Flowers For Algernon

With over five million copies sold, Flowers for Algernon is a beloved American classic about a man who receives an operation that turns him into a genius and introduces him to heartache.

'A masterpiece' Guardian
'A timeless tearjerker' Independent

'Convincing and touching' New York Times

Charlie Gordon, a floor sweeper born with an unusually low IQ, has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that doctors hope will increase his intelligence - a procedure that has been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon. All Charlie wants is to be smart and have friends, but the treatment turns him into a genius.

Then Algernon begins to fade. What will become of Charlie?

Born in Brooklyn in 1927, Daniel Keyes worked as a merchant seaman, editor and university lecturer. He published four other novels, including Flowers for Algernon, originally a short story, for which he won the Hugo Award, later expanded into the Nebula Award-winning novel and adapted as an Oscar-winning film (Charly, 1968). Daniel Keyes had a Master's degree in English and American literature and was a Professor of English and Creative writing. He died in 2014.