Flowers for Algernon

By: Daniel Keyes

Narrated by: Jeff Woodman

Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Charlie Gordon knows that he isn't very bright. At 32, he mops floors in a bakery and earns just enough to get by. Three evenings a week, he studies at a center for mentally challenged adults. But all of this is about to change for Charlie. As part of a daring experiment, doctors are going to perform surgery on Charlie's brain. They hope the operation and special medication will increase his intelligence, just as it has for the laboratory mouse, Algernon. Meanwhile, each day Charlie keeps a diary of what is happening to him. This is his poignant record of the startling changes in his mind and his life.

Flowers for Algernon was first published as a short story, but soon received wide acclaim as it appeared in anthologies, as a television special, and as an award-winning motion picture, Charly. In its final, expanded form, this haunting story won the Nebula Award for the Best Novel of the Year. Through Jeff Woodman's narration, it now becomes an unforgettable audio experience.

©1966 Daniel Keyes (P)1998 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

• Nebula Award, Best Novel, 1966

"A tale that is convincing, suspectful and touching." ( The New York Times)

Better as short story

3 major themes make this too long. How his family dealt with retardation, emotional and sexual growth, and the fundamental issues with increased intelligence.

Heartbreaking

Even though I had never read the book I knew how this story would end. Still, Charley's decline as the operation that gave him intelligence starts to fail still has an emotional punch. It's a classic of scifi literature and deservedly so.

Narration was good and understandable at x2 playback speed.

A Timeless Novel

I remember reading this book when I was a teenager. It might have been required reading, or maybe something I picked up in the library. Going back to it as an adult, I kind of suspect the version I previously read may have been abridged or an edited version, as there were parts I didn't recall from before...important and relevant, but possibly not appropriate for the classroom in the early 1980s (when I first read it). Or maybe it was the clinical terminology from the '60s that is now considered insensitive and politically incorrect.
I didn't remember it as a science fiction book. Or maybe I didn't consider it as such when I originally read it. I thought it more of a psychology or human nature type book. It is both, and indeed, Mr. Keyes had to have a pretty vast knowledge of the workings of the human mind to write such an insightful, thought provoking book. It's hard for me to imagine the thought process of someone mentally challenged or someone experiencing Alzheimer’s, but I felt like Daniel Keyes interpretation was very plausible.
I consider Flowers for Algernon one of those timeless novels that should be read by everyone. It's the type of book I find hard to put down (even though I've read it before, so I know how it's going to end). It is a book that will make you think, on so many different levels. It will stay with you long after you finish it.
The narrator did a fantastic job portraying Charlie in his various states of mental capacity.

A classic, no doub.t

I can relate to Charlie in some ways, despite the fact my disabilities are physical, not mental. The ending, God, poor Charlie. Can't keep it I'm afraid, but, I still love it.

Depressing as one might expect...

The narrator did a great job with Charlie's progression and regression. I had no idea what the story was about when I started. It has an interesting concept of exploring what would happen if someone rapidly gained IQ from well below average and then lost it all again.
The story reflects the mid-20th century view of women as not much more than accessories for men. Charlie spends and uncomfortable (for me at least) about of time coping with his sexual hang ups.
Overall, I can understand why it's a classic, and I appreciate the ethical questions it raises and explores.

Beautiful and memorable

What is lost or gained as intelligence changes? As the main character goes through a transformation, we live it with him and even the narration flows with the change. Totally captured me.

I was moved by this book

Flowers for Algeron is about us people, not just simply about Charlie , or of the science research. It is about phycology of men. I was crying at the end, because of helplessness to help people like Charlie.
Read this book, it would make you think.

Wonderful book

A wonderfully sad tale of a person that wants to be smart so that everone will like him.

classic tale

enjoyed the story and performance. missed this in school, surprised how much reference too sex was included, but worth reading.

Great narrator!

The narrator made this a great book despite the challenging way in which it was written.