Unmask Alice
Books | True Crime / Con Artists, Hoaxes & Deceptions
3.7
Rick Emerson
"Unmask Alice by Rick Emerson goes a long way to showing what investigative journalism could be in the right hands . . . this book is undeniably buzzworthy." —Portland Book Review"An absorbing and unnerving read . . . this book demands to be finished in one sitting." —Booklist Two teens. Two diaries. Two social panics. One incredible fraud.In 1971, Go Ask Alice reinvented the young adult genre with a blistering portrayal of sex, psychosis, and teenage self-destruction. The supposed diary of a middle-class addict, Go Ask Alice terrified adults and cemented LSD's fearsome reputation, fueling support for the War on Drugs. Five million copies later, Go Ask Alice remains a divisive bestseller, outraging censors and earning new fans, all of them drawn by the book's mythic premise: A Real Diary, by Anonymous. But Alice was only the beginning. In 1979, another diary rattled the culture, setting the stage for a national meltdown. The posthumous memoir of an alleged teenage Satanist, Jay's Journal merged with a frightening new crisis—adolescent suicide—to create a literal witch hunt, shattering countless lives and poisoning whole communities. In reality, Go Ask Alice and Jay's Journal came from the same dark place: Beatrice Sparks, a serial con artist who betrayed a grieving family, stole a dead boy's memory, and lied her way to the National Book Awards. Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries is a true story of contagious deception. It stretches from Hollywood to Quantico, and passes through a tiny patch of Utah nicknamed "the fraud capital of America." It's the story of a doomed romance and a vengeful celebrity. Of a lazy press and a public mob. Of two suicidal teenagers, and their exploitation by a literary vampire. Unmask Alice . . . where truth is stranger than nonfiction.
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More Details:
Author
Rick Emerson
Pages
384
Publisher
BenBella Books
Published Date
2022-07-05
ISBN
1637740425 9781637740422
Community ReviewsSee all
"The book was well written and well thought out. What I loved most was the format. Go Ask Alice was book I read in my youth that really stuck with me and it’s sad to know it’s fraudulent origin but worth the read nonetheless the less. "
a
awesome_user_27598
"DNF. I do not like nonfiction books in which you can’t trust the author. He clearly has a bone to pick with the LDS church (and I’m not LDS so this is objective observation) if not people of faith in general. I wouldn’t have a problem if he had a theory that Sparks did what she did particularly because of her faith in LDS or under the direction of the LDS church, or that the young man’s suicide that turned into Jay’s “diaries” were directly related to the LDS church, and then he *backed it up* with studies, statistics, evidence. Instead, he drew connections rather randomly, and with a lot of ranting, for no good reason. It wasn’t germane. Meanwhile, he made the classic error of nonfiction writers trying to be too clever by giving background conversations, motivations, internal thoughts, and emotional reactions without backing them up with any references or documentation. You have to trust the nonfiction writer to be better than the subject he’s writing about. I’m disappointed because I was in college (with friends who played DND) and then just starting out in youth ministry when satanic panic was taking hold so I have clear memories of all the books, movies, workshops, and conferences on the topic (I never bought into it but I confess to keeping my outdoor cat inside on Halloween just in case). I got a lot out of a podcast series entitled Satanic Panic, and I thought this book might add to my understanding of how that frenzy all came about. Unfortunately, I just found myself annoyed at the author rather than at Sparks as he intended me to be."
Sandra Hasenauer
"First I'm going to pick my jaw up from the floor.....Now I'll proceed.<br/><br/>Go Ask Alice was a very influential book for me in middle school and in high school (2000's era). I took so much away from the book and connected with it on such a personal level. It shaped me. <br/><br/>With that being said, the deep dive into the history of the publication, along with other diary style titles and how they impacted a toxic culture blew my mind. Satanic panic has been a topic I find endlessly fascinating and this book did not disappoint me in adding to my growing knowledge. The details on drugs and the war on drugs had me shocked. And I won't even begin to discuss Beatrice Sparks and the endless ways she slipped through every filter there was because I think reading about her with fresh eyes is the best way to go. The state of publishing, libraries, and bookselling is touched on and another interesting aspect of the book. I went through the emotions of shocked, sad, mad, furious, and heartbroken. This is a story that took so long to tell, which is such a shame, but Rick Emerson did a great job. <br/><br/>When it comes to non-fiction books, I enjoy them, but I tend to take a longer time to read. I need to really let the information sink in. With Unmask Alice, however, I couldn't read it fast enough. I needed all of the information ASAP. Emerson's writing is very readable and the mix of his personal touches (and opinions) I felt added to the readability. While authors' opinions can detract from the information in non-fiction, I thought it added to it (maybe this is because I agreed with all of them, but you never know). <br/><br/>There's so much more I want to add, but I don't want to spoil anything for readers. I highly recommend reading Unmask Alice!"
Meg