Kesey and Plath: A New American Myth

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Kesey and Plath: A New American Myth

A mutual friend sets up Ken Kesey and Sylvia Plath on a blind date. They meet in a Boston restaurant and discover they're both writers. Describe the ensuing conversation.

Sept. 3, 1955 (from Sylvia's diary)

It must have been some terrible mistake. Mother set me up with a certain Ken Kesey, a friend of a friend of the family. Terrible! We met at a restaurant on Harvard Square and it went downhill from there. I came home alright, but barely. I guess I can start from the beginning... Ken is large and very open with his body and gestures. He's from California, which could explain that. He dressed very casually and he had a crazy look in his eyes when he saw me. I don't know if he was happy to be there either. Apparently he goes to Stanford and is studying creative writing. I asked him about his writing and he started a whole speech on psychiatric wards and medications. I didn't want to hear a word about psychiatric wards, but he certainly got my interest.

He volunteers to do experiments for money. I can't imagine going through what I went through voluntarily... I did venture to ask him why he was writing about hospitals and he looked very closely at me and said, "You've been there. I know." And he did. He was seeing inside me, all the way inside, and it was the most uncomfortable silence I've ever had. I mumbled an accusation and as soon as it came out, I knew my mother hadn't told him about all that. Dinner went alright, barring the conversation about hospitals. We walked around the square and by the river for awhile and then he invited me to his hotel room and I said no, but I really wanted to leave with him. I've been so bottled up for days... I wanted to do something different. We sat down facing Cambridge and he looked at me again, intently and laughed...

"It's all black, isn't it? Then everything shuts down." Ken looked off toward the river. He started to laugh again.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sylvia put her knees closer together. Uncomfortable.

"When they throw the switch. When it all shakes and then you black out. Then you can't think for days.

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