Flowers for Algernon
Daniel Keyes, 1966
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
320 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780156030083
Summary
With more than five million copies sold, Flowers for Algernon is the beloved, classic story of a mentally disabled man whose experimental quest for intelligence mirrors that of Algernon, an extraordinary lab mouse. In poignant diary entries, Charlie tells how a brain operation increases his IQ and changes his life.
As the experimental procedure takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment seems to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance—until Algernon begins his sudden, unexpected deterioration. Will the same happen to Charlie? (From the publisher.)
The book became the 1968 movie Charly with Claire Bloom and Cliiff Robertson as Charlie, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor.