Daniel F. Keyes (born August 9, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York) is an American author best known for his Hugo award-winning short story and Nebula award-winning novel "Flowers for Algernon". Keyes was given the Author Emeritus honor by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2000.
Flowers for Algernon
The short story and subsequent novel, Flowers for Algernon, is written as the diary of a mentally retarded man, Charlie, who undergoes experimental surgery and briefly becomes a genius before the effects tragically wear off. The story was initially published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. The title character is a mouse that had undergone the surgery first.
The story won the science fiction field's Hugo Award for Best Short Fiction. The novel, which added several new story threads including a sexual relationship between Charlie and his former teacher, was joint winner of the Nebula Award in 1966. The novel has been adapted several times for other media, most prominently as the 1968 film Charly, starring Cliff Robertson (who won an Academy Award for Best Actor) and Claire Bloom.
