Go Ask Alice

Has anyone else read this? When i was around 13-14 my old school librarian said that it would put anyone off doing drugs, and i was looking to get into them around them. Anyway, i read it, and it only intensified my need to get into drugs.

Very good book in my opinion. It's put together directly from an anonymous girl's private diary, so it's uncencored and potentially upsetting to some people. But still. If you havn't read it, read it.

 

This is an amazing book. I havn't read it in years, but I remember loving it.

 

I remeber there was this whole article in the new york times a year or so a go saying how it was'nt some girls lost diary. Anyways I don't see how it could put anyone off doing drugs just keep them off it while their in a clincal depression.

 

Read that years, & years ago.. *shrug* It didn't discourage any behavoir.

 

my favourite part has always been the description of her first acid trip. it definitely didn't put me off of drugs, it was mostly just a depressing story. and apparently it was written by some woman who has written a few of these so-called 'anonymous' diaries.

 

hahahaha! alice in wonderland, kid's stuff

 

Took three Nights to read.

Nightmares each Night.

Kid stuff?
Not hardly...

 

There's a Thread here somewhere that chronicled all of this...
within the past two years if not one.

I've given up on vB's search routine so have a blast.

 

don't mind me butting in, but who is the artwork in your signature by? beautifulness!

 

i agree that it just makes you want to do the drugs more. i read this book sometime in 8th grade i think, and i can't remember details now, but i do remember i liked it. it goes by really fast too, i'd read it again.

 

Since 1971 (when first introduced to the public and copyrighted by Simon & Shuster, Inc.) GO ASK ALICE - Anonymous (really: Beatrice Sparks) has been read, and enjoyed, by many a teenager. It was originally targeted toward female teens, but almost as many male teens have read it, as well. It has "universal appeal".

But is it a work of NON-FICTION (based on a "real" diary of a female teenager drug user/abuser) FICTION or a FICTIONAL COLLAGE of non-fictional social case-histories of real teenage drug users/abusers, based on many excerpts from a real girl's diary (but not wholly, or truthfully reproduced), presented in a "diary" format? Evidence points to this last scenario.

To fully understand the GO ASK ALICE controversy, please read the following two articles, as they explain alot:

ARTICLE: GO ASK ALICE - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
LINK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Ask_Alice

ARTICLE: "Curiouser and Curiouser": Fact, Fiction, and the Anonymous Author of Go Ask Alice.

LINK: www.shutitdown.net/text/askalice.html

I will quote a few key items, from both of these fine articles:

"Authorship"

"GO ASK ALICE was originally promoted as nonfiction, and was (and is) published under the byline "Anonymous". However, not long after its publication, Beatrice Sparks, a psychologist and Mormon youth counsellor, began making media appearances promoting herself as the book's editor."

"Searches at the U.S. Copyright Office [1] (http://www.copyright.gov/records/cohm.html) show that Sparks is the sole copyright holder for GO ASK ALICE. Further, she is listed on the copyright record as the book's author --- not as the editor, compiler, or executor, which would be more usual for someone publishing the diary of a deceased person."

"...Mark Oppenheimer identified Linda Glovach, an author of young-adult novels, as 'one of the "preparers" of GO ASK ALICE,' although he did not give his source for this claim. Amazon.com's listing for Glovach's novel "Beauty Queen" also states that Glovach is "a co-author of "Alice." (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/006205161X)."

"In an October 1979 interview with Aileen Pace Nilsen for School Library Journal, Sparks claimed that GO ASK ALICE had been based on the diary of one of her patients, but that she had added various fictional incidents based on her experiences working with other troubled teens. She said the real 'Alice' had not died of a drug overdose, but in a way that could have been either an accident or suicide."

QUOTED FROM: "GO ASK ALICE - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"

"The front cover says it is, "A Real Diary" but the heavy-handed, moralistic tone suggests that Beatrice Sparks, a Utah resident and member of the Church of Latter-day Saints, had more to do with the book than the marketing implies.7"

"In 1979, eight years after its publication, in an interview in School Library Journal with Aileen Pace Nilsen, Sparks admitted that although there was a real "Alice," Sparks had added other incidents and ideas inspired from similar case studies. In the interview, Nilsen also questiona Spark's qualifications to be working with teens. Sparks presents herself as a youth counselor or social worker, and in later books as a youth therapist and PhD, but Nilsen found no evidence to validate Sparks' claims, and said that Sparks herself was "vague about specifics" when describing her past experiences in the substance abuse treatment field. She also admitted that Alice had not died of a drug overdose as the book reports, but of unknown causes. In addition, Sparks claims that Prentice-Hall, the first publisher, has the original copy of the diary, but after transcribing them, she threw away the attached entries that were written on scrapes of paper while Alice was on the run.8 Coincidently, these scraps of paper were where the raciest lines of the book were found, such as, "Another day, another blowjob."9 One has to question whether these titillating portions of the book came from the diary of the 15 year old, or from the 53 old editor, speculating on what life as a runaway teenager must be like."

QUOTED FROM: "Curiouser and Curiouser": Fact, Fiction, and the Anonymous Author of Go Ask Alice

The introduction to GO ASK ALICE states that: "Go Ask Alice is based on the actual diary of a fiffteen-year-old drug user." (The Editors.) Notice how it states "BASED UPON" and not "FULLY TRANSCRIBED WORD FOR WORD". It is not the "Real Diary" word-for-word. It is parts from it and ideas from it. The key words are "based upon". Understand?

I've read GO ASK ALICE a number of times, since the early 70's, and even purchased the VHS tape of the 1973 movie version of: GO ASK ALICE (Golden Age Video/VHS 09001), usually available from: www.moviesunlimited.com), which starred William Shatner (Captain Kirk on the original STAR TREK series), as Alice's dad, and Andy Griffith as the Catholic priest (Sheriff Andy Taylor on the MAYBERRY RFD TV series, or more recently, the star of MATLOCK). The movie version has some slight differences, which is to be expected. My impressions?

I had an intuition that ALICE experienced TOO MUCH in a TOO SHORT of time, and GO ASK ALICE seemed like a few people blended together in a "collage". However, I've found the drug experiences written of, especially of Alice's first LSD trip, to be extremely accurate. Back in the early 70's, I probably was smoking pot then (and had at least one very intense LSD trip), so reading GO ASK ALICE didn't turn me on or off from drugs, although I thought that GO ASK ALICE actually helped many teens to become too curious about drug use and want to "experiment" with them, as a new and different learning experience.

GO ASK ALICE is somewhat depressing and the motto for Alice's life seemed to be: "Life sucks, and then you die". Still, she did have many bright moments. Roses come with thorns, don't they?

If there was a real "Alice" (which I think there was), and if she were alive today, she'd be about the same age as me (52 years old), or a little older (53-55 years old). There is no years given for GO ASK ALICE, when it was written, only the 1971 copyright is known. So her diary was probably written sometime in the late 60's.

Her first September 20th entry is: ""It's my birthday. I'm 15. Nothing." One year later, her September 20th entry (just before the last entry of September 21, and then she dies of a drug overdose, three weeks later) states: "They had been planning this all summer and I thought my birthday was just going to be sort of leftovers from Daddy's. Instead of that it was the nicest one I've ever had." So she was 16 years old, when she died. The copyright date is 1971. In 1971, I was 17 years old. If the last diary entry was in 1970, we'd be close to exactly the same age, however, it was probably written 2 or more years, before the copyright date of 1971, then "Alice" would be only a few years older than me.

The green army jacket and floppy hat look, was popular in the late 60's/early 70's, like "Alice" wore in the movie version. I know that time period well. GO ASK ALICE may not be a 100% transcribed "Real Diary", but it probably was taken from real people, though, and the descriptions are accurate, from that time period. In the late 60's/early 70's, I knew of too many real "GO ASK ALICE Alice's", and one was really named "Alice"! They were more happy, fun and alive, though!!! I had my own experiences from that time period, but I didn't keep a diary. I do have my memories, though.

I can relate too much to the book GO ASK ALICE, and will still read and recommend it to others, although I know the "truth" behind it. Maybe it's a fictional blend of non-fictional case-histories, but it's still a good read. Look at how long it has lasted and how many copies it has sold!!!

In conclusion, I believe that there was a real "Alice" (who probably lived in Utah), but only bits and pieces were taken out of her "real" diary, and "collaged" with other teenager case-histories of drug users/abusers, then "glued" together with a MORMON "preachiness" to help spiritully guide teenagers, toward the right path. Beatrice Sparks only had good intentions toward teenagers, but unfortunately, provided an illusion that GO ASK ALICE was a "Real Diary", faithfully transcribed from an original.

GO ASK ALICE is in the strange grey area of FICTION/NON-FICTION, but it is well written and has captured the hearts and souls of many a teenager (and even adults), so it is still a good book and a good read! ENJOY!

COSMICDUST

 

if you liked go ask alice, you HAVE to read crank by ellen hopkins.

 

Hehe, i read this book in 4th grade, and i didnt find it really disturbing or depressing. I did love it though, it got me into reading all that "depressing" stuff about kids on drugs, therefore leading me to be the druggie i am today

 

Ahhh! i loved this too! But, if you'll notice, it's loosely based on the woman's daughter and the girl seems to think her mother is a pretty nice person, but she thinks her dad is a crazy bastard. Haha.

 

Loved it. Made me interested in psychedelics, heh .

Yeah, it was a hoax. It wasn't a real diary.

Written beautifully, though. Depressing as hell.

 

By the way, check the link I put below to Snopes about the book. It will explain who wrote it and why it was a hoax.

http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/askalice.asp

 

i bought it the other day and half way through it.so far it is a good book it is a little slow i hope it picks up more.it makes if this is an anti-drug book it is doing a bad job it makes me wnt to go hit some acid lol.

 

I really enjoyed this book I read it 5 times lol

 

It's obviously not written by a fifteen-year-old girl. I've read it at least three times, and it definitely intensified my craving to try acid.

 

wow i am finally done with this book. i thought it was a great book i was surprised at the ending i thought everything was going to be fine but i was wrong. i like the surprise ending this is a must read.