[Lawtan]

29. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes

Both a short story and a novel, Flowers for Algernon is a piece of science fiction with a focus on treatment of mental disabilities.

Algernon is a rat on whom a medical process is used to exponentially increase his intelligence. A janitor of below-average IQ, Charlie Gordon, is the first human test subject. After initial success, both begin to exceed the "acceptable" realm of intelligence - becoming unable to associate with their peers, and unintentionally earning much resentment for their genius.

To say much more is a spoiler, but the story is heartbreaking.

The writer, Daniel Keyes, was a writer who was pushed towards the medical field by his family. He wound up teaching English to special needs children at one point, and some asked if they could work their way out of the program and into regular classes.

I highly recommend this book.