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Flowers for Algernon

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About this listen

Charlie Gordon, a floor sweeper born with an unusually low IQ, has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that doctors hope will increase his intelligence - a procedure that has been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon.

All Charlie wants is to be smart and have friends, but the treatment turns him into a genius.

Then Algernon begins to fade.

What will become of Charlie?

Read by Adam Sims.

©1966 Daniel Keyes (P)2017 Orion Publishing Group Science Fiction Fiction Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Tear-jerking

Critic reviews

"A masterpiece of poignant brilliance...heartbreaking." ( The Guardian)
All stars
Most relevant
Fantastic listen. Some of the best voice acting i have come across. Would highly recommend as a first audiobook.

Totally absorbing!

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I usually spend a lot of time deciphering what I am learning from a book, however I spent most of this simply in awe of how beautifully it was written and performed.

the tone of the narration flows perfectly with the book.

not a book I would have thought to read without having it recommended to me. however I found myself moved throughout and am now passing on that recommendation.

moving and awe inspiring.

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A brilliant story of a man's mental struggles. Extremely well narrated too, essential reading.

I always saw this on the bookshelf of my local bookshop, and finally got around to listening to it. You won't be disappointed.

An absolute classic.

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When I started listening to this book I took an instant dislike to it and almost gave up on it within the first half an hour. The operator droned on in such a way that I didn’t think I could cope with it for much longer. It dawned on me quite quickly though that this was to set the scene of the book and ultimately added to the greatness of the story.
Stick with this and you will get a very cleverly written book, that is quite different to anything I have listened to before. The plot twists and turns and it is ultimately all pulled together in a very clever way.
Highly recommended!

Hated it at first!

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Such a beautiful and moving book about a man in his thirties who was born with a learning disabilities and was transformed into a genius after a pioneering brain surgery.
What is it like to be able to have the capacity of limitless understanding and accumulation of knowledge but at the same time losing what was very special about him before he became a genius. Such a sad and fascinating book.
Highly recommended. A true Classic Sci/Fi .

Amazing but a very sad Science Fiction!

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