| 1st | Top anonymously published works |
| Go Ask Alice | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Author | Anonymous (Beatrice Sparks) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Prentice Hall |
| Publication date | March 5, 1971 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
| Pages | 214 |
| ISBN | 0133571114 |
| OCLC Number | 164716 |
| LC Classification | PZ7 .G534 |
Go Ask Alice is a controversial 1971 book about the life of a troubled teenage girl. The book purports to be the actual diary of an anonymous teenage girl who died of a drug overdose in the late 1960s and is therefore presented as a testimony against drug use. Alice is not the protagonist's name; the actual diarist's name is never given in the book. A girl named Alice is mentioned briefly in one entry during the diarist's stay in Coos Bay, Oregon; she is a fellow addict the diarist meets on the street. Despite this, some commentators refer to the diarist as "Alice" in error or for the sake of convenience.
The story caused a sensation when published and remains in print as of 2010. Revelations about the book's origin have caused much doubt as to its authenticity and factual accounts, and the publishers have listed it as a work of fiction since at least the mid-late 1980s. Although it is still published under the byline "Anonymous," press interviews and copyright records suggest that it is largely or wholly the work of its purported editor, Beatrice Sparks. Some of the days and dates referenced in the book put the timeline from 1968 until 1970.
The title is from the lyrics to the Jefferson Airplane song "White Rabbit". Grace Slick wrote the song based on perceived drug references in the classic novel Alice In Wonderland. (On July 14 [page 36 of the 2006 edition], the writer says she "feel[s] like Alice in Wonderland" and "maybe Lewis G. Caroll [sic?] was on drugs too.")
The book was made into an ABC Movie of the Week in 1973.
Contents |
The move is difficult. While the rest of her family adjusts to the new town, the diarist feels like an outcast at school. Soon she meets Beth, a neighbor, and the two become fast friends. Beth leaves for summer camp and the diarist goes to stay with her grandparents who live in the town where the family previously lived. She is bored, but reunites with an old school acquaintance, Jill. Jill is impressed by the diarist's move to a larger town, and soon invites her to a party. At the party, the diarist unwittingly ingests LSD and experiences a fantastic drug trip. Though curious, she vows not to do drugs again.
The diarist happily experiments with more drugs and loses her virginity while on acid. Roger and his parents show up unexpectedly to visit her grandfather, who has had a small heart attack. She is enthralled with Roger but feels guilty about her drug use and loss of virginity. She does not know to whom she can talk about drugs. She is worried that she may be pregnant. She returns home and her family accepts her warmly. Unable to sleep, she receives powerful tranquilizers from her doctor. Beth returns from camp, but the diarist now believes that Beth has changed and they abruptly lose touch. In a boutique the diarist meets Chris, a hip girl. The diarist's parents worry about their daughter's "hippie" appearance.
The diarist and Chris are both dissatisfied with the establishment and their own families. The diarist gets a job working with Chris, and the two become best friends. At school, they use drugs and are popular. Chris's friend Richie, a college boy, turns the diarist on to marijuana. To make more money for drugs, she and Chris sell drugs and do whatever they can to help Richie and Ted (Chris's boyfriend and Richie's roommate). The diarist and Chris discover Richie and Ted are not who they thought they were and the diarist turns Richie in to the police, vows to stay clean with Chris, and they flee to San Francisco. They move into a cramped apartment. Chris secures a job in a boutique with a glamorous older woman, Sheila, and the diarist gets one with a custom jeweler. Sheila invites the girls to a party at her house.
At Sheila's swanky party, the girls use drugs again. They continue to party with Sheila who also turns them on to heroin. But soon the girls decide to kick their drug lifestyle. They find a new apartment in Berkeley and open a jewelry shop there, which turns into a hangout for the neighborhood kids. The diarist misses her family. She returns home for Christmas, and the holiday spirit and family camaraderie revive her. She begins school and resists drug advances from old friends, though some are aggressive. Chris smokes marijuana with her, and the diarist goes back on drugs. The police raid Chris's house while she and the diarist use drugs.
The diarist continues to do drugs without her family's knowledge. She hitchhikes to Denver (recording her diary entries on scraps of paper without dates). She travels to Oregon with other drug users but soon loses them. The diarist meets a young sufferer of lifelong sexual abuse, Doris, who lets her stay at her apartment. They get sick from malnourishment and hitchhike to Southern California, where the diarist takes more drugs, even prostituting herself for them. The diarist talks with a priest about teen runaways, and he calls her parents.
The diarist comes home and is excited to renew her life with her family. The diarist is happy with her family and with herself, except for her social isolation: she cannot hang out with drug users, and "straight" kids do not want her around. The diarist's grandfather dies in a coma from a stroke. She agonizes over the thought of worms and maggots eating his dead body underground. Her relationship with her father matures.
The diarist meets a freshman, Joel, at the university library, in which her father works. Joel's father is dead, his mother is a factory worker, and he works as a janitor to pay for school. He and the diarist get to know each other better, as does her family. She fantasizes about marrying him. Pressure to use drugs at school intensifies, as the kids harass the diarist and her family.
The diarist writes in her undated diary from a hospital. She is unsure how she has ended up there and can only think of the worms she thinks are eating her alive. She has chewed her fingers to the bone, and clawed up her face and body. Her father says that someone dosed the chocolate-covered peanuts the diarist was eating while she was baby-sitting with LSD. The diarist finds out she is being sent to an insane asylum. The diarist registers at the State Mental Hospital. She is frightened by the ugly building and by the inmates. She meets a little thirteen-year-old girl, Babbie, a former prostitute and drug user with a history of sexual abuse.
Life in the asylum drains the diarist. A visit from her parents brings a warm letter from Joel. Soon the diarist returns home and is happy to be with her family. The family takes a vacation together, and when they return, The diarist is invited swimming by Fawn, a "straight" kid. She has a fun time with Fawn's friends and hopes that they have not heard stories about her. Joel makes a surprise visit and gives her a friendship ring, which she vows to wear her whole life. She is worried about starting school again but feels stronger with the support of her new friends and Joel. She comments that she no longer needs a diary, for she now has people in her life with whom she can communicate.
In the epilogue, we are told that the diarist died three weeks later of an overdose—whether it was premeditated or accidental remains unclear—and that she was one of thousands of drug deaths that year.
Go Ask Alice was originally promoted as nonfiction and was published under the byline "Anonymous." However, not long after its publication, Beatrice Sparks, a psychologist and Mormon youth counselor, began making media appearances presenting herself as the book's editor.
Searches at the U.S. Copyright Office[1] show that Sparks is the sole copyright holder for Go Ask Alice. Furthermore, 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. (According to the book itself, the sole copyright is owned by Prentice-Hall.)
In an October 1979 interview with Alleen 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 girl had not died of a drug overdose, but in a way that could have been either an accident or suicide. She also stated that she could not produce the original diary, because she had destroyed part of it after transcribing it and the rest was locked away in the publisher's vault.
Sparks' second "diary" project, Jay's Journal, gave rise to a controversy that cast further doubt on Go Ask Alice's veracity. Jay's Journal was allegedly the diary of a boy who committed suicide after becoming involved with the occult. Again, Sparks claimed to have based it on the diary of a patient. However, the family of the boy in question, Alden Barrett, disowned the book. They claimed that Sparks had used only a handful of the actual diary entries, and had invented the great majority of the book, including the entire occult angle. [2] This led many to speculate that "Alice's" diary—if indeed it existed—had received similar treatment. No one claiming to have known the real "Alice" has ever come forward.
Sparks has gone on to produce many other alleged diaries dealing with various problems faced by teenagers. These include Treacherous Love: The Diary of an Anonymous Teenager, Almost Lost: The True Story of an Anonymous Teenager's Life on the Streets, Annie's Baby: The Diary of Anonymous, a Pregnant Teenager and It Happened to Nancy: By an Anonymous Teenager. Although billed as "real diaries," these do not appear to have been received by readers or reviewers as anything other than fiction.
There have recently been hints that at least one other author was involved in the creation of Go Ask Alice. In an essay called "Just Say Uh-Oh", published in the New York Times Book Review on November 5, 1998, Mark Oppenheimer identified Linda Glovach, an author of young-adult novels, as "one of the 'preparers' -- let's call them forgers -- of Go Ask Alice", although he did not give his source for this claim.[3] Amazon.com's listing for Glovach's novel Beauty Queen also states that Glovach is "a co-author" of Alice.
In an article on the Urban Legends Reference Pages (snopes.com), urban folklore expert Barbara Mikkelson points out that even before the revelations about Go Ask Alice's authorship, there was ample internal evidence that the book was not an actual diary. The lengthy, detailed passages about the harmful effects of illicit drugs and the relatively small amount of space dedicated to relationships and social gossip seem uncharacteristic of a teenaged girl’s diary. Furthermore, the book uses many long words, such as gregarious and impregnable, which are uncommon in casual pieces of writing, especially those of teenagers.[4]
Because Go Ask Alice includes profanity as well as relatively explicit references to runaways, drugs, sex, and rape, conservative parents and activists have sought to remove it from school libraries. Bans started in the 1970s: Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1974, Saginaw, Michigan in 1975, and Eagle Pass, Texas and Trenton, New Jersey in 1977 through removal from local libraries. Other libraries in New York (1975), Ogden, Utah (1979), and Florida (1982) required parental permission for a student to check out the book. Additional bans occurred in 1983 in Minnesota and Colorado, 1984 in Mississippi, and 1986 in Georgia and Michigan. Also, in 1993 in New Jersey and West Virginia, 1994 in Massachusetts, 1998 in Rhode Island, 2003 in Maine, and in Feb 2007 Berkley County School District in South Carolina. The American Library Association listed Go Ask Alice as number 23 on its list of the 100 most frequently challenged books of the 1990s.[5] The book was number 8 on the most challenged list in 2001 and up to number 6 in 2003. The dispute over the book's authorship does not seem to have played any role in these censorship battles.
| Go Ask Alice | |
|---|---|
| Author |
Anonymous (Beatrice Sparks) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Prentice Hall |
| Publication date | March 5, 1971 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
| Pages | 214 |
| ISBN | 0133571114 |
| OCLC Number | 164716 |
| LC Classification | PZ7 .G534 |
Go Ask Alice is a controversial 1971 book about the life of a troubled teenage girl. The book purports to be the actual diary of an anonymous teenage girl who became addicted to drugs, and is presented as a testimony against drug use. The diarist's name is never given in the book.
The story caused a sensation when published and remains in print as of 2010. Revelations about the book's origin have caused much doubt as to its authenticity and factual accounts, and the publishers have listed it as a work of fiction since at least the mid-late 1980s. Although it is still published under the byline "Anonymous", press interviews and copyright records suggest that it is largely or wholly the work of its purported editor, Beatrice Sparks. Some of the days and dates referenced in the book put the timeline from 1968 until 1970.
The title is from the lyrics to the Jefferson Airplane song "White Rabbit". Grace Slick wrote the song based on perceived drug references in the classic novel Alice In Wonderland. (On July 14 [page 36 of the 2006 edition], the writer says she "feel[s] like Alice in Wonderland" and "maybe Lewis G. Caroll [sic] was on drugs too.")
The book was made into an ABC Movie of the Week in 1973.
Contents |
An unnamed fifteen-year-old begins keeping a diary. With a sensitive, observant style, she records her thoughts and concerns about issues such as crushes, weight gain, sexuality, social acceptance, and difficulty relating to her parents.
Her father, a college professor, accepts a teaching position at a different college and the family will move at the start of the new year, which cheers her up. After the move the diarist feels like an outcast at school, with no friends. She soon befriends Beth. They quickly become best friends. When Beth leaves for summer camp the diarist returns to her hometown to stay with her grandparents. She reunites with an old school acquaintance, Jill, who is impressed by the diarist's move to a larger town, and invites her to a party. At the party, glasses of soda—some of which are laced with LSD—are served. The diarist has an intense and pleasurable drug trip.
Over the following days the diarist continues friendships with the people from the party and willingly uses more drugs. She loses her virginity while on LSD. She becomes worried she may be pregnant, and her grandfather has a small heart attack. These events and the tremendous amount of guilt she feels begin to overwhelm her. She begins to take sleeping pills stolen from her grandparents. On returning home she receives sleeping pills from her doctor. When those aren't enough she demands powerful tranquilizers from her doctor. The friendship with Beth ends as both girls have moved in new directions.
The diarist meets a hip girl, Chris, when she shops at a local boutique. The diarist and Chris become best friends quickly. They start using drugs on a daily basis. They date college boys Richie and Ted who deal drugs. They begin selling drugs for the boyfriends, passing back all the money made. One day they find the boys stoned and engaging in a sexual act. Realizing Richie and Ted were using them to make money the girls turn them in to the police. The girls flee to San Francisco. They vow to stay away from drugs. Chris secures a job in a boutique with a glamorous older woman, Sheila. The diarist gets a job with a custom jeweler whom she sees as a father figure.
Sheila invites the girls to lavish parties where they resume taking drugs. One night Sheila and her new boyfriend introduce the girls to heroin and rape them while they are stoned. The diarist and Chris, traumatized, move to Berkeley where they open a jewelry shop. It is a small success, but the diarist misses her family. Tired of the shop, the girls soon return home for a happy Christmas.
Back home, the diarist finds extreme social pressures and hostility from her former friends from the drug scene. She and her family are threatened and shunned at times. Chris and the diarist try to stay away from drugs but with their resolve lapses. The diarist gets high one night and runs away. She drifts through homelessness, prostitution, hitchhiking, and homeless shelters, before a priest reunites her with her family. She returns home but she is drugged against her will, has a bad trip, and is sent to an insane asylum. Chris escapes the problems when her family moves to a new town.
The diarist finally is free of drugs. She becomes romantically involved with a student from her father's college, Joel. Relationships with her family are improving, as are friendships with some new kids in town. She is worried about starting school again, but feels stronger with the support of her new friends and Joel. She decides she no longer needs a diary; now she can communicate with her family and friends.
The epilogue explains that the diarist died three weeks later of an overdose. Whether it was premeditated or accidental remains unclear. She was one of thousands of drug deaths that year.
Go Ask Alice was originally promoted as nonfiction and was published under the byline "Anonymous." However, not long after its publication, Beatrice Sparks, a psychologist and Mormon youth counselor, began making media appearances presenting herself as the book's editor.
Searches at the U.S. Copyright Office[1] show that Sparks is the sole copyright holder for Go Ask Alice. Furthermore, 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. (According to the book itself, the sole copyright is owned by Prentice-Hall.)
In an October 1979 interview with Alleen 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 girl had not died of a drug overdose, but in a way that could have been either an accident or suicide. She also stated that she could not produce the original diary, because she had destroyed part of it after transcribing it and the rest was locked away in the publisher's vault.
Sparks' second "diary" project, Jay's Journal, gave rise to a controversy that cast further doubt on Go Ask Alice's veracity. Jay's Journal was allegedly the diary of a boy who committed suicide after becoming involved with the occult. Again, Sparks claimed to have based it on the diary of a patient. However, the family of the boy in question, Alden Barrett, disowned the book. They claimed that Sparks had used only a handful of the actual diary entries, and had invented the great majority of the book, including the entire occult angle. [2] This led many to speculate that "Alice's" diary—if indeed it existed—had received similar treatment. No one claiming to have known the real "Alice" has ever come forward.
Sparks has gone on to produce many other alleged diaries dealing with various problems faced by teenagers. These include Treacherous Love: The Diary of an Anonymous Teenager, Almost Lost: The True Story of an Anonymous Teenager's Life on the Streets, Annie's Baby: The Diary of Anonymous, a Pregnant Teenager and It Happened to Nancy: By an Anonymous Teenager. Although billed as "real diaries," these do not appear to have been received by readers or reviewers as anything other than fiction.
There have recently been hints that at least one other author was involved in the creation of Go Ask Alice. In an essay called "Just Say Uh-Oh", published in the New York Times Book Review on November 5, 1998, Mark Oppenheimer identified Linda Glovach, an author of young-adult novels, as "one of the 'preparers' -- let's call them forgers -- of Go Ask Alice", although he did not give his source for this claim.[3] Amazon.com's listing for Glovach's novel Beauty Queen also states that Glovach is "a co-author" of Alice.
In an article on the Urban Legends Reference Pages (snopes.com), urban folklore expert Barbara Mikkelson points out that even before the revelations about Go Ask Alice's authorship, there was ample internal evidence that the book was not an actual diary. The lengthy, detailed passages about the harmful effects of illicit drugs and the relatively small amount of space dedicated to relationships and social gossip seem uncharacteristic of a teenaged girl’s diary.[4]
There are numerous continuity errors. On page 16, the author has not "had time to write for two days". In the same paragraph she refers to the last entry as "yesterday" when she says, "I've apologized to every room about the way I felt last night" even though according to her first sentence she would have felt that way two nights ago, not "last night". On pages 79-80, the text describes the girl living with a friend in Coos Bay, Oregon, where she enthuses over the Diggers' Free Store and the Psychedelic Shop. Both establishments were in San Francisco.
Alice is not the protagonist's name and the diarist's name is never given in the book. A girl named Alice is mentioned briefly in one entry during the diarist's stay in Coos Bay, Oregon. The girl is a fellow addict whom the diarist briefly meets on the street.
However some commentators refer to the diarist as "Alice" in error, or for the sake of convenience.
Because Go Ask Alice includes profanity as well as relatively explicit references to runaways, drugs, sex, and rape, conservative parents and activists have sought to remove it from school libraries. Bans started in the 1970s: Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1974, Saginaw, Michigan in 1975, and Eagle Pass, Texas and Trenton, New Jersey in 1977 through removal from local libraries. Other libraries in New York (1975), Ogden, Utah (1979), and Florida (1982) required parental permission for a student to check out the book. Additional bans occurred in 1983 in Minnesota and Colorado, 1984 in Mississippi, and 1986 in Georgia and Michigan. Also, in 1993 in New Jersey and West Virginia, 1994 in Massachusetts, 1998 in Rhode Island, 2003 in Maine, and in Feb 2007 Berkeley County School District in South Carolina. The American Library Association listed Go Ask Alice as number 23 on its list of the 100 most frequently challenged books of the 1990s.[5] The book was number 8 on the most challenged list in 2001 and up to number 6 in 2003. The dispute over the book's authorship does not seem to have played any role in these censorship battles.
   | Snopes.com article concerning authorship - snopes.com: Go Ask Alice |
 | "Curiouser and Curiouser": Fact, Fiction, and the Anonymous Author of Go Ask Alice. - "Curiouser and Curiouser": Fact, Fiction, and the Anonymous Author of Go Ask Alice. |
| | Go ask Alice at Spark Notes - SparkNotes: Go Ask Alice |
| | Go ask Alice on Squidoo! - Go Ask Alice by Anonymous |
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