title: The Further Inquiry
author:  Ken Kesey 
description: Over 25 years ago, Kesey's Merry Pranksters painted a 1939 school bus in psychedelic colors, stocked it with cameras, sound equipment, and LSD, and headed for the New York World's Fair. The trip, celebrated in Tom Wolfe's Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test ( LJ 8/68), has become part of the counterculture legend. These two copiously illustrated works commemorate the silver anniversary of that historic journey. Both cover the same key events and prominently feature Neal Cassady, but their approaches are very different. Perry and Babbs have compiled a montage of photos, reminiscences, interviews, and historical commentary that documents the change in consciousness that took place in the United States between 1964 and 1972. The book provides a thumbnail history of the development of LSD, a flavor of the short-lived but influential hippie movement, and a glimpse into some of the most creative lives of the time, including Allen Ginsberg, Larry McMurtry, and Jerry Garcia. Kesey's work is a surreal script in which Cassady's ghost is brought to trial. Witnesses testify to Cassady's deeds, re-creating the bus trip for the court. The script is clever and entertaining but it will only be fully appreciated by those knowledgeable about Cassady's life. Such background can be found in Carolyn Cassady's Off the Road ( LJ 6/15/90) and William Plummer's The Holy Goof ( LJ 10/15/81). Photographs are a major part of each book, but there is little overlap. The Smithsonian's recent attempts to acquire the bus may spark reader interest. Highly recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/90.<br /><i>- William Gargan, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., CUNY</i><br />Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  # The Mystery of the Blue Train
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The Mystery of the Blue Train
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # The Mystery of the Blue Train
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 9
  
  
  AN OFFER REFUSED
  
  
  It was rarely that Derek Kettering allowed his temper to get the better of
  him. An easygoing insouciance was his chief characteristic and it had stood
  him in good stead in more than one tight corner. Even now, by the time he had
  left Mirelle's flat, he had cooled down. He had need of coolness. The corner
  he was in now was a tighter one than he had ever been in before, and
  unforeseen factors had arisen with which, for the moment, he did not know how
  to deal.
  
  
  He strolled along deep in thought. His brow was furrowed, and there was none
  of the easy, jaunty manner which sat so well on him. Various possibilities
  floated trough his mind. It might have been said of Derek Kettering that he
  was less of a fool than he looked. He saw several roads that he might take -
  one in particular. If he shrank from it, it was for the moment only