I wasn't the biggest fan of this one, unfortunately. I found myself skim-reading through large chunks and I wish that I had known more about the original text Go Ask Alice before going into this one. It did, however, encourage me to do some research into the topic. So it'll get two stars from me for that reason.

I remember reading Go Ask Alice while in middle school and being absolutely terrified, but then learning the truth behind it later on in life. I listened to the author speak on the podcast You're Wrong About, and knew I had to read this book. It was incredible and enlightening, and I was really happy I got a chance to read it.

I originally got the eARC of this book through NetGalley (thanks NetGalley and BenBella Books, I guess?) in May-ish 2022. I think it was a Read Now. I had just made an account and wanted to start (obviously) getting my feedback ratio going. As life would have it... honestly I don't remember why I never got around to reading the book. Because life sucks and shit like that (at least, that's what I remember feeling at the time). When I finally decided to read the book, it had been archived and was no longer available for download. Darn. My feedback ratio would never recover.

A few months later, while moping about my shitty feedback ratio on NetGalley, I decided to actually read the freaking book, so I borrowed it from the library. I borrowed it a bunch of times (thank goodness for Libby, so I won't get fined for hoarding books) and finally started reading it in March 2023 (according to my StoryGraph). I think I tried reading it twice and only made it a few pages in. I'm a mood reader and I just wasn't in the mood to read this book. I mean, who wants to read nonfiction when you can read about faeries and dragons and unlikely romances! Let's not forget that alien smut I've been obsessed with. Well, I finally picked it up again a few days ago. Believe it or not, sometimes I need a break from the faeries. Once I actually started reading the book and got past the pages I had already read, I couldn't put it down.

Emerson (oooh, I feel so fancy using last names) writes with conviction and in an almost melodic prose. From the outset, he delivers an important piece of information and then delves into details about it without overwhelming the reader too much. I admit I had a hard time keeping track of the dates because they kept jumping around: "Wait, weren't we just in 1970? How are we back in 1965?" After I figured out the chaos of this back and forth, I thought it actually worked for the flow of the book.

I thought splitting the book into different parts was really helpful, and even though it seemed like the topics were unrelated, I thought the segues worked. Once everything started coming together in terms of how it was all connected, it all actually made sense and it was helpful to have read all the background and how different pieces converged and ultimately fit together.

Fuck all if I know whether this was well researched. As Emerson states at the very beginning, "blind faith–in anything–is a bad idea" but I kept thinking, as he then also states at the end of the book, that if I didn’t believe the shit he wrote, I could always look it up. (Side note: I don't know if this guy is atheist, but he definitely plucks at my atheist heart strings or whatever with some of his comments. Perhaps he took a page from Beatrice Sparks? Can't blame him–or B for that matter–for that stroke of genius. It definitely scored him some trust brownie points.) Some of the stuff he wrote about is absolutely nuts. Candles made of baby fat? Seriously!?!?!?! The fact that people believed this shit totally blows my mind. However, I do remember, as a 90s kid, hearing the "play the song backwards and you'll hear a message from el diablo" bullshit–shout out to Primer Impacto for their yellow journalism and fear mongering!–and believing it myself. Can you blame me? The news said it was so! And I was like 8 or theres about. It's hard to believe that people believed this nonsense, but I'm guilty of it, so it must be true (ha!). Maybe I'll look it up one day to confirm.

I appreciate Emerson bringing up how a lot of this panic was derived from people being worried about the white kids. It makes me curious how the LSD and Satanic panics played out in communities of color. I won't say they didn't play out at all. I don't know about LSD but I have first-hand experience with the satanic panic crap. It was definitely a thing, though I can't recall how much of a thing since I grew up in a Catholic household and every day felt like we were living in a satanic panic.

I loved the witty remarks throughout the book. They were funny without being obnoxious and they definitely went well with the writing style.

I've heard the name Go Ask Alice, and mostly thought it was a song. I don't remember knowing that it was a book, and if I did know, I probably thought it was related to the song. Long way of saying, I knew nothing of the book. What baffles me is that Beatrice Sparks was able to write so many of these "diary" books. Did no one catch on after the third or fourth of these books? Did no one really question her? I mean, for fuck's sake!

Anyway, this is getting ranty. I recommend this book. At least borrow it from the library and tell your friends about it. Or better yet buy two copies, one for you and one for a friend 😉. I'll definitely be buying this book myself, though I'm too greedy to buy books for other people, especially if I don't know whether they'll enjoy it.

Back when I was a kid I devoured Go Ask Alice and the other journals of “anonymous teenagers”. Back then I believed them to be real cautionary tales. Unmask Alice is the story of a liar and a fraud- Beatrice Sparks- the “author”’of these journals. It was interesting to hear the backstory of Beatrice Sparks and how these journals came to be. It was heartbreaking to know that families were destroyed over what she did. This is a good read for anyone who is familiar with these “anonymous teenagers” if you really want to know the truth behind her two most popular teens—-Alice and Jay. It honestly shocks me that this info isn’t more widely known. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC read for a review. #goaskalice, #unmaskalice, #beatricesparks, #netgalley, #rickermerson

For years, Go Ask Alice has enthralled the public and fueled the flames for the war on drugs. Written during a time when LSD was all the rage and The Satanic Panic was in full swing, it was toted as being a disturbing journal of a troubled teenager.

Go Ask Alice has sold well over 5 million copies, and even today, it continues to pull in readers. Who wouldn't be interested in a "real" diary on such a sensational topic?

What if I were to tell you that the real diary by anonymous is nothing more than a fabricated story written by a woman whose whole existence is also built on nothing but fabrications and lies. In fact, the lies didn't stop with Alice. Beatrice would go on to write more "true journals."

If you have read 'Go Ask Alice' or ever considered it, I do recommend taking a look into the real story behind the journal. It is honestly just as shocking. To think one woman could garner so much attention, money and notoriety based on lies is mindblowing. But the insanity doesn't stop there. Beatrice Sparks truly is a con artist who betrayed the victims and their families, and she sold their stories padded with lies to the public!

As always, thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review

If you going to shred a dead person's character, and your agenda is to show that their whole life is fake I think in all fairness we need references not just the author's interpretation of what he says are facts but might in fact be fiction. How would I know? I think you owe it to the deceased author's family to prove everything mean, nasty and scamming you accuse the author of, knowing she can't get back to you. There are no references at all in the book.

I don't like the way the book is written, I don't like the author's tone throughout* and what I read was a bit of a mish-mash that needed style and order imposed on it by a better editor than this book got. I dnf'd it because its lack of references and its style put me off.
__________

Notes on Reading I'm not liking what I'm reading. I didn't need a recap of the book Go Ask Alice, and I thought that author missed many important points about it in his summing up. The writing of the book sways between objective reportage not usually suited for books but more articles, and the author's somewhat mocking, not mocking exactly, but maybe disparaging, personalised presence.

I don't really have a reason to doubt the facts behind the story of Beatrice Sparks, the author 'Anonymous' (and not Nancy Reagan as I wrote on my review of Go Ask Alice and a couple of people took me seriously and wrote some rather troll-y remarks, except that there are no references for anything he writes.

Don't think that I am defending Beatrice Sparks, I'm not, I'm only talking about how the book is written.

This is my favorite type of nonfiction, something that is jam packed with information to the point where I walk away feeling as though I've spent hours speaking with an expert, yet also compelling and filled to the brim with storytelling. Rick Emerson's voice was so evocative and engaging to read and I simply couldn't tear myself away from the page. Petition for more nonfiction to drop F-bombs, please! What a fun read.

I remember being fascinated by Go Ask Alice and Jay's Journal. Baby boomers where a prime target for these two diaries. I am so happy that Rick Emerson decided he wanted to write this book and let the world know what a fraud this author is, someone who pretended to have a licence as a child psychologist just conned publishers.

This is a very good mix of true crime, literature studies and history on Unmask Alice and to show the trauma, and paranoia and this can affect the world.

I put this off for quite a while, primarily because I'm not a fan of nonfiction but the premise was enticing so I requested this one.

While the book was well-written, I wasn't a fan of the writing style. It didn't feel objective and the tone/style put me off quite a bit. I definitely learned something new while reading this but don't feel comfortable rating a non-fiction book the same way I'd rate fiction. Instead, for the sake of Netgalley's requirements, I'll set it at a neutral 3-star rating.

I tried to start reading this book twice and couldn't get into it either time. I know the story of the book Go Ask Alice, but have never read it, and I think that might have worked against me in this situation. Perhaps if I had read the book, this one would have kept my attention a little better but as it was, it didn't.

When I found this book I was riveted and truly believed this book was real. I re-read that book in my 20's and 30's because it impacted me so much, especially that ending. The empathy I felt for those parents and the sorrow I had for that poor girl to have to go through all of that and to have it so tragic. So when I heard about this book I absolutely had to read about how this book became about and why it was such a phenomenon. Talk about pissed when I realized that this was based on some imagination of a wanna-be author who wanted to just be someone. Don't get me wrong I get it, yes this stuff does happen, and yes there is a grain of truth to so much of that book, but the way that the Go Ask Alice author did what she did just pisses me off. I think this author did a phenomenal job of really getting to the bottom of everything and exposing that author for who she really is even if she faced no repercussions for her actions and should have been caught so many times. Great job to this author.

This is a truly shocking piece of work, contrasting the reality with the fiction behind Go Ask Alice.

The author offers us a window in time, narrated in a very readable and easy to understand way, which alone provides an enjoyable read.

If you have already read Go Ask Alice, as many of us have, you may find that much of what is described here will take you by the biggest of surprises and change the way you view the original work.

It is very valuable to have these kinds of literary shenanigans brought to light and Rick Emerson did it in a wonderful way.

I had no idea about this book going in, but wow this was so interesting. This is a must read for so many reasons.

Wow, I had no idea the drama behind the GO Ask Alice books! So insightful and full of information. My teenage years were a lie!!

Read, Review, Rant


Go ask for the truth
When it comes to these young adult classics, it’s all lies

Kel Munger
3 hr ago


I will never forget first reading Go Ask Alice, the supposedly-true diary of a teenage girl who dabbled in drugs, was quickly hooked, tried to stop and failed, tried again and succeeded, then died of an overdose.

I was twelve years old, and we had a single copy in my junior high school library. Here’s a snapshot of me reading it once I finally got my hands on it:

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I think I read it four times in the week I had it. As soon as I could get my paws on a paperback copy, I bought it. It was fascinating. It was so real. And the year later, there was an ABC “Movie of the Week” starring a rather subdued William Shatner as Alice’s father, Andy Griffith in a cameo as an understanding priest, and the incredibly teen-gorgeous Jamie Smith-Jackson as the doomed Alice.

And it was all a fraud.

Given how ticked off about it I am now, I can only imagine how enraged the still-idealistic tween I was in 1972 would have been. If you think this rant is going to be bad, imagine if it were powered by the pubescent fury of a bright, righteous child.

Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panics, and the Imposter Behind the World’s Most Notorious Diaries by Rick Emerson (BenBella/Penguin Random House, $26.95.


In Rick Emerson’s book, Unmask Alice, he tells the story of a Mormon housewife who re-made herself into a writer, then sold herself as the “editor” of a diary by a deceased teen drug addict. And if that sounds crazy, well, we’re just getting started.

Beatrice Sparks wanted to be somebody. She parlayed a connection to Art Linklater (of TV fame—my mother watched his show religiously, and we loved his interviews with six-year-olds) into a writing gig. When Linklater’s daughter committed suicide, he became convinced that it was due to an “acid flashback” from her LSD use, and he talked about the dangers of drugs widely.

Sparks, who met a depressed young woman at a Mormon retreat, then hatched her plan. She wrote Go Ask Alice, then reinvented herself as a counselor who had salvaged this “diary” and edited it. It was snapped up, and her connection to Linklater didn’t hurt.

And, as my personal experience attests, it went viral among young girls. It was a huge bestseller.

So huge, in fact, that it built a mansion for Sparks in Utah.

And that’s where a grieving mother found her. Marcella Barrett had recently lost her teenage son, Alden, to suicide. She had been blindsided by the depression that led to his death, and thought “Dr.” Sparks (she’d now elevated herself to Ph.D. psychologist) might help warn other parents with Alden’s diary as she had warned about drugs with Alice’s.

We can only imagine how Sparks’ mouth must have watered at being presented with this opportunity. But Sparks really did the Barretts dirty. Just as the “satanic panic” of the ’80s was kicking off, Jay’s Journal, supposedly based on Alden’s diary of depression and teenaged heartbreak, told the story of a boy who had begun dabbling in satanism, become ensnared, and committed suicide.

That sounds bad enough, but Sparks left in enough identifying detail (though she actually used very little of Alden’s diary) that the world thought it was the true story of Alden’s life and death. It caused no end of grief and pain for his family, not to mention constantly having kids burning candles and performing “rituals” based on the made-up crap in Sparks’ book at poor Alden’s grave.

Mind you, Emerson argues that Jay’s Journal is actually to blame for the Satanic Panic, but that’s a bit of an over-reach. There were so many things happening at once to contribute to that media- and law enforcement-accelerated shit show that it’s hard to pin it on any one thing. There is a strong case to be made for Sparks’ fantasy exacerbating it, though.

It’s not exaggerating to say that the adult reader found this book every bit as gripping as the child found Go Ask Alice. It was enraging, though, in a way that dear, sweet Alice could never be. And whatever Sparks put into her, whatever was added by an actress, whatever I added myself, I loved her so much that knowing she never existed is as bad as finding out she was murdered.

Which is, I suppose, precisely the point. Betrayal is a murder of trust, and Beatrice Sparks freaking slaughtered it while playing the part of the savior Christian lady and making bank. All of us are right to be furious.

What repeatedly came to mind as I read Unmask Alice, though (and I’ve barely touched on all that Emerson covers) was the research I’ve read on the failures of some drug use prevention therapies (most notably, D.A.R.E., the beloved-by-law-enforcement program that included hot rods for cops to drive) to actually work.

In fact, some studies show that attempts to prevent teens from drinking and using actually backfire, doing real harm, which leads to the inevitable question: Did our adoration of Alice possibly lead some of us to use drugs? Does Sparks’ betrayal of our trust include making drug use attractive in a way it might not have been without Alice?

It’s a question Emerson doesn’t address, but given the failures of everything from the “War on Drugs” to “Just Say No,” it’s one worth asking—perhaps in another book.

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Almost everyone I know has read Go Ask Alice, but none of us knew anything about the real story. Emerson does an awesome job of telling the tale.

Let me preface by saying that Go Ask Alice was one of my favorite books as a teen. Let me follow that by admitting that I didn’t know it was fiction until a few years ago (far removed from my teen years). That did not change my opinion or feelings about the book, though. So, I was really excited to read this book, a look behind the lies and deceptions from the writer of one of my favorites. And, while entertaining and informative, this book doesn’t change my feelings about Go Ask Alice either. I do feel I know more about the author behind said book, though.

But this book, it felt more like a veiled attempt to tell Alden Barrett’s story. It was fascinating. And it’s despicable that B. Sparks would capitalize off his family’s tragedy to sell a book. But, the deception isn’t all on the shoulders of Sparks. The publishing company behind these books has a due diligence and they failed to validate Sparks’s claims. So, I’m not with the author putting all the blame and shame in Sparks. Majority? Sure! All of it? Nope. But, still entertaining and enlightening to see how Sparks took advantage of the culture to write these “anonymous diaries” and sell millions. Truly fascinating stuff! Just felt a bit disjointed in its telling.

A gripping (and deeply entertaining) look at the woman behind one of America’s seminal works of young adult fiction. Spoiler: Go Ask Alice isn’t real.
I have to admit I’ve led a relatively “clean” life due to the fear GAA has instilled in me. I read it at age nine or ten, and have been terrified to try anything stronger than marijuana or alcohol. I feel duped, stupid, and embarrassed after reading this. Definitely a must read for us millennials.

This was so hard to put down! I got through it in just under seven hours. It was readable and easy to approach. Emerson did a solid job of describing the culture in the US leading up to each diary's publication. It was absolutely gutting to read how the lives of troubled teen kids were appropriated without their permission to peddle book sales and fame for a grown woman. At many times during this, especially during the telling of Alden's life, I felt icky by association of what had been done to him and, by extension, his family. To me, the most fascinating discourse was the examination of if it mattered that the "diaries" were largely fabricated. Many readers felt seen and understood by the fictional Alice and Jay. Many authors only wish for their books to have that kind of cultural mark.

i love learning about little niche moments in pop culture history. my only complaint was the author's decision not to cite any sources because it is "freely available on the internet"?? i just feel like if you were writing about a literary fraud who never provided concrete sources you would probably go out of your way to provide concrete sources, just because. i don't think he's lying, i just would expect more professionalism in a non-fiction work. (at one point, he says readers can fact check w a quick phone call if they chose to do so. but like, that's not my job?? that's your job?? i couldn't believe my ears lol)

a stain on an otherwise totally engrossing book. so engrossing that i still had to give it 4 stars.