Flashback: 'Go Ask Alice' - When Books Cheat
Posted by alli on 09-24-2008
Go Ask Alice is one of those books that is totally up there with Judy Blume's Wifey in my mind. It was forbidden and scary in its treatment of what I perceived to be adult issues: sex and drugs. I remember hearing about it over and over again from the older kids in my neighborhood. What made it more dangerous, of course, was that it was supposed to be the true story of an actual, real-live, average, American girl-next-door. Someone like me.
When I did take it out of the library I remember it was so worn out and ragged I thought to myself, "I'm really in on something. This must be hot." I felt very mature and cool simply having it in my backpack. It was all it promised to be too; an absolutely riveting, terribly tragic story of a girl-gone-bad on drugs. So sad, I thought. And really frightening. The main character (who is never named) ultimately overdoses.
For me this story is about the loss of innocence: MINE! As everyone now knows the whole thing was total bullshit; made up by a Mormon youth counselor who claimed to have "found" the diary. Later she said it was based on diaries of clients similar to that of the main character. Even that claim was ultimately challenged.
Maybe it wasn't the first time I'd been duped (after all, there was Santa Claus) but rereading Go Ask Alice really bummed me out. Knowing it's "false" as Lizzie Skurnick says in her review at 'fine lines', changes how one digests and discusses it. As an adult, it really forced me to address a bigger issue: Was this the first time I was lied to, misled by something I read, subjected to an untruth for the sake of someone else's agenda? No. But it was probably one of my first experiences realizing it.
I started to lose my trust in stuff when I learned that Go Ask Alice was made-up. It was a few years after I had read it, and I'm sure I was already well on my way to being my cynical jaded self, but I do recall being very surprised, confused and disappointed: "What?! They can't do that. You can't just print lies and say it's real, can you? That's not right." (Talk about innocent.)
I didn't read A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, as Skurnick also referenced, but I so wanted to. It was on my list when it hit the news that his tale of addiction was all a big fabrication. A good friend had read it and said she stayed up all night devouring it. She couldn't put it down. It was the best thing she'd read in years…yada, yada, yada. I couldn't wait! Needless to say it lost all its sex-appeal for me when I found out it wasn't true. I was crushed. I was so looking forward to reading a really good book.
Cheated again. This time by something I hadn't even read yet. I don't know which is worse.
September 24th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
It should be pointed out that your statement about A Million Little Pieces is false. Parts of it are untrue and fabricated, but his drug addiction and stay at a drug rehab, the bulk of the story are true. A few of the facts, some completely unimportant, are indulged upon.
September 24th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
From what I understand yes, James Frey was an addict and an alcoholic but MANY of the events, details, and circumstances in his book A Million Little Pieces were grossly exaggerated, if not bold faced lies. It was published as non-fiction, not fiction and that is the injustice and the parallel I was trying to draw to Go Ask Alice. Personally, I was fairly sympathetic to some of Frey's very public excuses about his experience, but non-fiction means that to the best of your knowledge the facts are true. A lie is a lie.
I'm sticking to my description of the book as a fabrication and based on my research and knowledge, that is more than a fair.
The Smoking Gun
New York Times
New York Times
September 24th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
I'm embarrassed to say that until I read your post I didn't know the truth behind Go Ask Alice. I just actually got my original copy back from my mom who found it in the attic when they moved out of their house. It was next on my reading list… Hmmm. I'll still read it, but am curious to see how the experience differs.