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
