author: Daniel Keyes
published: 2005 by Harvest Books
isbn: 0156030306 (isbn13: 9780156030304)
pages: 324
literary awards: Nebula Award 1967
description: Daniel Keyes wrote little science fiction but is highly regarded for one classic, Flowers for Algernon. As a 1959 novella it won a Hugo Award; the 1966 novel-length expansion won a Nebula. The Oscar-winning movie adaptation Charly (1968) also spawned a 1980 Broadway musical.
Following his doctor’s instructions, engaging simpleton Charlie Gordon tells his own story in semi-literate “progris riports.” He dimly wants to better himself, but with an IQ of 68 can’t even beat the laboratory mouse Algernon at maze-solving.
Algernon is extra-clever thanks to an experimental brain operation so far tried only on animals. Charlie eagerly volunteers as the first human subject. After frustrating delays and agonies of concentration, the effects begin to show and the reports steadily improve: “Punctuation, is? fun!” But getting smarter brings cruel shocks, as Charlie realizes that his merry “friends” at the bakery where he sweeps the floor have all along been laughing at him, never with him. The IQ rise continues, taking him steadily past the human average to genius level and beyond, until he’s as intellectually alone as the old, foolish Charlie ever was–and now painfully aware of it. Then, ominously, the smart mouse Algernon begins to deteriorate…
AND I SAY:
Its one of those books that pulls you out from the comforts of normalcy. Simply one of the most riveting books i’ve read in my life.
If you’ve seen Robert De Niro and Robin Williams’ Awakenings, the book is something like it - only better.
I love the way it was told from charlie’s point of view - and grammar. 
A must-read book.
