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Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries
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.
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.
349 pages, Hardcover
First published July 5, 2022
About the author
Rick Emerson
3 books64 followersRick Emerson is a longtime radio and television broadcaster, the former host of the nationally-syndicated Rick Emerson Show, and the coauthor (with Lisa Desjardins) of Zombie Economics: A Guide to Personal Finance. He’s a regular guest on America’s finer podcasts, and can be seen in occasional television roles and a truly dreadful commercial for tires. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his two dogs, Willard and Philo.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,046 reviews
August 8, 2022
I usually do not rate a book I couldn't finish but the reasons are so egregious I think a rating is warranted.
It’s common knowledge that Go Ask Alice, one of the most censored books in school libraries, was marketed as the true diary of a 15-yr-old drug user who descended into a world of drug use, prostitution, and eventual death. The truth is, it was complete fiction, written by Beatrice Sparks as a cautionary tale.
Beatrice also penned several “anonymous” diaries, including, Jay’s Journal, a diary of a young man who committed suicide. To spice up the story, she added scenes of the occult and Satanism, which helped fuel the “Satanic Panic”.
While the story of Beatrice is fascinating and it is a compelling look into how easy it is to get people to believe nearly anything, I didn’t care for how the book was written. The author has a tendency to insert himself into the narrative. Did he really have to say “humans had just walked on the f*cking
moon?”Very professional, right?
It's rather ironic, given the subject of his book, that the book lacks citations and he attributes thoughts and motivations to people, when he has no way of knowing what they were thinking. He calls these "inner monologues". Sparks is now dead, and there was no diary. Hmmm...Is this book fiction or non-fiction?
In the afterward, the author says one of his benchmarks for accuracy and style was Erik Larson. (um, sorry, that's a FAIL).
The author also says his inspiration to write the book happened when he saw a literal blue flash across his field of vision. When it receded, he had his idea to write this book. Hmmm….
In the afterward, the author also says his book didn’t need citations because a simple web search or phone call will yield the information. Really? As a reader I’m supposed to search the internet and/or make phone calls to ensure that what I’m reading is correct? How arrogant and offensive.
Btw, I actually did google his reporting of the deaths during the Attica Uprising of 1971, and found out his facts were wrong, including the actual number of deaths attributed to law enforcement. It was simple to find. Which leads me to wonder what else he got wrong.
Do yourself a favor and, instead, google Beatrice Sparks. This article will tell you all you need to know.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
*I received a digital copy of this book via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
It’s common knowledge that Go Ask Alice, one of the most censored books in school libraries, was marketed as the true diary of a 15-yr-old drug user who descended into a world of drug use, prostitution, and eventual death. The truth is, it was complete fiction, written by Beatrice Sparks as a cautionary tale.
Beatrice also penned several “anonymous” diaries, including, Jay’s Journal, a diary of a young man who committed suicide. To spice up the story, she added scenes of the occult and Satanism, which helped fuel the “Satanic Panic”.
While the story of Beatrice is fascinating and it is a compelling look into how easy it is to get people to believe nearly anything, I didn’t care for how the book was written. The author has a tendency to insert himself into the narrative. Did he really have to say “humans had just walked on the f*cking
moon?”Very professional, right?
It's rather ironic, given the subject of his book, that the book lacks citations and he attributes thoughts and motivations to people, when he has no way of knowing what they were thinking. He calls these "inner monologues". Sparks is now dead, and there was no diary. Hmmm...Is this book fiction or non-fiction?
In the afterward, the author says one of his benchmarks for accuracy and style was Erik Larson. (um, sorry, that's a FAIL).
The author also says his inspiration to write the book happened when he saw a literal blue flash across his field of vision. When it receded, he had his idea to write this book. Hmmm….
In the afterward, the author also says his book didn’t need citations because a simple web search or phone call will yield the information. Really? As a reader I’m supposed to search the internet and/or make phone calls to ensure that what I’m reading is correct? How arrogant and offensive.
Btw, I actually did google his reporting of the deaths during the Attica Uprising of 1971, and found out his facts were wrong, including the actual number of deaths attributed to law enforcement. It was simple to find. Which leads me to wonder what else he got wrong.
Do yourself a favor and, instead, google Beatrice Sparks. This article will tell you all you need to know.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
*I received a digital copy of this book via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
September 9, 2022
Review If you going to shred a dead person's character, and your agenda is to show that their whole life is fake I think in all fairness we need references not just the author's interpretation of what he says are facts but might in fact be fiction. How would I know? I think you owe it to the deceased author's family to prove everything mean, nasty and scamming you accuse the author of, knowing she can't get back to you. There are no references at all in the book.
I don't like the way the book is written, I don't like the author's tone throughout* and what I read was a bit of a mish-mash that needed style and order imposed on it by a better editor than this book got. I dnf'd it because its lack of references and its style put me off.
__________
Notes on Reading I'm not liking what I'm reading. I didn't need a recap of the book Go Ask Alice, and I thought that author missed many important points about it in his summing up. The writing of the book sways between objective reportage not usually suited for books but more articles, and the author's somewhat mocking, not mocking exactly, but maybe disparaging, personalised presence.
I don't really have a reason to doubt the facts behind the story of Beatrice Sparks, the author 'Anonymous' (and not Nancy Reagan as I wrote on my review of Go Ask Alice , except that there are no references for anything he writes.
Don't think that I am defending Beatrice Sparks, I'm not, I'm only talking about how the book is written.
I don't like the way the book is written, I don't like the author's tone throughout* and what I read was a bit of a mish-mash that needed style and order imposed on it by a better editor than this book got. I dnf'd it because its lack of references and its style put me off.
__________
Notes on Reading I'm not liking what I'm reading. I didn't need a recap of the book Go Ask Alice, and I thought that author missed many important points about it in his summing up. The writing of the book sways between objective reportage not usually suited for books but more articles, and the author's somewhat mocking, not mocking exactly, but maybe disparaging, personalised presence.
I don't really have a reason to doubt the facts behind the story of Beatrice Sparks, the author 'Anonymous' (and not Nancy Reagan as I wrote on my review of Go Ask Alice , except that there are no references for anything he writes.
Don't think that I am defending Beatrice Sparks, I'm not, I'm only talking about how the book is written.
August 26, 2022
This was a well written book and also disturbing because the woman that wrote ‘Go Ask Alice’ and ‘Jay’s Journal’ was actually a con artist, compulsive liar, and destroyed people’s lives. I really recommend this if you grew up in the 70’s, 80’s or 90’s. ‘Go Ask Alice’ was a book that was spoken about so much. It taped into the thinking of a young girl who gets swept away and pulled into the world or drugs. She then dies.
The author was Beatrice Sparks and her ambition to achieve clouded all her judgment or concerns about other people. This book came out at a time when our country was divided: with the Vietnam War, Counterculture Beliefs, Changing Thoughts on Women and Minorities, Leaders being shot and killed, Many young people leaving home in search of answers, and it left a feeling by parents that their children were slipping away and in danger. Many teenagers also felt a call for change and were not easily relating to the cultures they grew up in. So, this book came out at the perfect time. Yet, this book was said to be about a real girl and written by anonymous.It went way beyond that and actually shaped our culture. Yet, any book written with lies, is deceptive and wrong. Perhaps, it helped some young teenagers identify with this girl and decide to avoid drugs, but is also helped Nixon push for very severe punishment of anyone processing any drug. The drug treatment part of the plan never happened.
Beatrice Sparks kept going. Her next book was so distressing and her behavior so awful it made me furious. A young teenage boy, Alden Barrett had some troubles throughout his life. Even when he was young, he had some wild mood swings and couldn’t seem to rain them in. Very little was known about adolescent mental illness at this time. He did get into drugs for a while, but had stayed sober. He grew up in an ultra conservative Mormon community where thinking differently was not well tolerated. He was quite intelligent, liked music, poetry, questioned traditional religion, and was looking for answers beyond his own small town. He meets a girl, Theresa and they fall in love. It is an intense, but innocent relationship. His parents do love and support him, but do not necessarily understand him. So, he becomes distraught as he has been suffering from depression for a while and takes his life. This is so very sad. He kept a journal through part of this. His parents think it might be good to let Beatrice Sparks use his journal so his death can help other kids in trouble seek a way out. Instead Beatrice writes Jay’s Journal, insists her name be listed as the author and uses passages from his diary, but completely turns the book into a terrifying tale a Sadism, something neither he or his girlfriend were into in any way. It is horrifying to do this to a grieving family. Any empathy I had for Beatrice was gone at this point.
So, beyond ruining an already destroyed family with a book that is thinly veiled and it is easy to figure out is supposed to be about Alden, she uses it to again tap into adults fear of the devil and young people supposedly being overtaken by Satanic Cults. It seems so bizarre and of course was, but this lead to many instances around the country describing horrific abuse done by Satanic Cults to Children. The most innocent gestures such as liking the game dungeons and dragons or their taste in music could be signs that your child was in trouble. Beatrice did not completely start this out of control panic, but her book played a role. Yet, she was unconcerned. She did not worry about what she did to this boy’s parents and sibling. No, she went on to continue writing more such diaries and her lies got bigger and bolder.
Excellent Book by an Author clearly trying to be honest. He did not have an agenda or a vendetta against Beatrice Sparks, but just let the facts speak for themselves. Recommend this book if you want to see how deception can have a profound and lasting cultural effect. More honesty and looking into authors claims needs to be done. Her books were selling well, so publishers did not even check her alleged degrees, being a psychotherapist, having adolescent patients, referrals, or anything else. This should have been done.
Thank you NetGalley, Rick Emerson, and BenBella Books for a copy of this book. I am always happy to leave a review.
The author was Beatrice Sparks and her ambition to achieve clouded all her judgment or concerns about other people. This book came out at a time when our country was divided: with the Vietnam War, Counterculture Beliefs, Changing Thoughts on Women and Minorities, Leaders being shot and killed, Many young people leaving home in search of answers, and it left a feeling by parents that their children were slipping away and in danger. Many teenagers also felt a call for change and were not easily relating to the cultures they grew up in. So, this book came out at the perfect time. Yet, this book was said to be about a real girl and written by anonymous.It went way beyond that and actually shaped our culture. Yet, any book written with lies, is deceptive and wrong. Perhaps, it helped some young teenagers identify with this girl and decide to avoid drugs, but is also helped Nixon push for very severe punishment of anyone processing any drug. The drug treatment part of the plan never happened.
Beatrice Sparks kept going. Her next book was so distressing and her behavior so awful it made me furious. A young teenage boy, Alden Barrett had some troubles throughout his life. Even when he was young, he had some wild mood swings and couldn’t seem to rain them in. Very little was known about adolescent mental illness at this time. He did get into drugs for a while, but had stayed sober. He grew up in an ultra conservative Mormon community where thinking differently was not well tolerated. He was quite intelligent, liked music, poetry, questioned traditional religion, and was looking for answers beyond his own small town. He meets a girl, Theresa and they fall in love. It is an intense, but innocent relationship. His parents do love and support him, but do not necessarily understand him. So, he becomes distraught as he has been suffering from depression for a while and takes his life. This is so very sad. He kept a journal through part of this. His parents think it might be good to let Beatrice Sparks use his journal so his death can help other kids in trouble seek a way out. Instead Beatrice writes Jay’s Journal, insists her name be listed as the author and uses passages from his diary, but completely turns the book into a terrifying tale a Sadism, something neither he or his girlfriend were into in any way. It is horrifying to do this to a grieving family. Any empathy I had for Beatrice was gone at this point.
So, beyond ruining an already destroyed family with a book that is thinly veiled and it is easy to figure out is supposed to be about Alden, she uses it to again tap into adults fear of the devil and young people supposedly being overtaken by Satanic Cults. It seems so bizarre and of course was, but this lead to many instances around the country describing horrific abuse done by Satanic Cults to Children. The most innocent gestures such as liking the game dungeons and dragons or their taste in music could be signs that your child was in trouble. Beatrice did not completely start this out of control panic, but her book played a role. Yet, she was unconcerned. She did not worry about what she did to this boy’s parents and sibling. No, she went on to continue writing more such diaries and her lies got bigger and bolder.
Excellent Book by an Author clearly trying to be honest. He did not have an agenda or a vendetta against Beatrice Sparks, but just let the facts speak for themselves. Recommend this book if you want to see how deception can have a profound and lasting cultural effect. More honesty and looking into authors claims needs to be done. Her books were selling well, so publishers did not even check her alleged degrees, being a psychotherapist, having adolescent patients, referrals, or anything else. This should have been done.
Thank you NetGalley, Rick Emerson, and BenBella Books for a copy of this book. I am always happy to leave a review.
June 5, 2022
Back in the early 1990s, as a preteen, I read many of the popular books that were available. Sweet Valley High, Judy Blume, and V. C. Andrews (why?) were some of the more memorable. I also remember reading a book called Go Ask Alice, which was supposed to be the true story of a girl’s descent into the horrible world of drug addiction.
As it turns out, things are not always what they seem. In Unmask Alice, author Rick Emerson reveals the true story behind the famous book. Beatrice Sparks, the “editor” of Go Ask Alice and numerous other “diaries” is shown to be a master of deception.
Tied in with the background of the drug culture of the late 1960s and early 1970s and the later Satanic Panic of the 1980s, Emerson deftly illustrates how Sparks drew from the culture of the time in her work and then, ultimately, how her work shaped the culture.
This book was a page turner for me. I would recommend Unmask Alice to those interested in books about books and pop culture phenomena.
As it turns out, things are not always what they seem. In Unmask Alice, author Rick Emerson reveals the true story behind the famous book. Beatrice Sparks, the “editor” of Go Ask Alice and numerous other “diaries” is shown to be a master of deception.
Tied in with the background of the drug culture of the late 1960s and early 1970s and the later Satanic Panic of the 1980s, Emerson deftly illustrates how Sparks drew from the culture of the time in her work and then, ultimately, how her work shaped the culture.
This book was a page turner for me. I would recommend Unmask Alice to those interested in books about books and pop culture phenomena.
August 4, 2022
This was a truly fascinating story that followed the life and lies of the author (anonymous) of Go Ask Alice. Beatrice Sparks was the momentum behind the book that took America by storm and scared millions of parents as well. Told as a diary sort of story, it depicts a young girl's descent into a world of drugs and an early death. The overwhelming question is, Was it true, or did S[parks embellish it so that it bore little resemblance to what really happened?
Sparks was ambitious, eager to rise above her poor start and so she continued to write these "scare tactic books claiming along the way to be a psychologist and having a PhD, none of which was true. She finagled her way to making her books become in some areas best sellers and even today Go Ask Alice is still in publication often gaining a new group of followers.
The book's veracity makes for an interesting commentary on whether something that is untrue can and did effect generations of teens and their parents, teachers, counselors, etc?
Can people be so convinced of the truthfulness of something that they refuse to see the obvious lies? Interesting in this time we live in how much with the addition of the Internet, we believe the untruths and lies that are perpetrated.
The author leaves it up to us to decide that the good the book did in some cases outweighs the fact that it and its follow up stories were basically lies.
Very enjoyable story and one I recommend with thanks to Rick Emerson, and NetGalley for a copy. The book has already published.
Sparks was ambitious, eager to rise above her poor start and so she continued to write these "scare tactic books claiming along the way to be a psychologist and having a PhD, none of which was true. She finagled her way to making her books become in some areas best sellers and even today Go Ask Alice is still in publication often gaining a new group of followers.
The book's veracity makes for an interesting commentary on whether something that is untrue can and did effect generations of teens and their parents, teachers, counselors, etc?
Can people be so convinced of the truthfulness of something that they refuse to see the obvious lies? Interesting in this time we live in how much with the addition of the Internet, we believe the untruths and lies that are perpetrated.
The author leaves it up to us to decide that the good the book did in some cases outweighs the fact that it and its follow up stories were basically lies.
Very enjoyable story and one I recommend with thanks to Rick Emerson, and NetGalley for a copy. The book has already published.
March 7, 2022
Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous, said the rounded font, along with three new words: A Real Diary. Inside, on the splash page, a little piece of brilliance:
Sugar and spice
And everything nice
Acid and smack
And no way back.
Thomas Midgley Jr is widely known as “the most dangerous inventor in history” — being the one who proposed adding lead to gasoline to prevent “knocking” (which led to workplace poisoning and widespread air pollution) and inventing CFCs for refrigeration (which caused the hole in the ozone layer) — but a name less generally known is Beatrice Sparks; perhaps the most dangerous author in history. As Rick Emerson explains in the fascinating Unmask Alice, Sparks’ two most famous works — Go Ask Alice and Jay’s Journal — would go on to have long-lasting, damaging effects on American society and bring wealth and professional esteem to a woman who was a fraud and exploiter of others’ pain (and not even a very good writer). Emerson tells a compelling story here, underpinned by thorough research and legwork, and while it may come as cold comfort to the people that Sparks hurt during her lifetime, there is some level of satisfaction in unmasking an impostor and properly defining her legacy. Recommended for all, but especially for those of us who grew up on the lies. Spoilers beyond this point. (Note: I read an ARC through NetGalley and passages quoted may not be in their final forms.)
Even before its whiplash ending, Alice was brutal, shoving your face in shit. If you made it past the drugs and teenage hookers (and neglected toddlers and gang rapes), Alice’s final meltdown was a long, shrieking nightmare.
I was a little girl in the Seventies — too young to have been exposed to the “real diary” Go Ask Alice when it was released, but I did see the TV movie (at least in part, many times over the years) and remember the dire warnings about LSD and flashbacks and poor Art Linkletter’s daughter who jumped off a roof because she thought she could fly. What I couldn’t have known (what nobody knew) was that in the immediate aftermath of Linkletter’s loss, a diary “discovered” by an unknown fifty-something wannabe author would capture the grieving celebrity’s attention, and this diary would so perfectly explain what insidious forces led to his daughter’s death because Sparks created it based on Linkletter’s own story. At a time when “the average American runaway was a white, middle-class, suburban girl who was barely fifteen”, and the evening news was filled with a horrific murder trial where, “Manson, the prosecution and defense teams agreed, had used LSD as a psychic crowbar, prying open the women’s minds and rebuilding them as monsters,” America was primed for action on what LSD was doing to their daughters. And although no drugs were found in Linkletter’s daughter’s toxicology report (although, to be fair, apparently there was no test for LSD at the time), Linkletter became an avenging angel and brought Go Ask Alice (which he published and put his endorsement on) to Washington, where Nixon was delighted to have a friendly face to put on his incipient War on Drugs. So, to be clear, Beatrice Sparks, in order to become a breakthrough author, made up a diary that the President of the United States would hold up as evidence for a program that pretended to be about drug safety but was really about getting hippies and civil rights protestors off the streets:
“We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or Black,” Nixon’s domestic policy advisor, John Ehrlichman, admitted in 1994, “but by criminalizing [drugs] heavily, we could disrupt those communities . . . arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. “Did we know we were lying about the drugs?” asked Ehrlichman. “Of course we did.”
Unfortunately for Beatrice Sparks’ ambitions, the publishers insisted on listing the author of Go Ask Alice as “anonymous” (in order to make it more relatable to fellow teens, even Sparks’ name as an “editor” was nixed), and despite it becoming one of the best-selling YA books of all time, she received no official credit and continued to have no success in getting work published under her own name.
Unmask Alice then pivots and tells the tale of Alden Barrett; a sixteen-year-old with undiagnosed depression who ended up killing himself in 1971. Alden’s devastated mother found her son’s tortured diary and decided to give it to local author Beatrice Sparks (surely if Sparks had a hand in Go Ask Alice — which was doing such good work warning teens off drugs — there could be some good in a book that calls attention to youth mental illness), and although Sparks assured Marcella Barrett that she’d let her read anything she made of the diary before it was released, Marcella never heard back from Sparks; never heard anything at all until locals started whispering about Jay’s Journal — the thinly-disguised “true” writings of a disturbed young man who was obviously the late Alden Barrett. The biggest shocker: according to the book, Jay/Alden had been deep into witchcraft and Satanism, animal sacrifice, cattle mutilation, midnight orgies, and frenzied drug use. And while none of that was true — Sparks interspersed Alden’s actual pain-filled entries with her fantasies of graveside rituals and demonic possession — Jay’s Journals would spark the Satanic Panic of the 1980’s; ruining the lives of countless people as the FBI, police departments across America, and respected psychiatrists acting as expert witnesses assured the country that Satanism was real and rampant and seducing the youth. The worst consequences were doled out to childcare workers who were accused of using the children in their care for Satanic rituals, usually charged after narratives of abuse were implanted in the children by social workers and psychologists, as in the following case:
Dan and Fran Keller, the owners of a small day care center in Austin’s Oak Hill suburb, are accused of Satanic ritual abuse. Among the allegations: forcing children to drink blood-laced Kool-Aid, cutting out the heart of a baby, throwing children into a shark-filled swimming pool, and “using Satan’s arm as a paintbrush.” The initial accuser retracts her statement, as does the primary “eyewitness,” but it doesn’t matter. Jurors convict the Kellers, who spend twenty-two years in prison before an appeals court overturns their sentences, freeing the couple. In 2017, district attorney Margaret Moore finally declares both Dan and Fran Keller “actually innocent.”
One woman started both the War on Drugs and the Satanic Panic, and her only remorse was that neither of the “true diaries” she wrote were allowed to have her name on them. Sparks released a few other books over the following years (about teenage pregnancy, AIDS, and other social issues), and although she had been a Depression-era dropout and runaway, she eventually started referring to herself as a psychotherapist, a youth counsellor (explaining that she had access to so many diaries because they were actually based on case-notes from her nonexistent therapy practise), and her final books were allowed to be published with “Dr. Beatrice Sparks PhD” emblazoned on their covers. If her nonexistent credentials were never questioned, you have to wonder about an industry that unleashed such harm on the American public (with cultural spillover here in Canada) without fact-checking anything at all about these books.
In most industries, this would be a shitstorm. In publishing, it’s barely an anecdote, and that’s the real warning. When obvious fraud no longer rates attention, let alone rebuke, things get ugly fast, and even good people can believe the very worst.
This was such a surprising investigative journey to me — Emerson unspools his narrative carefully and compellingly — and I have to note that this book may have ultimate impact for Gen Xers like me: I told my girls this story (to which they nodded along and gave me a respectful “wow” or two) but they don’t have the context of growing up during the early days of the War on Drugs (and having been very affected by both the story of Linkletter’s daughter and the image of “Alice” in a closet clawing at invisible spiders while she was supposed to be babysitting) or the Satanic Panic (and watching several episodes of Oprah about repressed memories where she said the only two possible answers to the question of whether or not you had been abused are “Yes or I don’t know”). I thought that Emerson was thorough and respectful in his approach to the material, and while there were some overwrought metaphors and unnecessarily smirky/sweary asides, the writing was, overall, appropriately journalistic. My mind is blown by what Beatrice Sparks wrought on the world; surely one of the most dangerous authors in history.
August 13, 2022
3.5 stars. No matter how wild you think this book will be it is wilder by a factor of at least 10. If you are coming to it after the You're Wrong About series on GO ASK ALICE, there is a lot more here than you think, so it's definitely worth diving into. What you already know is just the smallest percentage of this book.
The thing is, I have one very big criticism. This book is about a woman who invented stories, coopting real people's lives and inventing imaginary ones, presenting fiction to the world as nonfiction. To me, the last thing this story needs is to be written in a heavily narrative style, aka one that reads like fiction. What this subject needs is to be as absolutely factual as possible, to be very clear about what is known and what isn't known, what is speculation on the author's part and what is definite. Emerson tells us that he is only sticking to what he knows for sure, but that is also a problem. There's a lot of room to build some conclusions here that Emerson doesn't build, to pile up the evidence neatly, and say what it probably means while owning that the conclusions aren't totally clear. By writing in this narrative style anything not totally certain is just gone and all that's invented is the most minor of details to make it feel more like a story. Emerson never actually makes the full argument that Sparks made up Alice, never sets out the evidence in favor of a specific thesis. And yet he also comes in with his own commentary too often, never in terms of making actual statements, but in giving the narration an "attitude" and tone that I often found frustrating, assuming that he can throw in some judgment that his reader will certainly agree with and I often didn't.
It's a shame because there is so much absolutely horrific stuff here that to lay it out plainly and openly feels necessary. It feels like as much of the story as we get for the first time, even more is missing. We have so much about how Alice was accepted but nothing at all about how it was doubted, except for Emerson noting near the end that Alice has been doubted for 50 years. News to me, according to the book everyone has taken it at face value!
The context of how Alice came to be is very interesting, I would have loved more of a breakdown of how the book reflects the specific fears of the time. Alice's reception is only ever given in how it was accepted and I would have liked to see more about the doubters and any efforts to track down the real Alice as well as the other "diarists," which seems like it must have come up. There's also nothing about the claims that Sparks had a co-author.
The second half of the book focuses more on Sparks' later works, but there are a lot more real life sources to pull from here, making it more satisfying and interesting. It also makes it more absolutely horrific. There is a lot here about child abuse, both parental and institutional, and the shortfalls of the mental health system for teenagers in the 70's.
My other very specific to myself note is that Emerson is writing about Sparks, a Mormon, who lived through a very significant social transition within the Mormon church. Emerson writes about the church as if it's always been what it's been since the post-WWII era when this is certainly not the case. The Church as we know it came about in that post-war period and was quite different before that. (Despite his insistence of the Church's push for families, Emerson tells us that Sparks's father left their family and her mother put two of her children in an orphanage, which sure seems inconsistent with the culture he's just laid out for us and yet it is given without comment.) Sparks' work feels very connected to this shift and to the emphasis on avoiding sin for teens. It feels like there is so much to dive into there, and it's all just left. I would love for some other Mormon-focused writers to pick this up and run with it.
This is extremely addictive and full of constant shocking twists. I understand why Emerson wrote it this way, it certainly is propulsive. But I stand by my critiques, in the midst of so much uncertainty I wanted everything laid out as clearly as possible.
The thing is, I have one very big criticism. This book is about a woman who invented stories, coopting real people's lives and inventing imaginary ones, presenting fiction to the world as nonfiction. To me, the last thing this story needs is to be written in a heavily narrative style, aka one that reads like fiction. What this subject needs is to be as absolutely factual as possible, to be very clear about what is known and what isn't known, what is speculation on the author's part and what is definite. Emerson tells us that he is only sticking to what he knows for sure, but that is also a problem. There's a lot of room to build some conclusions here that Emerson doesn't build, to pile up the evidence neatly, and say what it probably means while owning that the conclusions aren't totally clear. By writing in this narrative style anything not totally certain is just gone and all that's invented is the most minor of details to make it feel more like a story. Emerson never actually makes the full argument that Sparks made up Alice, never sets out the evidence in favor of a specific thesis. And yet he also comes in with his own commentary too often, never in terms of making actual statements, but in giving the narration an "attitude" and tone that I often found frustrating, assuming that he can throw in some judgment that his reader will certainly agree with and I often didn't.
It's a shame because there is so much absolutely horrific stuff here that to lay it out plainly and openly feels necessary. It feels like as much of the story as we get for the first time, even more is missing. We have so much about how Alice was accepted but nothing at all about how it was doubted, except for Emerson noting near the end that Alice has been doubted for 50 years. News to me, according to the book everyone has taken it at face value!
The context of how Alice came to be is very interesting, I would have loved more of a breakdown of how the book reflects the specific fears of the time. Alice's reception is only ever given in how it was accepted and I would have liked to see more about the doubters and any efforts to track down the real Alice as well as the other "diarists," which seems like it must have come up. There's also nothing about the claims that Sparks had a co-author.
The second half of the book focuses more on Sparks' later works, but there are a lot more real life sources to pull from here, making it more satisfying and interesting. It also makes it more absolutely horrific. There is a lot here about child abuse, both parental and institutional, and the shortfalls of the mental health system for teenagers in the 70's.
My other very specific to myself note is that Emerson is writing about Sparks, a Mormon, who lived through a very significant social transition within the Mormon church. Emerson writes about the church as if it's always been what it's been since the post-WWII era when this is certainly not the case. The Church as we know it came about in that post-war period and was quite different before that. (Despite his insistence of the Church's push for families, Emerson tells us that Sparks's father left their family and her mother put two of her children in an orphanage, which sure seems inconsistent with the culture he's just laid out for us and yet it is given without comment.) Sparks' work feels very connected to this shift and to the emphasis on avoiding sin for teens. It feels like there is so much to dive into there, and it's all just left. I would love for some other Mormon-focused writers to pick this up and run with it.
This is extremely addictive and full of constant shocking twists. I understand why Emerson wrote it this way, it certainly is propulsive. But I stand by my critiques, in the midst of so much uncertainty I wanted everything laid out as clearly as possible.
April 15, 2022
I was one of those thirteen year olds who read Go Ask Alice and was riveted at the time. I also recall satanic panic and other things mentioned in this hot mess. What I didn’t know is that the diary wasn’t true and was written by a cruel, narcissistic, pathological woman hell bent upon being “someone.” There were several “diaries” written by Beatrice Sparks that caused families a great deal of pain. Okay, so I suppose I learned a little something. Value yet to be determined. The author just wouldn’t get out of his own way and was one of the main obstacles of this book. The footnotes are unnecessarily snide and the structure is disjointed. Just like reading Go Ask Alice during my early teens, I doubt I’ll remember much about this. Value determined.
June 24, 2022
I think the first time I read “Go Ask Alice” was when I was around 11 or 12. I read it several times when I was younger, because that girl’s diary was horrific and morbidly fascinating. I mean, think of it! This girl was unknowingly dosed with LSD, fell into a life of drugs, and she ended up dying thinking parasites were on her! My friends and I were obsessed … and to this day, I’ve never tried LSD. 😂
I don’t remember when I learned that it was a work of fiction, (more like, a work of fraud) but I was an adult, and I was so annoyed that I was completely fooled by a trickster, a hustler. A woman named Beatrice Sparks. This book is about her, and about her many books, including the bestselling “Go Ask Alice”, a completely fictionalized tale, and “Jay’s Journal” - which somehow eluded me! After reading this book, I want to read that one now, but I definitely wouldn’t buy it and support the utter bullshit this woman spread to the masses.
Both books were fakes, with “Jay’s Journal” being (very) loosely based on the real diary of a young man (not named Jay) who killed himself. Witchcraft, Dungeons & Dragons and Satan worship took this bright young Mormon boy from the world … it would have you think. The truth was that “Jay” (actually a teenage boy named Alden) was a kid who had severe depression. His parents tried to get him help, but psychology was much more primitive then, and he committed suicide. The occult had NOTHING to do with it; he wasn’t remotely involved with any of those things.
This book about Ms. Sparks is written informally, but excellently, with exacting details and footnotes. It was a very easy, quick read and I thought the subject matter was so interesting. This woman, who pretended to be a psychotherapist, who pretended to “find” diaries of teenage drug users/homosexuals/devil worshipers/sinners, who defined generations, who influenced the “war on drugs”, who ruined people’s lives … well, she’s a real piece of work. This book takes you through all of it, and it’s definitely interesting.
Four stars, maybe even 4.5 if you remember reading these when you were younger. Millions of Americans did, and while I eventually found out Alice’s story was fake, I had no idea how much damage this one woman did to generations. I appreciate getting the chance to learn the truth, in a serious but entertaining manner.
(Thank you to BenBella Books, Rick Emerson and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)
I don’t remember when I learned that it was a work of fiction, (more like, a work of fraud) but I was an adult, and I was so annoyed that I was completely fooled by a trickster, a hustler. A woman named Beatrice Sparks. This book is about her, and about her many books, including the bestselling “Go Ask Alice”, a completely fictionalized tale, and “Jay’s Journal” - which somehow eluded me! After reading this book, I want to read that one now, but I definitely wouldn’t buy it and support the utter bullshit this woman spread to the masses.
Both books were fakes, with “Jay’s Journal” being (very) loosely based on the real diary of a young man (not named Jay) who killed himself. Witchcraft, Dungeons & Dragons and Satan worship took this bright young Mormon boy from the world … it would have you think. The truth was that “Jay” (actually a teenage boy named Alden) was a kid who had severe depression. His parents tried to get him help, but psychology was much more primitive then, and he committed suicide. The occult had NOTHING to do with it; he wasn’t remotely involved with any of those things.
This book about Ms. Sparks is written informally, but excellently, with exacting details and footnotes. It was a very easy, quick read and I thought the subject matter was so interesting. This woman, who pretended to be a psychotherapist, who pretended to “find” diaries of teenage drug users/homosexuals/devil worshipers/sinners, who defined generations, who influenced the “war on drugs”, who ruined people’s lives … well, she’s a real piece of work. This book takes you through all of it, and it’s definitely interesting.
Four stars, maybe even 4.5 if you remember reading these when you were younger. Millions of Americans did, and while I eventually found out Alice’s story was fake, I had no idea how much damage this one woman did to generations. I appreciate getting the chance to learn the truth, in a serious but entertaining manner.
(Thank you to BenBella Books, Rick Emerson and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)
September 8, 2022
I’ve been mostly in the mood for fiction but I’m reading mostly non-ficiton books these days.
I loved Go Ask Alice and the movie when they came out. My friends and I believed it was a real girl’s diary. The drug use fridghtened me a lot less than the scary classmates. I’d already been afraid of LSD seeing what it did to some people, but in recent years I’ve decided that I’d love to take (medically supervised) LSD and psilocybin and MDMA, and other hallucinogens. I think it’s a shame they’re still mostly illegal when many more dangerous substances are still legal. The psychedelics could have helped so many people. There seems to be progress to bring them back legally for certain health conditions.This book made me even more eager to try it for its therapeutic benefits. Reading this also reminded me what a nightmare of a President and a man Richard Nixon was.
Years ago, I learned that the diary was a fake and penned by a woman named Beatrice Sparks but I knew only a few things about her. This is an interesting biography of her, and it’s more than that.
I found the first part of this book (related to the Alice story) entertaining but as the book went on and was about other real and fake lives I got angrier and angrier, to the point that I wanted to skim or stop reading. It was so disturbing about what Sparks did with others’ stories.
I’m sort of sad that I gave up my copy of Go Ask Alice, even though I know it is a fake. It’s still a great story.
I believe most of what is written here about Beatrice Sparks and even though all I’d known about her is that she fabricated Go Ask Alice what I learned in this book doesn’t surprise me.
That said, this book ended up irking me no end. The author irritates me. Why write THIS book? Is there enough proof of the facts or not?
For enjoyment in the first Alice part I’d give them book 4 stars, and then it went from between 3 and 2 stars depending on how sad and angry I was feeling for the people who were the subjects of this story and of Sparks’ stories. By the end I wondered if it deserved only 1 star but I did enjoy much of it so 2 stars it is. It was okay. I can’t say I recommend this but I know there are readers who would enjoy the book and be glad that they read it.
I know that I might be being unfair. This book is certainly more truthful that Sperks’ books and the author is not the same sort of liar. This book does have some photos and some documentation/documents. I just feel unsure about it.
I definitely feel uncomfortable with the many people in this country and their religions, politics, craziness and especially their lack of critical thinking. The latter it turns out comes from some unlikely sources. Book publishers in some cases! I remember a couple of the false satanic worship news stories that are included in this account.
My next book is also non-fiction. *sigh* I know to read more novels in the near future. The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman is out soon and I have many novels on my to read list from which to choose.
The bottom line about this book: Too much conjecture for my taste.
I loved Go Ask Alice and the movie when they came out. My friends and I believed it was a real girl’s diary. The drug use fridghtened me a lot less than the scary classmates. I’d already been afraid of LSD seeing what it did to some people, but in recent years I’ve decided that I’d love to take (medically supervised) LSD and psilocybin and MDMA, and other hallucinogens. I think it’s a shame they’re still mostly illegal when many more dangerous substances are still legal. The psychedelics could have helped so many people. There seems to be progress to bring them back legally for certain health conditions.This book made me even more eager to try it for its therapeutic benefits. Reading this also reminded me what a nightmare of a President and a man Richard Nixon was.
Years ago, I learned that the diary was a fake and penned by a woman named Beatrice Sparks but I knew only a few things about her. This is an interesting biography of her, and it’s more than that.
I found the first part of this book (related to the Alice story) entertaining but as the book went on and was about other real and fake lives I got angrier and angrier, to the point that I wanted to skim or stop reading. It was so disturbing about what Sparks did with others’ stories.
I’m sort of sad that I gave up my copy of Go Ask Alice, even though I know it is a fake. It’s still a great story.
I believe most of what is written here about Beatrice Sparks and even though all I’d known about her is that she fabricated Go Ask Alice what I learned in this book doesn’t surprise me.
That said, this book ended up irking me no end. The author irritates me. Why write THIS book? Is there enough proof of the facts or not?
For enjoyment in the first Alice part I’d give them book 4 stars, and then it went from between 3 and 2 stars depending on how sad and angry I was feeling for the people who were the subjects of this story and of Sparks’ stories. By the end I wondered if it deserved only 1 star but I did enjoy much of it so 2 stars it is. It was okay. I can’t say I recommend this but I know there are readers who would enjoy the book and be glad that they read it.
I know that I might be being unfair. This book is certainly more truthful that Sperks’ books and the author is not the same sort of liar. This book does have some photos and some documentation/documents. I just feel unsure about it.
I definitely feel uncomfortable with the many people in this country and their religions, politics, craziness and especially their lack of critical thinking. The latter it turns out comes from some unlikely sources. Book publishers in some cases! I remember a couple of the false satanic worship news stories that are included in this account.
My next book is also non-fiction. *sigh* I know to read more novels in the near future. The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman is out soon and I have many novels on my to read list from which to choose.
The bottom line about this book: Too much conjecture for my taste.
August 1, 2022
I don’t understand how so many reviewers are gullible enough to completely set aside the fact that Emerson purposely offers no citations in this work (and moreover, suggests that anyone wanting them should just do “a simple web search or [make a] phone call” to corroborate information) and accept this book at face value. Emerson talks about the fact that publishers don’t subject non-fiction books to fact-checking, just taking the author’s word for its accuracy - which was, of course, the huge problem with Go Ask Alice - and expects us to take his own word on his book’s accuracy. If you’re writing a book about a famous, unsubstantiated hoax diary and its unreliable author, shouldn’t you make sure that you aren’t appearing likewise unreliable?
Beyond that this book is essentially an over-blown, over-stuffed magazine article.
Beyond that this book is essentially an over-blown, over-stuffed magazine article.
November 15, 2022
You can hear me and Lucien Greaves (The Satanic Temple) talk about this book on Lucien’s patreon.
In short, the research and citations are so poor, I have no idea if the conclusions are valid. And that’s a really bad look.
In short, the research and citations are so poor, I have no idea if the conclusions are valid. And that’s a really bad look.
April 10, 2023
This book was truly wild. Beatrice Sparks exploited so many people and told so many lies. She looked completely embarrassing by the end! This book also gets a little into the war on drugs as well as the satanic panic.
The author uses ableist language and I think he was careless when describing certain people and their situations. For those reasons I can give this no more than two stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and BenBella Books for this digital copy!
The author uses ableist language and I think he was careless when describing certain people and their situations. For those reasons I can give this no more than two stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and BenBella Books for this digital copy!
October 1, 2022
Holy boats, I loved this book!
May 11, 2023
Like a lot of people, I was fascinated by the "anonymous" diaries of troubled teens... When I realized that it was all a lie, I could.not.WAIT to learn all about it.
I was only 40 pages in when I stopped to reread Go Ask Alice... well worth the afternoon's pause!
The parts about Beatrice Sparks were fascinating... it did get a little dull in the middle with the tiny details about Alden's life and the start of the Satanic Panic, but it was all leading somewhere.
Great read!
I was only 40 pages in when I stopped to reread Go Ask Alice... well worth the afternoon's pause!
The parts about Beatrice Sparks were fascinating... it did get a little dull in the middle with the tiny details about Alden's life and the start of the Satanic Panic, but it was all leading somewhere.
Great read!
August 5, 2022
Absolutely loved this book. It’s interesting and the writing is unbelievable good and surprisingly hilarious. I’ll be talking about this one a lot. Might end up top 10
March 2, 2022
One of the breakout books of the YA genre was Go Ask Alice, the purported diary of a nameless teenage drug addict and runaway. However, the story behind that book and its follow-up, Jay's Journal, is far more convoluted and amorally exploitative than anyone would expect.
I have actually read Go Ask Alice. I was interested in it because of the controversy surrounding its reality, and reading the protagonist's wild dash through various illicit drugs made it pretty clear that it was indeed not real. The overblown writing and frantic plot rather made it a pain to read. But, as Emerson reveals in this book, Go Ask Alice was indeed an enormous hit, winning awards and selling millions of copies.
The story behind the book is far more fascinating though, I found. Emerson deftly weaves the tale of conservative America in the seventies and eighties into the story, creating a vivid backdrop to the hoax. The story has jaw-dropping twists and turns, and I spent a great deal of time astonished by Beatrice Sparks's audacity and how she kept managing to get away with things. I also appreciated the emphasis on veracity that Emerson had in this book, which really is necessary after the murkiness of Go Ask Alice and the books that followed it.
However, I did think the section that centered on Jay's Journal was a little overly long. We learn a lot about the real and tragic life of Alden Barrett, whose actual diary Sparks perverted for publication, and Emerson does not pull any punches in exploring Alden's story. Unfortunately I thought the book would have worked a bit better if he had! It's a slightly odd change of pace to be pulled out of the main story for so long, waiting to be braided back in.
Ultimately, a really interesting subject, and a well-written book.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
I have actually read Go Ask Alice. I was interested in it because of the controversy surrounding its reality, and reading the protagonist's wild dash through various illicit drugs made it pretty clear that it was indeed not real. The overblown writing and frantic plot rather made it a pain to read. But, as Emerson reveals in this book, Go Ask Alice was indeed an enormous hit, winning awards and selling millions of copies.
The story behind the book is far more fascinating though, I found. Emerson deftly weaves the tale of conservative America in the seventies and eighties into the story, creating a vivid backdrop to the hoax. The story has jaw-dropping twists and turns, and I spent a great deal of time astonished by Beatrice Sparks's audacity and how she kept managing to get away with things. I also appreciated the emphasis on veracity that Emerson had in this book, which really is necessary after the murkiness of Go Ask Alice and the books that followed it.
However, I did think the section that centered on Jay's Journal was a little overly long. We learn a lot about the real and tragic life of Alden Barrett, whose actual diary Sparks perverted for publication, and Emerson does not pull any punches in exploring Alden's story. Unfortunately I thought the book would have worked a bit better if he had! It's a slightly odd change of pace to be pulled out of the main story for so long, waiting to be braided back in.
Ultimately, a really interesting subject, and a well-written book.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
August 11, 2022
I'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley a chance at giving this a read.
As a teen, I knew of the book Go Ask Alice. I remember a couple lockemates in High School absolutely obsessed over this 'journal' and indicated how sad they were over the girl. ... I think it was at that time, due to the internet, I heard rumblings that the story was a lie and that the word was coming out that it was a fake journal. (This was 2000's, so, everything was a bombshell when it debuted on the internet.)
To this day I still haven't read the book. I think I flipped through it once but the writing felt so;... all over the place (and not that the person was supposed to be a teen or a 'high' teen), but it came across try hard / fake. I also was reading other books not written for a teenage audience at that time (Anne Rice).
Now that the story is out and that people know this woman was a crook, I was very interested in this expose.
I think while I enjoyed the content, I enjoyed the linear story, the book had a lot of faults:
1.) The writing is absurd. I was taught in school that any one who writes a paper or even a book should be documenting their reference. At the end of this book, the author says that he didn't because it's all available on the internet. I get that, bud, but if you want to make your book look good and, if you want people to respect what you're writing, please for the love of god follow the rules of book writing and documenting facts / citing your sources.
2.) His weird interjections and strange narrative that he gives the author. He seems to get into her head and writes as if he is her, portraying her thoughts. He too goes over this at the end of the book by saying that he inferred it from her writing and that it made sense and didn't seem to abstract. Bud, again, no. I know the woman was a little shit of the publishing industry but unless I know for a fact that she said what she said and or did what she did, I don't want to read your real life fanfiction.
3.) The way this book jumps around and how the information s presented. At times it is linear, at times it is not. You aren't really quite sure of the timeline of events and you have to pay attention to the dates mentioned throughout to figure what part of the year we're in or what decade.
The author was able to interview and gleam information from things written to him on the side, but again, the writing and the citation of information is poor so you have no idea where that is in the book. (One chapter at the end talks about his travel to a library and to someone who now owns the house of the boy she butchered the journals of to make Jay's Journal.) But I feel there was other times in the text where he interviewed or got information and didn't cite it.
The information is great, and I get it's all available on the internet. For people like me who want something complied and or published with some sort of air of authority, just because you wanted skirt the rules doesn't make your book look official It makes it look lazy.
As a teen, I knew of the book Go Ask Alice. I remember a couple lockemates in High School absolutely obsessed over this 'journal' and indicated how sad they were over the girl. ... I think it was at that time, due to the internet, I heard rumblings that the story was a lie and that the word was coming out that it was a fake journal. (This was 2000's, so, everything was a bombshell when it debuted on the internet.)
To this day I still haven't read the book. I think I flipped through it once but the writing felt so;... all over the place (and not that the person was supposed to be a teen or a 'high' teen), but it came across try hard / fake. I also was reading other books not written for a teenage audience at that time (Anne Rice).
Now that the story is out and that people know this woman was a crook, I was very interested in this expose.
I think while I enjoyed the content, I enjoyed the linear story, the book had a lot of faults:
1.) The writing is absurd. I was taught in school that any one who writes a paper or even a book should be documenting their reference. At the end of this book, the author says that he didn't because it's all available on the internet. I get that, bud, but if you want to make your book look good and, if you want people to respect what you're writing, please for the love of god follow the rules of book writing and documenting facts / citing your sources.
2.) His weird interjections and strange narrative that he gives the author. He seems to get into her head and writes as if he is her, portraying her thoughts. He too goes over this at the end of the book by saying that he inferred it from her writing and that it made sense and didn't seem to abstract. Bud, again, no. I know the woman was a little shit of the publishing industry but unless I know for a fact that she said what she said and or did what she did, I don't want to read your real life fanfiction.
3.) The way this book jumps around and how the information s presented. At times it is linear, at times it is not. You aren't really quite sure of the timeline of events and you have to pay attention to the dates mentioned throughout to figure what part of the year we're in or what decade.
The author was able to interview and gleam information from things written to him on the side, but again, the writing and the citation of information is poor so you have no idea where that is in the book. (One chapter at the end talks about his travel to a library and to someone who now owns the house of the boy she butchered the journals of to make Jay's Journal.) But I feel there was other times in the text where he interviewed or got information and didn't cite it.
The information is great, and I get it's all available on the internet. For people like me who want something complied and or published with some sort of air of authority, just because you wanted skirt the rules doesn't make your book look official It makes it look lazy.
August 28, 2022
3.5
i read nearly all the go ask alice books as a kid and remember it being such a stand out experience in comparison to the other books i read because of how jarring they were to read at such a young age. the idea of reading a dead person’s diary let alone ones that were full of such upsetting stories (that i was definitely too young to question the truthfulness of) was insane to me… like i can still remember how shocked i was reading the epilogue of go ask alice for the first time. Finding out now that they were fabricated and just how awful the con was when it gets to alden’s situation is just gut wrenching.
when it comes to unmask alice, this was impossible to put down once it got started but the one thing that felt a bit weird was how emerson tended to inject his own speculation into the thought processes of, and speak on behalf of, dead people involved in the story that obviously couldn’t be interviewed on the situation (i.e Sparks and Nixon). it was also pretty surprising how little citations there were for a lot of what emerson brings up. going into this i assumed he was a journalist so i expected your standard direct reference heavy investigation but i think this reads more like an amateur video essay on the topic than that (and thats not a bad thing lol just not what i was expecting!) regardless i think anyone who read the go ask alice series would benefit from reading this, the core story about the con, especially when it comes to alden’s situation, should honestly be stamped on the inside of every copy of jay’s journal as a bare minimum apology for the shitstorm that book caused for their family.
i read nearly all the go ask alice books as a kid and remember it being such a stand out experience in comparison to the other books i read because of how jarring they were to read at such a young age. the idea of reading a dead person’s diary let alone ones that were full of such upsetting stories (that i was definitely too young to question the truthfulness of) was insane to me… like i can still remember how shocked i was reading the epilogue of go ask alice for the first time. Finding out now that they were fabricated and just how awful the con was when it gets to alden’s situation is just gut wrenching.
when it comes to unmask alice, this was impossible to put down once it got started but the one thing that felt a bit weird was how emerson tended to inject his own speculation into the thought processes of, and speak on behalf of, dead people involved in the story that obviously couldn’t be interviewed on the situation (i.e Sparks and Nixon). it was also pretty surprising how little citations there were for a lot of what emerson brings up. going into this i assumed he was a journalist so i expected your standard direct reference heavy investigation but i think this reads more like an amateur video essay on the topic than that (and thats not a bad thing lol just not what i was expecting!) regardless i think anyone who read the go ask alice series would benefit from reading this, the core story about the con, especially when it comes to alden’s situation, should honestly be stamped on the inside of every copy of jay’s journal as a bare minimum apology for the shitstorm that book caused for their family.
July 31, 2023
09/2022.
I found the story of the origin of "acid flashbacks" fascinating. It involves Art Linkletter's daughter's tragic suicide. She jumped out a window to her death. Shocking, sad and tragic. Her brother told Art that she told him she'd taken acid. So then it was assumed it was the drug still in her system which made her jump out the window.
This happened in 1969.
I found the story of the origin of "acid flashbacks" fascinating. It involves Art Linkletter's daughter's tragic suicide. She jumped out a window to her death. Shocking, sad and tragic. Her brother told Art that she told him she'd taken acid. So then it was assumed it was the drug still in her system which made her jump out the window.
This happened in 1969.
July 15, 2022
This book was such a construction.
The author - Rick Emerson - brings this amazing and intriguing true story about Go Ask Alice; the Satanic Panic; Beatrice Sparks a famous author who already passed away but was, in life, a bad person who kind of robbed a diary from a young suicide man - Aiden - and change everything about it, increasing more and more the Satanic Panic and too making a grieving family suffer; and much much more.
I have to say that even though this is an amazing book, perfection, was a massive one. So look out for it. I just recommend it.
The author - Rick Emerson - brings this amazing and intriguing true story about Go Ask Alice; the Satanic Panic; Beatrice Sparks a famous author who already passed away but was, in life, a bad person who kind of robbed a diary from a young suicide man - Aiden - and change everything about it, increasing more and more the Satanic Panic and too making a grieving family suffer; and much much more.
I have to say that even though this is an amazing book, perfection, was a massive one. So look out for it. I just recommend it.
July 4, 2022
Thanks to NetGalley & BenBella Books for an eARC of this book. The following review is my honest reflection on the text provided.
3.5 stars
"That's the dirty secret. Drugs work. When life hurts, they stop the pain. Who could argue with that?"
I'm a little too young (wow, I don't get to say that much anymore...) to have known what Go Ask Alice was before reading this book, but I still found Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the Worlds Most Notorious Diaries fascinating. It was like being sucked into the whirlpool of a hideous woman's horrific actions. There were a lot of sketchy moments, but I cannot fathom her thought process when handling Alden's journal, let alone the dominoes it set off with her neverending terrible decisions. That poor family.
I've listened to enough true crime podcasts to be reasonably knowledgable about the bullshit dubbed the satanic panic in the 80s and 90s. Still, it was crazy to read how little evidence there was for these massive conferences and accusations. So many people were caught up and given trumped-up charges on absolutely zero evidence - just junk science, politics, and religious propaganda. Sounds frighteningly familiar these days...
"Richard Nixon didn't do middle paths. He saw every problem as a personal challenge, if not a personal insult. Liberals, psychiatrists, Jews, hippies, draft dodgers, dope smokers - they were like goddamned cockroaches, creeping around and waggling their fucking antennae. You couldn't back down or 'get along.' You had to smash the bastards, make them pay. That was how you won."
Emerson tackled a lot with Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the Worlds Most Notorious Diaries , but I do think he brought it all together well. There's a narrative thread that makes it easier to read than most non-fiction. I do think it will hit harder if you've read Go Ask Alice - or have at least heard of it - but I went in with zero knowledge and still found it interesting.
Review originally posted here on Britt's Book Blurbs.
3.5 stars
"That's the dirty secret. Drugs work. When life hurts, they stop the pain. Who could argue with that?"
I'm a little too young (wow, I don't get to say that much anymore...) to have known what Go Ask Alice was before reading this book, but I still found Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the Worlds Most Notorious Diaries fascinating. It was like being sucked into the whirlpool of a hideous woman's horrific actions. There were a lot of sketchy moments, but I cannot fathom her thought process when handling Alden's journal, let alone the dominoes it set off with her neverending terrible decisions. That poor family.
I've listened to enough true crime podcasts to be reasonably knowledgable about the bullshit dubbed the satanic panic in the 80s and 90s. Still, it was crazy to read how little evidence there was for these massive conferences and accusations. So many people were caught up and given trumped-up charges on absolutely zero evidence - just junk science, politics, and religious propaganda. Sounds frighteningly familiar these days...
"Richard Nixon didn't do middle paths. He saw every problem as a personal challenge, if not a personal insult. Liberals, psychiatrists, Jews, hippies, draft dodgers, dope smokers - they were like goddamned cockroaches, creeping around and waggling their fucking antennae. You couldn't back down or 'get along.' You had to smash the bastards, make them pay. That was how you won."
Emerson tackled a lot with Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the Worlds Most Notorious Diaries , but I do think he brought it all together well. There's a narrative thread that makes it easier to read than most non-fiction. I do think it will hit harder if you've read Go Ask Alice - or have at least heard of it - but I went in with zero knowledge and still found it interesting.
Review originally posted here on Britt's Book Blurbs.
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January 27, 2022
Read an Edelweiss eARC
Content warning: suicide (graphic, on-page), child abuse, gaslighting, fraud, drug abuse, ritual abuse, religious abuse, violence
Go Ask Alice is a book that floated on the periphery of my awareness during middle school. Usually featured as a banned book, I had the vaguest knowledge of its contents. The title of this non-fiction investigation into the origin of this reviled book piqued my interest. I fell into it like being swallowed into a can of worms that covers American politics, the inner workings of publishing, and heart-wrenching stories of families in way over their heads when it comes to their children’s adolescence and mental health.
The story behind the “memoir” is a wild ride from start to finish. It touches on the war on drugs, Satanic panic, ethics in publishing, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Compelling is not strong enough a word to describe this piece of investigative work. It had me hooked, and I couldn’t pull myself away without thinking about what next wild connection is coming. None of it feels manufactured for narrative effect. There are just so many connection nodes and decisions made every step of the way that warrant soft whispering in disbelief.
Emerson has an awareness of what he’s trying to do with exposing the truth behind the fiction pitched as nonfiction. With the amount of fraud already committed, there is a reverence on page for the subjects discussed and people depicted with an appropriate irreverence for the absurdity that was everything about American culture in the 1970’s and 80’s. The fact that anyone made it adulthood during those years in the U.S. is kind of a miracle. Emerson is deeply aware of this, and tries his best to cite every piece of new information, especially the more personal accounts of mental health and drug use/abuse found within.
The book had me gripped by every turn. I found myself pausing often to say, “what the absolute f*ck” at every new reveal. Now, to be clear, the plot beats of people’s real lives aren’t the salacious details; it’s the complete lack of decency. I don’t want to spoil any of the journey, but every decision the original “editor” of Go Ask Alice made is worthy of a Kidney Person-type blow-up on publishing Twitter. The publishing journey alone is a melange of appropriate business decisions that ultimately caused a lot of harm in the masking of literature as narrative non-fiction. Time and again, there is evidence that contemporary-style fact-checking could have prevented a lot of harm—and yet, con artists are going to con.
Please heed the content warnings. The discussion and depiction of mental health emergencies and suicide does not pull any punches. It is not presented to be titillating, but from a perspective of recouping due diligence that was sorely lacking in the initial publication of the two diaries at the center of controversy, capitalizing on the outrage of a religious minority.
Content warning: suicide (graphic, on-page), child abuse, gaslighting, fraud, drug abuse, ritual abuse, religious abuse, violence
Go Ask Alice is a book that floated on the periphery of my awareness during middle school. Usually featured as a banned book, I had the vaguest knowledge of its contents. The title of this non-fiction investigation into the origin of this reviled book piqued my interest. I fell into it like being swallowed into a can of worms that covers American politics, the inner workings of publishing, and heart-wrenching stories of families in way over their heads when it comes to their children’s adolescence and mental health.
The story behind the “memoir” is a wild ride from start to finish. It touches on the war on drugs, Satanic panic, ethics in publishing, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Compelling is not strong enough a word to describe this piece of investigative work. It had me hooked, and I couldn’t pull myself away without thinking about what next wild connection is coming. None of it feels manufactured for narrative effect. There are just so many connection nodes and decisions made every step of the way that warrant soft whispering in disbelief.
Emerson has an awareness of what he’s trying to do with exposing the truth behind the fiction pitched as nonfiction. With the amount of fraud already committed, there is a reverence on page for the subjects discussed and people depicted with an appropriate irreverence for the absurdity that was everything about American culture in the 1970’s and 80’s. The fact that anyone made it adulthood during those years in the U.S. is kind of a miracle. Emerson is deeply aware of this, and tries his best to cite every piece of new information, especially the more personal accounts of mental health and drug use/abuse found within.
The book had me gripped by every turn. I found myself pausing often to say, “what the absolute f*ck” at every new reveal. Now, to be clear, the plot beats of people’s real lives aren’t the salacious details; it’s the complete lack of decency. I don’t want to spoil any of the journey, but every decision the original “editor” of Go Ask Alice made is worthy of a Kidney Person-type blow-up on publishing Twitter. The publishing journey alone is a melange of appropriate business decisions that ultimately caused a lot of harm in the masking of literature as narrative non-fiction. Time and again, there is evidence that contemporary-style fact-checking could have prevented a lot of harm—and yet, con artists are going to con.
Please heed the content warnings. The discussion and depiction of mental health emergencies and suicide does not pull any punches. It is not presented to be titillating, but from a perspective of recouping due diligence that was sorely lacking in the initial publication of the two diaries at the center of controversy, capitalizing on the outrage of a religious minority.
March 1, 2023
This book was super interesting and told in a very engaging way. The book is a bit long, especially as it wraps up. The story of "Jay" takes up a lot more space than I thought especially because the title makes it seem like it'll be mostly Alice. Overall good.
September 1, 2022
I was about eleven when I read Go Ask Alice, which I think it came into my possession via a friend’s much older sister. It was a cheap early paperback edition, already quite worn my guess is it had already passed through a few sets of hands in the way that certain books (like Flowers in the Attic) did when I was at school. Presented in the form of a diary, I read Go Ask Alice with a mixture of fascination and horror, aghast at how easily Alice, a bright, pretty, American suburban teenager spiraled into drug addiction, prostitution and homelessness, before dying from an overdose. I believed it was a true story, after all it said so right on the cover, and it was the mid eighties, so the ‘War on Drugs/Just Say No’ campaign was in full swing, providing plenty of reinforcement. Alice’s example must have lodged deeply into my psyche, I’ve never even been tempted to try hard drugs, too certain that her fate could be mine.
It was probably only a decade or so ago that I learnt Go Ask Alice was not a true story at all, but was written by a middle aged Mormon woman named Beatrice Sparks. When the fraud was exposed, Sparks insisted it was based in truth, inspired by her work as a youth counsellor. I remember being annoyed by the deception, but I’m furious having now read Emerson’s book, Unmask Alice.
Unmask Alice is a seemingly thoroughly researched, exposé of Beatrice Sparks, revealing her background, how she came to write ‘Alice’, and her subsequent deceits, including the publication of Jay’s Diary, which fed the ‘satanic panic’ of the late 1980’s. Sparks purpose for writing Go Ask Alice may not have been entirely bereft of good intentions, but the same definitely can’t be said about Jay’s Diary. Convinced of her own righteousness, Sparks presents as manipulative and narcissistic, with a disdain for truth and a hunger for recognition. She claimed demonstrably false education and experience, and wielded a wholly dismissive attitude toward anyone affected by her hubris.
By today’s standards, Go Ask Alice, Jay’s Diary, and Sparks other works are obvious in their hyperbole, but in their time they appealed to the conservative elements of society reeling from social upheaval, fed by the naivety of sheltered suburbanites and a dearth of understanding about youth and mental health. Even if you have never read Go Ask Alice or Jay’s Diary, (though you probably should for context), Unmask Alice offers fascinating insight into how and why the books gained such recognition and support, and the enormous cultural impact which still reverberates fifty years later.
Though the narrative style of Unmask Alice ensures it is a compelling read, it can be said to be somewhat problematic. Emerson does not always make a clear distinction between the evidence he gathered from first hand sources and his own editorial input. I’m inclined to trust the author did his research and isn’t deceptive, but then I wholeheartedly believed Alice was a real person too.
It’s disappointing to have been duped by Sparks, who died in 2012, and her enablers, including her publishers who still perpetuate the fiction of her ‘true stories’. While Go Ask Alice could be recognised as having a positive effect of scaring young girls into rejecting drug taking, I have enormous sympathy for the family of Alden Barrett, and the many lives Sparks’s fictional account of ‘Jay’s Diary’, damaged.
Provocative and intriguing, I found Unmask Alice to be an absorbing read that was informative,surprising and entertaining which I’d recommend to anyone interested in social history or literary hoaxes.
It was probably only a decade or so ago that I learnt Go Ask Alice was not a true story at all, but was written by a middle aged Mormon woman named Beatrice Sparks. When the fraud was exposed, Sparks insisted it was based in truth, inspired by her work as a youth counsellor. I remember being annoyed by the deception, but I’m furious having now read Emerson’s book, Unmask Alice.
Unmask Alice is a seemingly thoroughly researched, exposé of Beatrice Sparks, revealing her background, how she came to write ‘Alice’, and her subsequent deceits, including the publication of Jay’s Diary, which fed the ‘satanic panic’ of the late 1980’s. Sparks purpose for writing Go Ask Alice may not have been entirely bereft of good intentions, but the same definitely can’t be said about Jay’s Diary. Convinced of her own righteousness, Sparks presents as manipulative and narcissistic, with a disdain for truth and a hunger for recognition. She claimed demonstrably false education and experience, and wielded a wholly dismissive attitude toward anyone affected by her hubris.
By today’s standards, Go Ask Alice, Jay’s Diary, and Sparks other works are obvious in their hyperbole, but in their time they appealed to the conservative elements of society reeling from social upheaval, fed by the naivety of sheltered suburbanites and a dearth of understanding about youth and mental health. Even if you have never read Go Ask Alice or Jay’s Diary, (though you probably should for context), Unmask Alice offers fascinating insight into how and why the books gained such recognition and support, and the enormous cultural impact which still reverberates fifty years later.
Though the narrative style of Unmask Alice ensures it is a compelling read, it can be said to be somewhat problematic. Emerson does not always make a clear distinction between the evidence he gathered from first hand sources and his own editorial input. I’m inclined to trust the author did his research and isn’t deceptive, but then I wholeheartedly believed Alice was a real person too.
It’s disappointing to have been duped by Sparks, who died in 2012, and her enablers, including her publishers who still perpetuate the fiction of her ‘true stories’. While Go Ask Alice could be recognised as having a positive effect of scaring young girls into rejecting drug taking, I have enormous sympathy for the family of Alden Barrett, and the many lives Sparks’s fictional account of ‘Jay’s Diary’, damaged.
Provocative and intriguing, I found Unmask Alice to be an absorbing read that was informative,surprising and entertaining which I’d recommend to anyone interested in social history or literary hoaxes.
February 19, 2024
* what in the con artist did i read
* bro, there's ambition, then there's whatever Beatrice Sparks did
* absolutely riveting read, i could not put this down
* bro, there's ambition, then there's whatever Beatrice Sparks did
* absolutely riveting read, i could not put this down
May 4, 2022
I remember reading Go Ask Alice in the 80s as a rite of passage.
When I started as a middle school English teacher in the late 90s, I was shocked when the librarian told me that the book was actually fiction. She gave me the highlights version of how the cataloguing of the book had changed over the years.
When I saw this book listed on NetGalley, I was pumped. I wanted to read the whole story. How did this author or publisher get away with passing off this diary as real?
The three stars are entirely for the research put into this account. Emerson clearly did his due diligence and pieced together multitudes of documents and interviews to share this publishing hoax.
Sadly, Emerson’s snark gets in the way of his narrative, and his organization gets muddied in places.
As I was reading, there were several times when I wondered where he was going, but I could always count on him adding a disparaging footnote. Funny how he criticized Beatrice Sparks’ writing style, but his own style included sprinkling nonfiction with so many adjectives.
It almost felt like reading a first draft. Definitely a frustrating read for me. The topic is so compelling, and I know this book could have been a five-star read.
If you’re someone who remembers the Go Ask Alice buzz from your childhood, or you’re pursuing a master’s of library science, or you have some niche interest in this topic, then you can probably read this book and take away some good information. Just be prepared for a snide guide.
Thank you to NetGalley and BenBella Books for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
When I started as a middle school English teacher in the late 90s, I was shocked when the librarian told me that the book was actually fiction. She gave me the highlights version of how the cataloguing of the book had changed over the years.
When I saw this book listed on NetGalley, I was pumped. I wanted to read the whole story. How did this author or publisher get away with passing off this diary as real?
The three stars are entirely for the research put into this account. Emerson clearly did his due diligence and pieced together multitudes of documents and interviews to share this publishing hoax.
Sadly, Emerson’s snark gets in the way of his narrative, and his organization gets muddied in places.
As I was reading, there were several times when I wondered where he was going, but I could always count on him adding a disparaging footnote. Funny how he criticized Beatrice Sparks’ writing style, but his own style included sprinkling nonfiction with so many adjectives.
It almost felt like reading a first draft. Definitely a frustrating read for me. The topic is so compelling, and I know this book could have been a five-star read.
If you’re someone who remembers the Go Ask Alice buzz from your childhood, or you’re pursuing a master’s of library science, or you have some niche interest in this topic, then you can probably read this book and take away some good information. Just be prepared for a snide guide.
Thank you to NetGalley and BenBella Books for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
![Profile Image for julia ☆ [owls reads].](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1636739475i/5520447._UX200_CR0,0,200,200_.jpg)
September 27, 2022
One thing before you read: Rick Emerson doesn't list his references/sources! He claims it's because most of the information he covers in the book is readily available to check out here on the internet. To me, that's like some of my students trying to add www.google.com as their one single reference on their papers because that's the place they went to to gather info. That's not not how any of this works and, considering the subject matter of this book and what Emerson addresses regarding fact checking and an honor system, I find that suspicious.
With that said, Unmask Alice also didn't really gave me the answers I was looking for in regard to how Sparks was actually unmasked??? I also thought it was pretty interesting that Go Ask Alice seemed to be to USAmerican teenagers what Zoo Station: The Story of Christiane F. was to Brazilian teenagers. I didn't expect the tangent through Satanic Panic and how Jay's Journal was one of the sparks that started it all, but that part was really relevant to my personal interests so I wasn't mad about it lol
With that said, Unmask Alice also didn't really gave me the answers I was looking for in regard to how Sparks was actually unmasked??? I also thought it was pretty interesting that Go Ask Alice seemed to be to USAmerican teenagers what Zoo Station: The Story of Christiane F. was to Brazilian teenagers. I didn't expect the tangent through Satanic Panic and how Jay's Journal was one of the sparks that started it all, but that part was really relevant to my personal interests so I wasn't mad about it lol
November 15, 2022
I knew this was going to be good when I saw pearl-clutching reviews about "respecting the dead," and "slandering the author [of 'Alice']," and I was not disappointed. Emerson delivers an entertaining, yet deeply empathetic narrative of religious exploitation, the War on Drugs, and Beatrice Sparks's long and complicated con to exploit teens both real and imaginary. As christofascism and the far right, multi-level marketing/cult-selling, and other dangerously reactionary trends (re)enter public life in a huge way, Emerson leads the pack in terms of authors discussing this media with levity and humor, yet also with the grave seriousness issues of suicide, self-harm, and child abuse deserve.
September 1, 2022
Go Ask Alice was a disturbing book 50 years ago. Unmask Alice continues the tradition. The author makes his case for Beatrice Sparks' duplicity as greed and a desire for fame, leading to a book that basically was a fraud. But there is something disturbing about his own book, which is purported to be an objective analysis based on fact, yet does not provide the sources of these facts to the reader. Emerson, the investigative reporter, just tosses out three reasons: 1. Some facts are checkable because they are public information (aka: do your own damn research); 2. Other facts are not public, but still checkable (see #1); and 3. Privacy concerns make some facts uncheckable. Sounds a lot like Sparks? Poor writing style aside, Emerson's editors should have held him to a higher standard for documentation.
The action I would have liked to see addressed in this book is the participation of the publishing industry, along with the gatekeepers at the major book review journals engaging in perpetrating the fraud. It all came down to sales and money. Let's unmask that, because it is till rampant today. There have been other books foisted on an unsuspecting public as true accounts of terrible childhood experiences that have also been "unmasked" as frauds. David Pelzer's A Child Called It series comes to mind. It appears that only one person at a book review journal was skeptical about Sparks and her many authentic journals.
The Sparks story gets into the weeds when he diverges into Satanism, et.al. That should have been more clearly defined as a separate section of the book. Then he comes back to Sparks and again wrings pages out of what is a thin amount of new information.
His message did not merit a book of such low quality. The publisher should have required him to do more homework and add citations. The recent article another Goodreads reviewer cited from the New Yorker, does the job nicely.
Emerson's work parallels Sparks' in that it appears to be hastily compiled and written, without any formative substance. Many of the major characters are deceased, which is convenient for him. Like Sparks, Emerson's message to the reader is "Trust me." Maybe that's not such a good idea.
The action I would have liked to see addressed in this book is the participation of the publishing industry, along with the gatekeepers at the major book review journals engaging in perpetrating the fraud. It all came down to sales and money. Let's unmask that, because it is till rampant today. There have been other books foisted on an unsuspecting public as true accounts of terrible childhood experiences that have also been "unmasked" as frauds. David Pelzer's A Child Called It series comes to mind. It appears that only one person at a book review journal was skeptical about Sparks and her many authentic journals.
The Sparks story gets into the weeds when he diverges into Satanism, et.al. That should have been more clearly defined as a separate section of the book. Then he comes back to Sparks and again wrings pages out of what is a thin amount of new information.
His message did not merit a book of such low quality. The publisher should have required him to do more homework and add citations. The recent article another Goodreads reviewer cited from the New Yorker, does the job nicely.
Emerson's work parallels Sparks' in that it appears to be hastily compiled and written, without any formative substance. Many of the major characters are deceased, which is convenient for him. Like Sparks, Emerson's message to the reader is "Trust me." Maybe that's not such a good idea.
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