Yrs truly Charlie Gordon
Flowers for Algernon
By Daniel Keyes
1 May, 2016
Because My Tears Are Delicious To You
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Daniel Keyes (1927 – 2014) had a long career as a writer … but he is best remembered for one piece, his story “Flowers For Algernon.” First published in short story form in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, it won a Hugo in 1960. Following a television adaptation, the original story was expanded into a Nebula-winning novel, then turned into a film. A partial list of the other adaptations may be found at the bottom of this review.
Charlie Gordon, IQ 68, strove his whole life to be a productive member of society. Frustrated with his illiteracy, he signed up for an adult education class, where he struggled to master (in his thirties) skills others had mastered as children. Impressed by Gordon’s determination, his teacher Alice Kinnion recommended Gordon as an experimental subject to Drs. Strauss and Professor Nemur.
It was a fateful decision.