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Flowers for Algernon /

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: New York : Harcourt, Brace & World, 1966.Edition: [1st ed.]Description: 311 p. ; 20 cmISBN:
  • 015603008X
Subject(s): Summary: Following his doctor's instructions, engaging simpleton Charlie Gordon tells his own story in semi-literate "progris riports." He dimly wants to better himself, but with an IQ of 68 can't even beat the laboratory mouse Algernon at maze-solving. Then, an operation turns him into a genius and introduces him to heartache.
List(s) this item appears in: Nebula award winners
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Holdings
Item type Current library Home library Collection Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Standard Loan Liberty Lake Library Young Adult Fiction Liberty Lake Library Book YA KEYES (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 31421000195868
Standard Loan Metalines Community Library Adult Fiction Metalines Community Library Book F Keyes Flo (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 30001100805474
Standard Loan Mullan Library Adult Fiction Mullan Library Book - Paperback KEYES (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 50610019642458
Standard Loan Wallace Junior/Senior High School Library Classics Wallace Junior/Senior High School Library Book KEYES/AR 5.8 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 50610012691866
Total holds: 1

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, the powerful, classic story about a man who receives an operation that turns him into a genius...and introduces him to heartache.



Charlie Gordon is about to embark upon an unprecedented journey. Born with an unusually low IQ, he has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that researchers hope will increase his intelligence-a procedure that has already been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon.



As the treatment takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment appears to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance, until Algernon suddenly deteriorates. Will the same happen to Charlie?



Following his doctor's instructions, engaging simpleton Charlie Gordon tells his own story in semi-literate "progris riports." He dimly wants to better himself, but with an IQ of 68 can't even beat the laboratory mouse Algernon at maze-solving. Then, an operation turns him into a genius and introduces him to heartache.

Reading Counts! PURPLE 001LLM

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

progris riport 1 martch 3Dr Strauss says I shoud rite down what I think and remembir and evrey thing that happins to me from now on. I dont no why but he says its importint so they will see if they can use me. I hope they use me becaus Miss Kinnian says mabye they can make me smart. I want to be smart. My name is Charlie Gordon I werk in Donners bakery where Mr Donner gives me 11 dollers a week and bred or cake if I want. I am 32 yeres old and next munth is my brithday. I tolld dr Strauss and perfesser Nemur I cant rite good but he says it dont matter he says I shud rite just like I talk and like I rite compushishens in Miss Kinnians class at the beekmin collidge center for retarted adults where I go to lern 3 times a week on my time off. Dr. Strauss says to rite a lot evrything I think and evrything that happins to me but I cant think anymor because I have nothing to rite so I will close for today...yrs truly Charlie Gordon.progris riport 2-martch 4I had a test today. I think I faled it and I think mabye now they wont use me. What happind is I went to Prof Nemurs office on my lunch time like they said and his secertery took me to a place that said psych dept on the door with a long hall and alot of littel rooms with onley a desk and chares. And a nice man was in one of the rooms and he had some wite cards with ink spilld all over them. He sed sit down Charlie and make yourself cunfortible and rilax. He had a wite coat like a docter but I dont think he was no docter because he dint tell me to opin my mouth and say ah. All he had was those wite cards. His name is Burt. I fergot his last name because I dont remembir so good.I dint know what he was gonna do and I was holding on tite to the chair like sometimes when I go to a dentist onley Burt aint no dentist neither but he kept telling me to rilax and that gets me skared because it always means its gonna hert.So Burt sed Charlie what do you see on this card. I saw the spilld ink and I was very skared even tho I got my rabits foot in my pockit because when I was a kid I always faled tests in school and I spilld ink to.I tolld Burt I saw ink spilld on a wite card. Burt said yes and he smild and that maid me feel good. He kept terning all the cards and I tolld him somebody spilld ink on all of them red and black. I thot that was a easy test but when I got up to go Burt stoppd me and said now sit down Charlie we are not thru yet. Theres more we got to do with these cards. I dint understand about it but I remembir Dr Strauss said do anything the testor telld me even if it dont make no sense because thats testing.I dont remembir so good what Burt said but I remembir he wantid me to say what was in the ink. I dint see nothing in the ink but Burt sed there was picturs there. I coudnt see no picturs. I reely tryed to see. I holded the card up close and then far away. Then I said if I had my eye glassis I coud probaly see better I usully only ware my eyeglassis in the movies or to watch TV but Excerpted from Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Daniel Keyes was born in Brooklyn, New York on August 9, 1927. He received a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1950 and a master's degree in English literature in 1961 from Brooklyn College. He was an editor for pulp fiction magazines, taught English in New York City public schools, and was an English and creative writing professor at Wayne State University and Ohio University.

In 1959, his novella Flowers for Algernon was published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and won the Hugo Award for best short fiction in 1960. By 1966 he had expanded the story into a novel with the same title, which tied for the Nebula Award for best novel that year. The novel was adapted as a stage play, developed as a dramatic musical, and adapted into a movie entitled Charly for which Cliff Robertson won the Academy Award for best actor.

During his lifetime, he wrote several more novels including The Touch, The Fifth Sally, and Until Death. His three nonfiction books include The Minds of Billy Milligan, The Milligan Wars: A True-Story Sequel, and Unveiling Claudia. He also wrote a memoir entitled Algernon, Charlie and I. He died from complications of pneumonia on June 15, 2014 at the age of 86.

(Bowker Author Biography)

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