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Go Ask Alice (Mass Market Paperback)

by Anonymous (Author) "Yesterday I remember thinking I was the happiest person in the whole earth, in the whole galaxy, in all of God's creation..." (more)
Key Phrases: San Francisco, Doctor Langley, Coos Bay (more...)
4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1,276 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The torture and hell of adolescence has rarely been captured as clearly as it is in this classic diary by an anonymous, addicted teen. Lonely, awkward, and under extreme pressure from her "perfect" parents, "Anonymous" swings madly between optimism and despair. When one of her new friends spikes her drink with LSD, this diarist begins a frightening journey into darkness. The drugs take the edge off her loneliness and self-hate, but they also turn her life into a nightmare of exalting highs and excruciating lows. Although there is still some question as to whether this diary is real or fictional, there is no question that it has made a profound impact on millions of readers during the more than 25 years it has been in print. Despite a few dated references to hippies and some expired slang, Go Ask Alice still offers a jolting chronicle of a teenager's life spinning out of control. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review
This is a very powerful book, based on the real experiences of a teenage girl so isolated from those around her she can only talk to her diary. When Alice finds a group of friends who accept her she also finds drugs, which become her only escape from an increasingly unbearable reality: 'Nothingness', she writes, 'is a lot better than somethingness.' This is a very mature and lucid account of her experiences, far from being just a stream of consciousness. Alice has a strong command of language. The passages where she describes the effects of drugs on her body and mind are vivid and frightening, but at the same time they show quite graphically the seductive nature of drugs. The psychiatrist's report at the end on Alice and her situation balances the more intimate, personal style. Exactly how real the story is is still in doubt - it is so well written and the horrors so graphic that it reads more like a brilliant work of fiction. But however true or imaginary, this is a harsh, disturbing account of the effects of alienation which has sold over a million copies since its first publication in 1972, and has not dated at all. Necessary reading for all teenagers and their parents. (Kirkus UK) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

  • Reading level: Young Adult
  • Mass Market Paperback: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Simon Pulse; 1 edition (March 1, 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0689817851
  • ISBN-13: 978-0689817854
  • Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 3.7 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1,276 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #159,246 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #8 in  Books > Teens > Social Issues > Drug Use & Abuse > Nonfiction
    #61 in  Books > Teens > Social Issues > Drug Use & Abuse > Fiction
    #69 in  Books > Children's Books > Issues > Drugs

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Yesterday I remember thinking I was the happiest person in the whole earth, in the whole galaxy, in all of God's creation. Read the first page
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San Francisco, Doctor Langley, Coos Bay, Group One
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Customer Reviews

1,276 Reviews
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4.3 out of 5 stars (1,276 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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122 of 146 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An Adult Reader's Review, May 25, 2002
Presumably the diary of a teenage drug addict, GO ASK ALICE was first published when I was in junior highschool. It was widely distributed at my school, and the faculty urged the students to read it for an accurate portrait of the horrors of drug use--and read it I did. At the time I was very, very impressed by the book. But that was almost thirty years ago. Today I am 40 years old, and I am a much more critical reader than I was when I was 12. And my thoughts upon rereading this book are quite different than they were when I first came to it.

The obvious issue here is whether or not the book is what it purports to be. Upon re-reading it, I find myself willing to believe that GO ASK ALICE is indeed the diary of a teenage drug user--but I also think it has been heavily re-written in spots to intensify its anti-drug agenda. I base this observation on two points. First, whenever the book describes drugs or their effects, it suddenly changes tone and becomes very, very specific in a way that the other entries are not. Secondly, the descriptions it offers re the effects of certain drugs are exactly those you would expect of a non-drug-user writing with reference to studies available in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

This does not change the fact that this is a good book for young teenagers to read. The literary merit is zero--but that is not the point; the point is, as it always was, that casual drug use is simply not a good idea, and it places you in a situation where one thing can easily lead to another without the user being aware of the drift or having concious control. But it is also a book that needs to be read with responsible adult imput, for some of its content may need qualification. Ultimately, although dated and perhaps not quite as honest as it at first glance seems, it remains a powerful tool in any parent's anti-drug arsenal.

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43 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Take this book with a large grain of salt - IT'S FICTION!, November 27, 2004
I don't mind people liking this book or gaining something from this book, but many of the adult reviewers here seem hellbent on promoting this book as either as either a major literary work or as an actual diary depicting the horrors of teen drug abuse. It is neither. I think it does potential readers, especially teen readers a true disservice to promote this book in either way. If you're doing this, you are not being honest.

It is NOT a real diary. It simply is not. It is a work of fiction created by Sparks. She continued this path - soap opera in diary form in a full-out series of books warning teens about the consequences of bad behavior. Don't believe me? Go to the Snopes Web site (you know, the one that confirms or dispells urban legends, rumors and out-and-out lies?) and read about Go Ask Alice. The researchers there confirmed that It is a work of FICTION written by SPARKS (not "Anonymous") as if it were a real diary. I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, as long as teens aren't being told this is a girl's real diary. That would be a lie. I don't believe in lying to teens, regardless of how noble you think the cause. Interesting note - Sparks, who is now in her eighties - was (maybe still is, I don't know) a member of the Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints church. She wrote books that promoted the values of her church (obey your parents, clean living, etc.) - she just seemed to forget that annoying little commandment "Thou Shalt Not Lie." Apparently, there was even a 1979 musical inspired by "Alice" follow-up "Jay's Journal" that focuses on Spark's promoting fiction as fact, taking advantage of "Jay's" family (there actually was a "Jay," but most of the book about him was fiction) to enhance her own career, etc.

BTW, note to English teachers - if you're having your students write papers on this book (there are better books out there), make sure the papers aren't plaigerized from the net. I was amazed at how many "lift this paper" versions of Alice book reviews I found. A tipoff is that most, if not all, spoke of Alice as being a wonderful, emotional, true account of a teen struggling with drugs. If students actually research this book, they'll know it's fiction. Of course, being an English teacher, you already should know it's fiction, right?

There are books that give true, harrowing accounts of what happens when you use drugs. This is not one of those books. This book is a didactic soap opera - a cautionary tale written in a highly dramatic, unrealistic way. It is not particularly well-written, not great literature, but it's written in an emotional, dramatic, edgy (for it's time) way to draw in teen readers. Judging by its popularity and the doggedly admiring reviews here, it's been very successful.

I don't mind this book or its format, but I do have a tremendous problem with it being promoted to teens as something that it is not. Enjoy it as a work of fiction, realize that drug users generally have very sad, wasted lives, use it as a way to realize you should "just say no," whatever. But realize it's basically a fictional soap opera or an after-school-special in fake diary form. If you understand that, then by all means, read and enjoy. Don't use drugs and don't lie to people. Both are nasty habits to have.
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41 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Diary That All Should Read, April 19, 2000
By Big Matt (BHS, West Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
Go Ask Alice is a terrific novel, filled to the brim with suspense and excitement. The story describes a normal teenaged young lady who is tricked into trying acid one day. This cruel, inhumane doing is her gateway into a hell, a hell of drugs. She likes her first experience and continues to experiment with various other drugs and winds up addicted, confused, and in many situations that threaten her physical and mental well being.

My mind was shown the experience of using drugs through the young girl's vivid diary entries. At some points this experience seems wonderful and at other points this experience seems horrific.

Over all, I enjoyed the book, except for the ending. At the book's finish, I did not care for the result of the young lady's actions. The whole book was easy to read and difficult to put down. I like how it affected me. This book calms and soothes my curiosity about drugs, as it is very realistic and not over or under exaggerated. On a final note, I'd recommend this book to any young adult interested in what a life on drugs is like, or to anyone else that is starving for a novel that would quench his or her thirst for great writing.

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Go Ask Alice

Modern viewers who turn to Go Ask Alice for campy kicks will be disappointed when they discover a sober-minded TV film dealing tastefully with subject matter too often sensationalized beyond realism. The authenticity of the published diary which provided ...

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