Daniel Keyes, author of the classic novel, Flowers for Algernon, talks to Wired
for Books about his new book, Algernon, Charlie and I: A Writer's Journey, his
career as a writer, and the advances in biomedical research that are turning his science
fiction into science fact.
Winner of science fiction's highest honors, the Hugo and Nebula
Awards, Keyes' Flowers for Algernon continues to reward readers worldwide with
the story of mentally handicapped Charlie Gordon, who undergoes experimental surgery to
raise his intelligence.
Over five million copies of Flowers for Algernon have
been sold and it has been translated into twenty-seven languages. The book has inspired
numerous television and radio adaptations, two movies (Cliff Robertson won an Oscar for
his performance in the 1968 film, Charly), a Broadway musical, and several audio
book versions, including an audio book narrated by the author.
Daniel Keyes, in this interview with Connie Stevens and David
Kurz, shares his forty-plus years' experience as a writer and talks about the turning
points in his career. Keyes tells of his days as a high school teacher for slow
learners and an unforgettable moment in the classroom that sparked the idea for Flowers
for Algernon.
Trained as a psychologist, Keyes would later turn his attention to
real-life psychological dramas. The Minds of Billy Milligan documents the true
story of William Milligan, who would become the first person acquitted of a major crime
due to twenty-four multiple personalities. A movie, The Crowded Room, based on
the Milligan book, is in the works. A sequel, The Milligan Wars, is
scheduled to be published in the United States when the movie is released.
Now, scientists at Princeton University have produced a smarter
mouse through genetic surgery, like the mouse Algernon in the novel. Listen as Keyes
relates his conversations with the scientists that are making his classic novel a reality.
Join us for an unforgettable
hour with Daniel Keyes
an interview in RealAudio
Visit
Daniel Keyes' home page
"Seldom has an author of a 20th Century Classic taken us behind the
screen of creation with as much candor as Daniel Keyes has in this new book. For the more
than eight million people who've read Flowers for Algernon, here is a wonderfully
nostalgic trip, eavesdropping on the writer's life in the act of discovery. Algernon,
Charlie, and I should also be read by every would-be-successful writer eager for
behind-the-scenes insight into the writing life's luck, skill, pain, hope, and of the
misadventures and final triumph of creating a classic work."
--Sol Stein - Formerly of Stein and Day Publishers, Author of Stein on Writing
"["Flowers for Algernon"] has often been cited as having
one of the most perfect and perfectly-controlled narrative arcs in the entire history of
the short story, and its career as one of the genre's great multimedia properties is
equally impressive; it has been adapted in more ways and over a longer period of time than
any other modern SF work...Algernon, Charlie, and I makes it clear that Keyes,
like vast numbers of his readers, has haunted by Charlie for so long that he needs some
kind of closure, if not exorcism. This book may not accomplish that, but it offers a
fascinating glimpse into how a lifetime of experiences was distilled into a single classic
novella, and along the way offers a substantial number of insights into the craft and art
of fiction.
--Gary K. Wolfe - LocusMagazine
|
