The Pioneer Woman (Free subscription) | 06/28/2009
NOTE: The Big Fat Smartypants Quiz will begin at 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time (9:00 Central, 10:00 Pacific) Sunday Night (tonight). Answers and Winners for Quiz #4 below: 1. Name the author of On the Road . ANSWER: Jack Kerouac 2. Where does The Great Gatsby take place? ANSWER: Long Island and New York City (”Long Island” or “New York” would also be acceptable answers.) 3. Which...
The Pioneer Woman (Free subscription) | 06/28/2009
Here’s the fourth of six qualifying quizzes leading up to Sunday night’s Big Fat Smartypants Quiz. The first person who correctly answers all questions will win a spot in tomorrow night’s quiz. In addition, one random player who answers all questions correctly will win a spot in the Big Quiz. Good luck! (8:00 Pacific Time: Quiz #5 will begin.) 1. Name the author of On the Road ....
Feral Library Tales (Free subscription) | 06/27/2009
Via Ruminations "Fifteen in Fifteen minutes" the fifteen that I remember with ease seem to fall into two basic categories, SciFi and historical.. I was a voracious reader and my neighbour 4 years older than me had an interesting bookcase, as did my Grandfather and my Mother. A Traveller in Time - Alison Uttley (Mary Queen of Scots/war time Britian) Dune - Frank Herbert (Control, complete...
At Home With Books (Free subscription) | 06/16/2009
I found this challenge over at Lost in Books . Here are the details: For this challenge, all banned and challenged books you've ever read count. The point of it is to read 50 of them, not necessarily 50 new ones. But, of course, if you'd like to choose 50 new ones, then that is wonderful. This is a perpetual challenge and has no end date. Here are a few links to sites about banned and/or challenged...
James Barlow (Free subscription) | 06/16/2009
Flowers for Algernon , by Daniel Keyes, was first published as a short story in 1958, and later expanded to a novel. The two treatments won a Hugo award and Nebula award respectively (the Oscars of speculative fiction). [Via Wikipedia] The titular Algernon is a laboratory mouse who has undergone surgery to increase his intelligence by artificial means. The story is told as a series of progress reports...
The World of Tomorrow (Free subscription) | 06/12/2009
Well, I was just cruising the internet super highway and realized that I have blogged since January. Not bad. I took a six month hiatus. So I figure I'll share my reading list for the summer. As the end of school quickly approaches, it's time to get those books ready to go. Now, this isn't necessarily the order in which they are being read, just the order they are coming out of the box that stores...
Divers and Sundry (Free subscription) | 06/10/2009
Ones I've read are in bold print with a link to my post if I've written one: 2009 Powers, Ursula K. Le Guin 2008 The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Michael Chabon 2007 Seeker, Jack McDevitt 2006 Camouflage, Joe Haldeman 2005 Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold 2004 The Speed of Dark, Elizabeth Moon 2003 American Gods, Neil Gaiman 2002 The Quantum Rose, Catherine Asaro 2001 Darwin's Radio, Greg Bear...
It's the Thought that Counts (Free subscription) | 03/26/2009
As it happens, I’ve been rereading Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, and I thought this paragraph was worth quoting after yesterday’s post. If you don’t know the story, it’s about a mentally retarded man who receives experimental brain surgery to drastically increase his IQ. Am I a genius? I don’t think so. Not yet anyway. [...]
Enough to Read (Free subscription) | 03/02/2009
Every Monday on The Printed Page , people list the books that arrived the previous week. Here's what arrived at my doorstep: Daniel Keyes. The Minds of Billy Milligan (via BookObsessed Swap) Asne Seierstad. The Bookseller of Kabul (via BookObsessed Swap)
Divers and Sundry (Free subscription) | 02/20/2009
I remember the first time I read Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes . It's a tragic story. The 1968 film Charly , which is based on the book, stars Cliff Robertson , Claire Bloom and Dick Van Patton . Robertson won an Academy Award for playing Charly. The music is by Ravi Shankar . I think the book is subtler, at least as I remember it. Youtube has it online in 10 parts. Part 1: part 2 , part 3 ,...
Geoff Coupe's Blog (Free subscription) | 09/04/2008
Flowers for Algernon is the title of a short story (and a later novel) by Daniel Keyes. It takes the form of a diary kept by a 37-year-old man, Charlie, who has a low IQ. He becomes a subject in a medical experiment that is aimed at increasing intelligence. The experiment apparently succeeds, and the diary entries change as his intelligence increases and he becomes more aware of himself and society....
Have Coffee Will Writ (Free subscription) | 09/01/2008
I studied short-story writing with Professor Daniel Keyes at Ohio University in the Spring of 1981. I took the class because I wanted to know what a real writer, a writer’s whose book I had read, was like. It was the first time I realized that writers were humans. Spoiler Warning: remember to read the blog [...]
"Thoughts of Joy..." (Free subscription) | 08/19/2008
Author: Daniel Keyes Genre: Science Fiction Published: 1966 Personal Rating: 4/5 Yearly Count: 109 Charlie Gordon is an adult with a low IQ that has been chosen for an experimental brain operation that previously had only been performed on mice. Algernon was one of those mice. Charlie and Algernon become acquainted through maze testing and behavior comparisons. Charlie shares his frequent progress...
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