![]() It was later reprinted in The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, 9th series (1960), the Fifth Annual of the Year's Best Science Fiction (1960), Best Articles and Stories (1961), Literary Cavalcade (1961), The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964 (1970), and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction: A 30-Year Retrospective (1980). The short story "Flowers for Algernon" was first published as the lead story in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Five publishers rejected the story over the course of a year until it was published by Harcourt in 1966. Again, Keyes refused and gave Doubleday back their advance. Keyes worked on the expanded novel between 19 and first tried to sell it to Doubleday, but they also wanted to change the ending. Keyes refused to make the change and sold the story to The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction instead. When the story was submitted to Galaxy, however, editor Horace Gold suggested changing the ending so that Charlie retained his intelligence, married Alice Kinnian, and lived happily ever after. In 1958, Keyes was approached by Galaxy Science Fiction magazine to write a story, at which point the elements of Flowers for Algernon fell into place. As he was developing his story, he satirically transformed his frustrating Tests and Measurements advisor into Burt, the tester who similarly frustrates Charlie. Events that Charlie experiences were also based on Keyes's life, including the Rorschach test and Charlie's frustration with it, which was inspired by Keyes' past experience with the test when he was exploring the causes of his anxiety as a college student. Nemur and Strauss, the scientists who develop the intelligence-enhancing surgery in the story, were based on professors Keyes met while in graduate school. The character of Algernon was inspired by a university dissection class, and the name was inspired by the poet Algernon Charles Swinburne. It was a heart-breaker." Ĭharacters in the book were based on people in Keyes's life. ![]() Keyes said that "When he came back to school, he had lost it all. Keyes also witnessed the dramatic change in another learning-disabled student who regressed after he was removed from regular lessons. His goal was to elevate such a character to the heights of genius at the cost of being disconnected before having them lose it all.Ī pivotal moment occurred in 1957 while Keyes was teaching English to students with special needs, and one of them asked if it would be possible for the student to be put into an ordinary class ( mainstreamed) if he worked hard and became smart. He therefore made his story's main character a person who was initially "lowborn" (a mentally disabled young man) who then became a "highborn" after the intelligence-enhancing procedures. He said that he was inspired by Aristotle's dictum in the Poetics, which states that a tragedy can only occur for the highborn, because one could only have a tragic fall from a great height. Keyes, in his 1999 memoir Algernon, Charlie and I: A Writer's Journey, explains more about his creative writing process and relates key insights for the conception of Flowers for Algernon. Based on these considerations, Keyes further developed his ideas for Flowers for Algernon by transforming the initial concept into what Keyes asserted as "a classic tragedy". Keyes felt that his education was driving a wedge between himself and his parents, and this led him to wonder what would happen if it were possible to increase a person's intelligence. The ideas for Flowers for Algernon developed over 14 years and were inspired by events in Keyes's life, starting in 1945 with Keyes's conflict with his parents, who were pushing a pre-medical education despite his desire to pursue a writing career. Īlthough the book has often been challenged for removal from libraries in the United States and Canada, sometimes successfully, it is frequently taught in schools around the world and has been adapted many times for television, theater, radio and as the Academy Award-winning film Charly. The story is told by a series of progress reports written by Charlie Gordon, the first human subject for the surgery, and it touches on ethical and moral themes such as the treatment of the mentally disabled. Īlgernon is a laboratory mouse who has undergone surgery to increase his intelligence. The novel was published in 1966 and was joint winner of that year's Nebula Award for Best Novel (with Babel-17). ![]() The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1960. Flowers for Algernon is a short story by American author Daniel Keyes, later expanded by him into a novel and subsequently adapted for film and other media.
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