Flowers for Algernon

Summary

Daniel Keyes tells the story of Charlie Gordon, a man with a low IQ who undergoes an experimental surgery that dramatically raises his intelligence, mirroring an earlier procedure on a laboratory mouse named Algernon. Written as a series of progress reports, the novel charts Charlie's rise into genius and the heartbreaking reversal that follows. Its intimate first person voice and themes of dignity, knowledge, and loss have made it a staple of classrooms and a touchstone of emotional science fiction.