Go Ask Alice by Anonymous.
Published: Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1971.
Described as the “definitive
book on the horrors of addiction”, Go Ask Alice tells the
story of Alice, a 15-year-old girl from a secure middle class family who is
given an LSD-lace drink at a party and begins a downward decent into heroin
addiction and prostitution. It is written in a diary format.
In the beginning Alice -- a lonely, awkward adolescent -- writes in her diary faithfully every day. Her tone is optimistic and despairing, as she desperately tries to deal with the pressure she feels from her “perfect parents”. Once she’s in the grips of her drug addiction and a life on the streets, Alice writes less frequently and in a hazy and confused manner which serves to illustrate loss of innocence. The book itself, attributed to ‘Anonymous’ is now widely accepted to be the work of Beatrice Sparks, an American therapist and Mormon youth counselor.
In the beginning Alice -- a lonely, awkward adolescent -- writes in her diary faithfully every day. Her tone is optimistic and despairing, as she desperately tries to deal with the pressure she feels from her “perfect parents”. Once she’s in the grips of her drug addiction and a life on the streets, Alice writes less frequently and in a hazy and confused manner which serves to illustrate loss of innocence. The book itself, attributed to ‘Anonymous’ is now widely accepted to be the work of Beatrice Sparks, an American therapist and Mormon youth counselor.
Sources
Cover image: Goodreads
Citation: Novelist
Annotation: Goodreads and Amazon
I'm jumping to a conclusion here about being a little suspicious about the author's reasons for writing this book. Maybe it's a true story but I believe you need to be quite off balance to descend into heroin addiction and prostitution from one acid trip at a party. I suspect her need for escape from the family expectations had a lot to do with it.
ReplyDeleteI read this book way back when I was about 14, but still remember it. The 'Anonymous' always puzzled me, now I know!
ReplyDeleteOzlit Luminaries - The book was most definitely presented as a true story, written by a young girl (whose name is never given). I read it when I was a teen but was always unsure until many years later.
ReplyDeleteApparently the real author, Beatrice Sparks (a psychologist) came out not long after the book was published, claiming to have been merely the editor of the actual diary - she said the real diarist was one of her patients. This has never been verified.
After my teenage daughter read this book the passed it to me. The title had caught her eye - she and the book's storyteller had the same forename! And what a downward spiralling tale it was - I found it very gripping and hard to put down.
ReplyDeleteJuliet, it was really addictive wasn't it? Did you get the feeling when you were reading that it was fiction? It felt like that to me.
ReplyDelete