This was quite interesting, although I had never read the book in question and had no idea of the kind of impact it had at the time. I thought this was a worthwhile story that could at times feel quite long winded. I would have liked to delve a little deeper into the psychology of Sparks. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc.

Go Ask Alice was a sensation when it was released. Jay’s Journal was too. Most kids read at least one of the two in school, and this work gives plenty of information about how it came to be. Highly recommend to anyone who’s read one or both of these works. Thank you for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a well thought out well researched look into a forbidden book that this wayward catholic girl studied more than her Bible. I knew Alice wasn't really Alice, I didn't know she was a loathsome Mormon Charlatan who made her money on the backs of suffering families and sensationalism. Fascinating read!

The story this book tells is BANANAS. Beatrice Sparks (note: she is not Dr. Sparks, not Dr. B, not Dr. Sparks, PhD - SHE IS NOT A DOCTOR OF ANYTHING, except maybe long cons and delusions) “edited” Go Ask Alice, the YA book that millions of people have read, which is supposedly based on the real diary of a (spoiler: dead by the end) teenage drug addict.

She followed the massive success of Alice with Jay’s Journal, which was “edited” from the journal of an actual boy named Alden Barrett who died by suicide in 1971. The story behind Jay’s Journal is heartbreaking: Alden’s grieving mom gave Sparks his journal hoping it could maybe help other kids, and instead “Dr. B” made up a whole bunch of horrific shit about Alden being into witchcraft, basically ruined his already hurting family’s lives, and helped set off the Satanic Panic. Well done, Sparksy.

There is so much more to this bonkers story (Art Linkletter?), and Emerson breaks it down in a highly-readable, super entertaining format. I highly recommend you go read it yourself to get the full story behind the YA classic. (And for the love of whatever, stop giving Go Ask Alice to kids as "truth" - I had my 13 year old read it, and she was laughing at how terrible and fake it was. Go figure.)

The premise of this nonfiction work was fascinating but the author kept inserting himself unnecessarily in the narrative, which was annoying.

An interesting insight into the author behind all those “diaries” which served to satisfy our prurient tendencies as kids.

The first time I read Go Ask Alice I knew it was fake, but I still was amazed by it. It was insane, almost laughably over the top. I have read enough 70s era YA to know how youth was portrayed to see how this was groundbreaking but my lord.

Go Ask Alice and later Jay's Journal turned parent's world upside down. They weren't about to sleep knowing that danger was around every corner, or behind every grocery store. Unmask Alice is the story behind the story. The truth of the lies and frankly, it's worse. B. Sparks was a terrible and awful person who was a con artists who abused a families trust in order to advance her own career. Lives were damaged and destroyed.

This is an excellent and well researched look behind the curtain of the book that scandalized the parents of America.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

As a teenager growing up in the late 90s, I had definitely read both Go Ask Alice and Jay's Journal. At the time I had thought both of them to be disturbing as they gave me a glimpse inside a world unknown to me. Now 25+ years later I was excited when I saw Rick Emerson's Unmask Alice and knew I had to read it.

To be completely honest I had never heard anything about Go Ask Alice or Jay's Journal after reading them so was unaware of the controversy surrounding their authenticity. I was shocked to discover their author Beatrice Sparks was a con artist, who basically fabricated the stories! It's amazing that no one, her editor or publisher made sure that the dairies she had someone acquired were in fact true, to be fair some of them were real but she embellished them so much that they should now be considered fiction novels.

This was an insightful book to read. I appreciated that Rick Emerson took the time to write this book and tell the world the truth about Beatrice Sparks. I do feel that the book was a bit slow at times and could have been laid out in a different order.

Thank you to NetGalley and BenBella Books for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

My heart breaks for the families Beatrice Sparks harmed during her intentional lies. I grew up reading her books and the characters’ lives truly touched me so learning they were all a falsehood constructed by a woman intent in becoming famous at any cost was difficult to accept. I’m grateful for the truth finally being revealed and for it being presented concisely and with heavy backstory. If you were also duped by Go Ask Alice, Jay’s Journal, or any of her other fabrications, this is a good read.

I stumbled upon this as a "read now" on NetGalley and I thought the premise was interesting; I think some of Go Ask Alice was shared during my school days, and I didn't know the story behind the hack author who wrote these "diaries".

I did not like the author's seeming advocacy for legalization of marijuana and psychedelics (LSD, psilocybin etc.) throughout the first third of the album. I will keep my personal opinions out of it, but I wasn't looking to read someone's political opinions. I'm an adult and I appreciate pro/con arguments, but this was more like "I'm right these aren't dangerous drugs etc.". I have a personal and nuanced opinion on this and this book's purpose is not to convince people of what is correct. This lacked couth.

What I did appreciate was the picking apart of Go Ask Alice. Now, I went ahead and read Alice in its whole before getting too far into the book so that I could have an understanding of the subject material. Ultimately I thought that any rational human older than 14 could see right through that "true story". Emerson goes a step further in poking holes in the plot and the nonsensical nature of the drugs that Alice experiments with.

We then learn (as I knew) that Go Ask Alice was written by a Mormon with heavily conservative values- a woman named Beatrice Sparks whose past is a bit mythical itself. She claims to have gotten her degrees at Brigham Young, yet Brigham Young's archives say she went to UCLA! It's a mess. She is supposedly a psychiatrist treating troubled teens.

The second portion of the novel is dedicated to another "diary" written by Sparks called Jay's Journal.

This is disgusting. Sparks takes the story of a young man named Arden who lives in a Mormon town- perfect for Beatrice Sparks to ingratiate herself into; he has some issues to say the least. He desires to marry his high school sweetheart who he's deeply in love with, as it goes with his religion he does not want to become intimate with her until their marriage. Essentially things begin to go awry for Arden and tragically he takes his own life.

With her "talent" Sparks takes this story and turns it into a "diary" about Satanic rituals leading Arden to take his own life. This is abhorrent and tragic to say the least. I can't even think about how his family felt. They apparently considered suing, but felt they were good people who were "above" taking legal action. It's terrible.

The third and shortest part of the story deals with whether "Alice" is based on a real young teenager. The author had to do some research here but the answer seems to be "kind of". Names are changed naturally, but there was a young lady with some characteristics that Sparks came into contact with at Brigham Young. Interestingly, unlike Alice, this woman is alive and well as is her friend who was concerned about her. Yet we do not know for sure. There are incongruencies in the story.

Emerson also brings in some government related developments throughout the late 60s-early 90s, but to me that wasn't the core of the story. Ultimately this book is about a horrific person, Beatrice Sparks, who lied and cheated her way to wealth. She wrote many other "diaries" that sold fairly well, mostly based on lies. She used scare tactics instead of science and true case studies to thrust fear into the hearts of mainly parents, but probably children as well. Clearly there's some bias on the author's part but one can do a quick enough internet search to see all of this.

This wasn't the most thrilling read, but it was worthwhile as a book documentary.

~J

I remember reading "Go Ask Alice" as a middle schooler. I'm pretty sure most people my age did. But I also remember thinking, there's just no way this was real. Apparently, I was correct. The entire book was made up by some lonely old woman who wanted attention and preyed on real peoples' problems. Just. Icky. This book was definitely an eye opener and taught me quite a bit that I didn't know. If you've ever had your doubts about those "Go Ask Alice" esque books, I suggest checking this one out!

I read "Go Ask Alice" during my high school years and honestly never really thought about the inconsistencies with the timeline or the stories told in the "diary." I just accepted it as a harrowing story of a girl who lost herself to drugs like so many others had before and after her. So when I received an advance copy of this book (without reading the description), I was shocked to learn that the story was really all just a scam. Not completely, no. It was loosely based on a daughter's suicide that her father swore was related to LSD. But the diary entries themselves were faked. In my teenage mind I never would have guessed that. But what the original book did do for me, was scare me away from hard drugs. I didn't want to find myself in the same position as the main character. I saw how easy it was to go from having everything to having nothing and that was enough to stop me from ever trying a drug offered to me.

Thank you NetGalley for gifting me an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions and review.

Ambition. A diary. And an author who's fraudulent influence swept the nation away. Rick Emerson does a fantastic job introducing our leading lady: Beatrice Sparks, and road-mapping Sparks' manipulations and actions by giving us dates and times through the book, in true diary-fashion. Emerson is quick to call out Sparks' missteps, while also developing her into a relatable and fallible human - she was a tenacious, brilliant, entrepreneur willing to do whatever (and use whomever) to bring about her fame and success.

Pause, let me take a moment to recognize NetGalley and The Bluestocking Bookshop for the amazing opportunity to review this book ahead of its release!

Although nonfiction is not my favorite genre, I devoured this e-read while pursuing the intense history surrounding "Go Ask Alice". The book in question is one I recall fondly from my adolescence... and I needed to know how this ended. I am at a bit of a loss, upon finding out Alice's story is actually fiction and how negatively this title impacted the country and its viewpoints on drugs and mental health care. I feel conned and icky. This feels like a gross abuse and manipulation of publication power; although hindsight is always 20/20. Amidst the current turmoil surrounding free speech and fact-checking, the information in this book does not bode well for the publishing industry nor the government (surprise, surprise.)

I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s. I lived in the Midwest, a very small town wherein drugs had not yet become a thing and hippies were something exotic “ but not in our town! “
I first heard about GO ASK ALICE when it was the Movie of the Week.
It scared the bejesus out of me. I was never going to use drugs or be like that girl, and that turned out to be true.
But, my whole adult life I believed it was a real story, just like Jay, another story looked at in this book.
And now I find that it was not a diary of a real person, rather a story written by a woman and then perpetuated by lies . This changed many things that happened during those years: a war on drugs that was based on misrepresentation, child psychologists that used this as a jumping point for their own success. Even law enforcement quoted this book as if the contents were gospel.
The woman that wrote these books and many others of the same theme was at best starved for attention, at worst a conwoman. Did it help people? Probably. Did it hurt people? Absolutely.
This is a great exploration into the origins of this book and the people that helped her and also the people that were hurt by her.
I highly recommend.

This book was somewhat interesting. Thus, the 3 stars. But it was all over the place and sometimes I didn’t always know where I was or what I was reading. Thus, the three stars. It’s about a very popular book in the 1970’s that most believed was nonfiction. A true diary of a 16 year old girl who committed suicide. Also about a true diary of a boy around the same age who a few years later (I hope I got that right, sometimes like I said, I didn’t know where I was) that committed suicide as well. The author of these books was supposed to be a PhD in psychology. Was supposed to be on the up and up, but this book is trying to prove she wasn’t because there’s no evidence proving any of it. I wanted to read it because I thought it would be interesting and it was but a little jumpy here and there. Sometimes a little hard to follow. But I know pretty much what the author was trying to do. He was trying to show that this author who was supposed to be a doctor and said she was, but no proof to corroborate that. She took these two troubled teen’s diaries or journals and added to them with supposed lies, blown up stories that were no where near they’re entries. The boy’s family was torn to pieces because of the book that was put out called Jay’s Journal. This is mostly what the book is about. It’s trying to prove and show that what was passed off as something true was not at all. I have never heard of either one of these supposedly nonfiction books. I haven’t an opinion about it one way or another, but Rick Emerson has a good case, with this writing, showing that Beatrice Sparks writings weren’t truthful or on the up and up. Thank you to #NetGalley the publishers, and the author for the opportunity to read and review #UnmaskAlice with my honest thoughts and opinions.

Unmask Alice tracks the career of the author behind Go Ask Alice and several other books based on the diaries of troubled teens. I am vaguely familiar with Go Ask Alice--I remember seeing it in the YA section of my local bookstore. I am also aware of the general contours of the book's infamy: most importantly, that its extremely melodramatic plot was largely faked. I was surprised to learn of the role Go Ask Alice played in the development of the War on Drugs. The strength of Unmask Alice lies in its tracing of Alice's afterlives, both in the YA genre and, most astoundingly, in the larger culture.

Emerson weaves an extremely readable narrative, tracking Beatrice Sparks' career as a writer and fraudster. I had to remind myself to unclench my jaw as I read through her web of lies. The most compelling section was the narrative of a teenager who died by suicide, whose journal became the basis of Jay's Journal, and the devastation the book's publication wreaked on his family. This section also leads into the most timely reportage, explaining the role of Jay's Journal played in stirring the moral crisis behind the Satanic Panic. This analysis shows the most far-reaching effects of these books at the center of Sparks' web of lies. This was a very interesting read.

Emerson wrote a great piece of nonfiction that acts as a history of the war on drugs, a biography of Beatrice Sparks, a literary review of her works, and the tragic story of a teen. I was riveted by this book and it was all I could think about when I wasn't reading it. I had never read Go Ask Alice, but was generally familiar with the Satanic Panic and many of the related aspects of the panic and the war on drugs that Emerson touched on. This book gave me so much more insight into that time period and how Go Ask Alice played into it. Beatrice Sparks was a complex figure and Emerson does a good job of humanizing her while holding her to account for all of her lies and the harm she created. Emerson spends the majority of the middle of the book telling the story of Alden Barrett, whose family Sparks took advantage of. I was shocked at the aftermath of the story and very grateful for the empathetic manner in which Emerson told it. This book was an enlightening view into some of the causes of the Satanic Panic and the woman who remained unknown while her books were read by millions.
Thank you to NetGalley and BenBella Books for a copy of this fantastic work.

Not being of the generation that had to endure the original diaries and the deceit behind them; I found this book to be insanely interesting.

When I was about 12 or so, Go Ask Alice was considered a reading rite of passage.  Much like Flowers in the Attic or any of Judy Blume's adult novels, copies of Alice were passed around between friends with whispered warnings not to get caught reading it, don't let your parents confiscate it.  It was the book to read, a teenager's diary full of drugs, sex, and other taboos that the average kid in the early 1980's didn't normally get a chance to read about...and it was all true!!  Wasn't it??

In his upcoming release Unmask Alice, Rick Emerson explores the wild popularity of 1971's Go Ask Alice and introduces us to the woman behind the book, Beatrice Sparks. I don't know whether to describe Sparks as a con artist, delusional, or just hell-bent on finding fame at any cost (maybe a combination of all three),  but the lengths this woman went to in order to achieve success is truly mind-boggling, to the point of ruining a well-meaning family who made the mistake of trusting her to tell the truth about their child.

The domino effects of not only Alice but another "true" diary put forward by Sparks, Jay's Journal, are also examined by Emerson.  The rise of the Satanic Panic era in the 80's and early 90's can largely be attributed to her publication of Jay's Journal and her insistence that it was a real teen and his actual diary.  Emerson touches on some of the ripples brought on by the panic, including the vilification of the board game, Dungeons and Dragons, the rise of "false memory" accusations, and suicide (Please note that suicide is major theme throughout the book.  Proceed with caution if this is a trigger for you).

It's important to mention that the narrative can seem like it's all over the place.  More than once I wondered where a certain side story was headed and why all the attention to certain details that didn't seem relevant.  Be patient and stick with it, it really does all come together in ways you may not see coming.

Overall, I thought this was a fascinating and thought-provoking read.  There were a few things that I felt were either not needed or not explained fully, but hopefully they will be fixed in the final edit.  Highly recommend.

3.5 stars

I had never heard of the book Go Ask Alice before, so I don't share the same experience as so many others who feel, understandably, personally wronged by the whole thing.

I picked this book up just out of curiosity. It's extremely well written and researched, I really did learn a lot. Although a little long-winded in parts where I found my engagement ebbing, overall an interesting story.