Daniel Keyes Books

What it takes to write one great book is a lifetime of preparation. It seems that every element of Daniel Keyes' life, up to the writing of Flowers for Algernon, was gearing toward that one great book. Every piece of Charlie's life, and every phrase spoken by his coworkers and the scientists who changed him came from Keyes' experience.

Half of this autobiography is the set-up to his great novel, the one work that would define his life. The other half is the aftermath. Thrust into fame and the machine that profits off other's works, Keyes' found himself tossed to and fro.

A writer wants to write, not to examine contracts and make decisions about rights. A writer wants to create and then to own his creations, not to see what came from his mind as property to be arbitrated. Daniel Keyes' found himself in the fortunate position of creating a work of beauty and then wrestling with ownership of that beauty for many years afterward.

What I loved about this autobiography is the journey which prepared him to write a great novel - showing the work and creativity and effort that goes into an instance of genius. What I also loved was the life's lessons learned that he put down on paper so that another person might have an easier journey.

- CV Rick

Mr. Keyes exposes himself personally in this intimate autobiography. I was captured by his honesty, his sensitivity and his fluid writing style. I felt, as though I was a familiar friend and I gained and enormous appreciation for his dedication in writing "Flowers for Algernon". I look forward to more books by this gifted author. I hear his next will be science fiction / mystery.

This book is about one retarded guy named Charlie Gordon. Thisbook is very interesting because this book is written as a real diaryof Charlie. Very first part of book... Charlie's grammars and spellings are all wrong. After Charlie gets operation, Charlie is getting smarter and his writing skills are getting better. End of this book, Charlie is turn into retarded man again. This book shows Charlie's efforts to get smarter, Charlie's lonesome life, and his emotional changes. I felt sorry about Charlie when I read last part of the book. This book is extraordinary and very cool.

The main charm of "Algernon, Charlie and I" is the revealed episodes behind "Flowers for Algernon", which make you understand (at least partly) why "Flowers's for Algernon", the author's acclaimed novel, is so increadibly compelling and moving.

By reading this book, you will find that the "Flowers for Algernon" is not a product of pure fantasy, but is based on so actual facts, emotions and feelings, that the author had been observing and experiencing himself. Charlie's desire to become smart comes from the author's experience while working with mentally retarded children, who wanted to become smart. Charlie's feeling toward the professor, while becoming smarter than the professor who created him, comes from the author's experience of suddently over-growing his parents, immigrants who did not speak English fluently.

After reading this book, you will realise that it is the author's sensitivity, warmness toward other people and his candidness about his own feeling what make his extraordinary novel so warm and moving. In the end, "Flowers for Algernon" is not about this poor guy who has gone through extraordinary experience, but about all of us.

In Algernon, Charlie And I: A Writer's Journey, Daniel Keys reveals the life experiences behind his creation of the character Charlie Gordon, a young man whose quest for intelligence and knowledge parallels that of the mouse, Algernon, in his acclaimed novelette "Flowers for Algernon" (which has been optioned and is in production for a CBS made-for-tv movie. Both the novelette version, and the novel that followed, have been widely translated and remain part of many school and college literature course curriculums. Algernon, Charlie And I includes the author's original short novelette version and is a "must" for all Keys fans.

This is a wonderful and highly original novel about a mentally challenged man named Charlie who wanted to be smart. One day, his wish was granted. A group of scientists selected him for an experimental operation that raised his intelligence to genius level. Suddenly, Charlie found himself transformed, and life, as he knew it, changed.

His story is told entirely through Charlie's eyes and perceptions in the form of progress reports. The reader actually sees the change in Charlie take place, as his progress reports become more complex, well written, and filled with the angst of personal discovery and growth, as well as with his gradual awareness of his amazing and accelerated intellectual development.

The progress reports are a wonderful contrivance for facilitating the story, and the reader is one with Charlie on his voyage of self-discovery. What happens to Charlie in the long run is profoundly moving and thought provoking. It is no wonder that this author was the recipient of the Nebula Award which is given by the Science Fiction Writers of America for having written the Best Novel of the Year. This is definitely a book well worth reading.

Since this novel was written decades ago - I would say that "At First Sight" (starring Val kilmer) is a rip off of this novel. Except that in this novel the main character is mentally retarded instead of blind.

The novel is in the form of a diary written by the main character. As the character's IQ improves and he becomes smarter the diary's contents become profound.

When I read the main story line on the cover - I expected an emotion filled mushy and cheesy novel. Since this novel was given to me as a gift I started reading it anyways. The first few pages did validate my initial impression - but soon enough I realized the novel is anything but mushy and cheesy. Of course it is an emotional roller coaster - but the author has done such an amazing job in narrating the story that you never feel any mushiness. Instead you would relate to the emotions that the main character goes through. Additionally you would also be able to relate to several other characters in the novel.

Simply put this is an awesome cathartic novel - the ups and downs of the mentally challenged main character are just a metaphor to the readers' individual trials and tribulations.

Warning to the weak hearted - do keep a box of tissues handy !

Flowers for Algernon is about a young man named Charlie Gordon that undergoes an operation to increase is IQ. During his treatment, he begins to have memories of a young child that he never had before. He remembers his childhood and how his unhappy mother denied his illness as a "special needs" person. He also has some unpleasant memories, like his mother slapping him because he was holding his little sister. There is also a mouse named Algernon, that had also undergone the same operation as Charlie. Throughout the months, Algernon's IQ begins to drop, and he becomes ill and eventually dies. The same thing happens to Charlie, except he doesn't die. He becomes the same person he was before the operation.


The main character in Flowers for Algernon is Charlie Gordon. Charlie is a 32-year-old man with dark brown hair that has an April birthday. He works at Donners bakery and earns 11 dollars a week. He attends Beckman collage for retarded adults, and he also has a younger sister named Norma. Charlie and I do not share any traits, but we are very different. Charlie had a very terrible childhood. His father left Charlie at a very young age, so that means that he didn't really know his father very well. I have had a very good childhood, and have a great relationship with both my mother and my father. Charlie is also a very dependent person, but I am very independent.

I think that Flowers for Algernon is a very interesting book, and it had a good meaning. I think that it can teach people that you should be happy with yourself, and you shouldn't want to be anyone else. I really liked it, but it got confusing sometimes. My favorite part was when Charlie asks Mrs. Kinnian, his teacher, to put some flowers on Algernon's grave. I think that everyone should read this book.

Recently I began a project investigating the works of Alan Keyes for a project in one of literature classes. Through this project I became interested in 'The Fifth Sally' and decided to order a used copy.

I'll admit I had my hesitations, it had been published once in 1980 and hadn't been published since. Evidently it hadn't even warrented a paperback edition. But after reading the novel, I can only weep that it seems fated to die in obscurity.

Without a doubt, The Fifth Sally was one of the best books I have ever had the fortune to read and it solidified my belief that Daniel Keyes is an excellent author and one of the greats of the twentieth century.

Strictly speaking, this book is not comparable to Keyes' Flowers For Algernon, the novel that he will be remembered by and for good reason, but The Fifth Sally is never-the-less excellent. The tale is of Sally, Bella, Nola, Derry, and Jinx. The interesting thing about these five women is that they all seem to be occupying the same body.

Keyes pays little attention to the controversy over whether Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) is a real disease and instead writes from the assumption that it is in fact very real. He hints at the controversy from time to time but ultimately that is irrelevent. You see, the tale is written from a first person point of view, Derry tells us the story. When she is in control, it is pure first person and when one of the others is in control, she is little more then an observer.

The style can be described as little more then simply fascinating. It's generally a cardinal rule not to mix multiple viewpoints, especially in a single scene, but Keyes slips between Derry's first person narration (and Derry is a great story teller!) to an impartial recording that you almost forget it is Derry telling that you never feel lost.

The book is riveting, all along we see Sally's more acceptable personalities: Sally the motherly type, Derry the tomboy, Bella the party-goer, and Nola the artist. But all along we know that Jinx, the maniac, is lurking just under the surface and we never know just what Jinx is going to do.

All I can say of this book is this: ordering a used copy of it will be the best thing you ever do. Pay exhorbatent prices (not too exhorbatent lets hope, I paid a modest $15 but it was well worth it) climb over hills, steal from libraries (ok, well maybe not that) Anything - just find a way to get a copy of this book. It is simply fantastic. Whether it is comparable to Keyes's more well known The Minds of Billy Madigan is hard to say, but I know this much: I won't forget Sally or the others for a long time to come.

This is the Spanish text edition of a wonderful and highly original novel, "Flowers for Algernon", which is about a mentally challenged man named Charlie who wanted to be smart. One day, his wish was granted. A group of scientists selected him for an experimental operation that raised his intelligence to genius level. Suddenly, Charlie found himself transformed, and life, as he knew it, changed.

His story is told entirely through Charlie's eyes and perceptions in the form of progress reports. The reader actually sees the change in Charlie take place, as his progress reports become more complex, well written, and filled with the angst of personal discovery and growth, as well as with his gradual awareness of his amazing and accelerated intellectual development.

The progress reports are a wonderful contrivance for facilitating the story, and the reader is one with Charlie on his voyage of self-discovery. What happens to Charlie in the long run is profoundly moving and thought provoking. It is no wonder that this author was the recipient of the Nebula Award which is given by the Science Fiction Writers of America for having written the Best Novel of the Year. This is definitely a book well worth reading.

The Medical Response to Terrorism Textbook is EXCELLENT - I have really enjoyed reading it (and I HATE reading textbooks). Each chapter is up to date, focused, and written in a manner more reminiscent of a novel than a medical textbook. Limiting the number of pages per chapter really forced the authors to be concise and made each topic more inviting to read. Great stuff - Dr. Keyes, et al should be very proud.

It was a provocative and well written book. Both my teens also read and enjoyed it. I cringed at the look into how society treats mentally challenged individuals. The main characters have to make incredibly difficult and thought provoking choices. I cried at the end. It is short but has enough meat to be a great book club choice.

"Norma Screamed at her: "Mother! Put down that knife!" Seeing Rose standing there with the knife brought back a picture of that night when she had Matt take me away. She was reliving that now. I couldn't speak or move. The nausea swept over me now, the choking tension, the buzzing in my ears, my stomach knotting and stretching as if it wanted to tear itself out of my body. She had a knife, Alice had a knife, and my father had a knife and Dr. Strauss had a knife..."

The book Flowers for Algernon a science fiction novel by Daniel Keys is very intriguing, it begun with the surgery of 32 year old Charlie Gordan. Charlie lives in the suburbs of New York in the 1960's and is mentally challenged adult. With an IQ of 68 the surgery is meant to increase his intelligence by and almost triple his IQ. Once Charlie and his doctors notice a change in Algernon the lab rat who first had the operation they wonder if the same complications could turn up in Charlie. Will Charlie's IQ continue to sky rocket or will everything go very wrong? Could this hurt his relationship with the women he loves? Read FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON to find out!

I think that this story was so meaningful because of the strongly implied theme. That theme was that scientific advancement was not always positive. Scientist should realize that advancements are not always the best for human-kind and they don't have the right to change fate. Personally I strongly enjoyed this novel because it states a belief that I value. Science advancement I was delighted by this novel and think that anyone looking for an interesting book that changes the way you think about yourself, others and the world, then this would be a great book for you.

"Norma Screamed at her: "Mother! Put down that knife!" Seeing Rose standing there with the knife brought back a picture of that night when she had Matt take me away. She was reliving that now. I couldn't speak or move. The nausea swept over me now, the choking tension, the buzzing in my ears, my stomach knotting and stretching as if it wanted to tear itself out of my body. She had a knife, Alice had a knife, and my father had a knife and Dr. Strauss had a knife..."

The book Flowers for Algernon a science fiction novel by Daniel Keys is very intriguing, it begun with the surgery of 32 year old Charlie Gordan. Charlie lives in the suburbs of New York in the 1960's and is mentally challenged adult. With an IQ of 68 the surgery is meant to increase his intelligence by and almost triple his IQ. Once Charlie and his doctors notice a change in Algernon the lab rat who first had the operation they wonder if the same complications could turn up in Charlie. Will Charlie's IQ continue to sky rocket or will everything go very wrong? Could this hurt his relationship with the women he loves? Read FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON to find out!

I think that this story was so meaningful because of the strongly implied theme. That theme was that scientific advancement was not always positive. Scientist should realize that advancements are not always the best for human-kind and they don't have the right to change fate. Personally I strongly enjoyed this novel because it states a belief that I value. Science advancement I was delighted by this novel and think that anyone looking for an interesting book that changes the way you think about yourself, others and the world, then this would be a great book for you.

I read this as a child and just seeing the book again brought such memories of how it affected me. I highly recommend this book. I will definately read it again. It is very thought provoking and emotional.

This is now my absolute favorite tragic novel. I can't justify how sincerely and compellingly Charlie's journal conveys his warmth and spirit. Charlie evolves from mental disability to genius and devolves back into intellectual darkness. But where we begin to see his intelligence shine through, we see his unhappiness and dissatisfaction with the world grow. His elation at the realization that he is growing smarter every day is matched only by his desperation and terror that his descent is even more rapid.

I bawled during the last ten pages or so, sharing his horror and deep sadness that he would soon forget who he was and who he had been. After a few moments of reflection, I began to wonder if the rise and fall of Charlie's intelligence was not overshadowed by his emotional journey. As a "retarded" adult, he was happy just knowing that he made others happy. As a genius, he was miserable in the thought that others were laughing at him. Finally, in the end, he again is able to recognize that happiness comes from making others happy. But he also has the knowledge of himself that he did not have at the beginning of the story.

Is he really better off having experienced the intellectual and emotional journey? Does his achievement of emotional enlightenment at the end balance his descent into intellectual darkness?

to me Milligan comes across as an ego-maniac fraud. i believe he had an abusive childhood and that he is a sociopath, but i believe he just learned to act and manipulate people. he is a serial rapist and armed robber. i hope he is cured, but i believe he is a con man who has created quite a scam for himself.

I hate to sound morbid or cruel but I don't think the author really explains the actual cruelty and abuse that Billy suffered at the hands of his stepfather on that farm in Ohio. I am glad that the author shows us pictures of the real Billy and his family. We should realize how important the effects of cruel child abuse whether physical, sexual, emotional or psychological can manifest in a young child like Billy. Of course, there is no excuse for his crimes of raping women. The author explains the development of Billy's mind and the fragments which holds the personalities or individuals that make him. Without them in the first place, Billy would not be alive. They came to be because of the abuse and it was a self-defense mechanism to help him cope and survive. Of course, how would be respond as young children in his situation of cruelty at the hands of a stepfather who just hated the boy. Anyway, the author does also show his drawings and how the authorities and psychiatrists came to believe that he was indeed insane at the time of his crimes. The pictures and drawings in the book indicate trouble especially the raggedy ann doll with a noose around her neck as a sign of trouble. Even Sybil was or is still an artist herself, creative people like Billy and Sybil developed their personalities in order to cope with such needless suffering, cruelty, and abuse at the hands of those who claimed to have loved them, their own parents. Of course, Sybil's mother was mentally ill but went untreated and Billy's mother left his stepfather because of all the abuse in the household.

Wow! I just finished reading this book, and I am completely blown away!

"The Minds of Billy Milligan" is about a young man with multiple personality disorder, the crimes a few of his personalities committed, and the mostly horrendous treatment he endured while trying to find help for his mental disability.

One of the crimes committed was that of rape, the other was stealing. Although I must admit that the crime of rape is horrific, it seems as if neither the court, politicians, nor the media cared about the reasons it happened. All that was focused on was punishment, at the expense of trying to help this man get better, and to learn to be a functioning person is society. It is really quite sad!!!

Unfortunately, I think that if the same thing happened today, the results would be similar. We, as a society, are so worried about making sure that everyone receives their just punishment, that we don't stop to see if there is a reason for the disconnect - a reason for why people in our society do these things. Maybe if we would focus our attention on the "whys", and how to provide EFFECTIVE treatment, we would find ourselves in a much better place.

Overall, I found this book to be both sad & thought provoking. I found myself getting angry at the reporters who sought to bring him down every time he was starting to show progress, as well as toward the politicians who used him as a bargaining chip to gain more votes - quite unhonestly, I found this to be disgusting behavior as well!

I would recommend this book to anyone intersted in psychology - specifically multiple personality disorder - it is a real eye opener!

This is an incredible book. It takes you through the harrowing, depressing mind of Billy Milligan. It amazes me so much that it's a true story. I guess sometimes, fact is better than fiction. It's my favorite book - a must-read if you have any interest at all in psychology.

As with any work of non-fiction, we should allow ourselves to believe as much or as little as we wish to what the author(s) has to reveal in the story. I found this book to be an extraordinary account of the life of a young man living with MPD and the struggles he faced both personally and in society.

Although the crimes Billy committed while under alter peronalities are unexcusable, it's both sad and appalling to know that the justice system in this country can be so cruel.

The conclusion left me wanting to know more of what Billy's life may be like today. Unlike other books about MPD where the so-called victims receive a great deal of therapy to mesh their different personalities into one, this book offers a different end to perhaps becoming whole.

For anyone interested in MPD, this is a great read to add to his/her library.

A scientist is experimenting on raising the intelligence of animals, in this case, mice. When the same technique is tried on a man who is intellectually disabled, it succeeds beyond the scientist's wildest dreams. He has actually produced a superintelligent man from his initial subject.

However, the mouse Algernon is starting to exhibit problems because of this treatment.

This is a wonderful and highly original novel about a mentally challenged man named Charlie who wanted to be smart. One day, his wish was granted. A group of scientists selected him for an experimental operation that raised his intelligence to genius level. Suddenly, Charlie found himself transformed, and life, as he knew it, changed.

His story is told entirely through Charlie's eyes and perceptions in the form of progress reports. The reader actually sees the change in Charlie take place, as his progress reports become more complex, well written, and filled with the angst of personal discovery and growth, as well as with his gradual awareness of his amazing and accelerated intellectual development.

The progress reports are a wonderful contrivance for facilitating the story, and the reader is one with Charlie on his voyage of self-discovery. What happens to Charlie in the long run is profoundly moving and thought provoking. It is no wonder that this author was the recipient of the Nebula Award, which is given by the Science Fiction Writers of America for having written the Best Novel of the Year. This is definitely a book well worth reading.

I read the book for the first time in High School and I have continued to read it at least once a year ever since. I am not normally much of a science fiction fan but this book really makes you think. What if it were true?! Once you get into it, I'd be willing to bet you cannot put it down!

Flowers for Algernon is a great story written by Daniel Keyes about a mentally retarded man, Charlie, who is selected to try an operation to help him learn a lot. As the story continues on, Charlie learns not only facts, but also new emotions that he has never experienced.
This book has a really powerful message in it about intelligence. It says that the importance of life is not measured by how smart you are, but by your relationships and how you treat others. If only people in the real world could understand that; that being the best isn't everything. That just being who you are and being the best you can be, makes all the difference in the world.
I really liked this book, however I have to admit that I had a hard time when I first started reading. When you read the first sentence, you become annoyed, because there are all these spelling mistakes, and there is no punctuation: "I tryed hard but I still couldnt find the picturs I only saw the ink. I tolled Burt mabey I need new glassis,"(page 3). At first I was so annoyed with this, but then as I read on, I realized that not only does it help the reader understand the level of comprehension of a mentally retarded adult, but it also gave me a new respect for those who use their time to help teach others who are mentally retarded.
This book has another message in it about how you view life; people who have less in the eyes of a `normal' person, really have more than most ever take time to recognize. "What an incredible thing! How much less they had than other human beings. Mentally retarded, deaf, mute - and still eagerly sanding benches"(page 228); even though Charlie has gained intelligence, he is still unaware of the intellectual state that he was once in.
The story of Charlie's experience gave me a new understanding of both really smart people, and those who may have problems with learning. In the middle of the story, Charlie has been to both extremes of intelligence -- mentally retarded and genius; and because he is the only person to have experienced both, no one seems to understand him. This made me feel sad, because I realized that people that are mentally retarded or a genius are often misunderstood and labeled as being abnormal; "It had been all right as long as they could laugh at me and appear clever at my expense, but now they were feeling inferior to the moron,"(page 106).
I would really recommend reading this book. Not only does it contain many of life's lessons, but it also has a great story that anyone can enjoy.

"Flowers for Algernon" tells the tale of Charly Gordon, a man with an IQ of 68 who works at a research laboratory. The laboratory is working on surgical methods to enhance cognitive abilities and, when the surgery works on Algernon, a mouse in the laboratory whom Charly has befriended, Charly volunteers to become the first human to undergo the surgery. The post-surgery change is slow, but it becomes clear that the procedure worked. What also becomes clear, to Charly, is that his life had not been as good as he had thought it was. And, then, the story takes a heart-wrenching turn, that I will not divulge as a spoiler.

Daniel Keyes did not write much science fiction, and this is the only novel of his I've read, but it's brilliant. The portrayal of Charly's gradually-growing understanding of the world, with the resulting triumphs and heart-breaks, was gripping. The writing was flawless, especially as much of it was in the form of Charly's journal, with it's varying degrees of sophistication. This is not a novel for the light-hearted though, as it is genuine tragedy, done perfectly.

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The Black Belt Memory Yogger is a handy pocket guide for people involved with six sigma processes. I like the why use it and what does it do questions. Good quick review of basic statistics and tools.

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Our people understand the tools with help of the illustrations. The how to use the tools is clear. Sure some may be overwhelmed by the statistical detail; however, the graphs are useful in showing folks what we as a team are working towards.
At only 265 pages, this spiral book is pricey, but that's expected from the millionaires of the Six Sigma Academy. ASQ's entries into this segment pale in comparison. Overall, I use it in any public course offering I teach. Keep it simple!