is first won, then lost.