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Flowers for Algernon by the numbers

Daniel Keyes · first published 1966 · dataset 2026-07-21

Length and reading time

At 311 pages, Flowers for Algernon is longer than 78.3% of the 1,664 books on the reading lists we track. It is longer than the median book listed for grades 9-12 (274 pages).

Word counts and reading times are estimates: pages × 275 words, divided by the reading speed. Your edition's page count and your own pace will differ.

Where Flowers for Algernon is on school reading lists

2 appearances (0.0% of all 13,258 listings in the dataset), drawn from 1 published list, in grades 11th–12th. 2 of the 2 carry a link to the published source document.

Sources

• AP Lit representative text · checked 2026-06-16

Questions

How many pages is Flowers for Algernon?

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes is 311 pages in the edition recorded in our dataset. Page counts vary by edition and format; at about 275 words per page that is roughly 86,000 words.

How long does it take to read Flowers for Algernon?

About 5 h 42 min at an average adult pace of 250 words per minute (4 h 45 min at 300 wpm, 7 h 8 min at 200 wpm). At 20 minutes a day that is about 18 days.

Is Flowers for Algernon on school reading lists?

Yes. It appears 2 times on the U.S. school reading lists, award lists and curricula in our dataset, in no single state (national curricula only) plus 2 national-curriculum listings, most often in grades 9-12. That ranks it #1,612 of 1,664 listed books.

Related

• Flowers for Algernon: reading level, grades and similar booksOn ReadingList, our sister site for school reading lists.
• Books of about the same lengthThe Graveyard Book (312 pp.) · Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (309 pp.) · The War That Saved My Life (316 pp.) · Ground Zero (304 pp.)
• The most assigned books, rankedAll 1,664 listed books start here.
• Book length statisticsHow long assigned books are, by grade.

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