Demon Box (book)

Background

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." 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." 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.