Flowers For Algernon
Charlie Gordon, IQ 68, is a floor sweeper and the gentle butt of everyone's jokes - until an experiment in the enhancement of human intelligence turns him into a genius.
But then Algernon, the mouse whose triumphal experimental transformation preceded his, fades and dies, and Charlie has to face the possibility that his salvation was only temporary.
Winner of the 1960 Hugo Award for Best Short Story, and subsequently expanded into a Hugo-nominated novel, Flowers for Algernon earned Daniel Keyes the honour of SFWA Author Emeritus in 2000 for his contribution to Science Fiction and Fantasy.
'Heartbreaking and beautiful. Required reading, as far as I am concerned' - Wil Wheaton
'A masterpiece of poignant brilliance . . . heartbreaking, and utterly, completely brilliant' - The Guardian
'Excellent . . . extremely moving' - The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
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Daniel Keyes (1927-2014)
Born in 1927 Daniel Keyes joined the US merchant marine aged 17. He won the Hugo for the short story that Flowers for Algernon was based on and the Nebula for the novel itself. He has a masters degree in English and American literature and is a Professor of English and Creative writing. He died in June, 2014.