Flowers for Algernon (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: Daniel Keyes
- First Published: 1966
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Science fiction—superbeing
- Time of Work: The 1960’s
- Setting: New York City
- Genres: Long fiction, Bildungsroman, Science fiction
- Subjects: 1960’s, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Sex or sexuality, New York City, Friendship, Surgery or surgeons, Death or dying, Funeral rites or ceremonies, Mental retardation, Pets, Hospitals, Learning or scholarship, Intellect, Experiments, Rats or mice
- Locales: New York, NY, Chicago, IL
The Plot
Flowers for Algernon unfolds in a series of diary entries. In the first, dated “martch 3,” Charlie describes himself as a thirty-two-year-old man who works at a bakery and attends “Miss Kinnians class at the beekmin colledge center for retarted adults.” Ensuing entries chronicle Charlie’s progress as the first human subjected to an intelligence-boosting surgical procedure.
Before the operation, Charlie undergoes a series of tests that measure his intelligence. In one, he tries in vain to pencil through a maze faster than Algernon can run it....
[The entire page is 1080 words long]
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