The 1973 book Go Ask Alice was the iconic "actual" diary of a 15 year-old drug user. Allegedly. It was a school book fair darling for decades, while also regularly making the banned book list. But it turns out that Alice's story is much more sinister than anyone in GenX initially understood. Melinda and Conrad are joined by Rick Emerson, author of "Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries" to discuss this unbelievable story.

Unmask Alice is available here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637740425

REFERENCES

Anonymous, & Sparks, B. (1971). Go ask Alice. Simon and Schuster.

Blumenfeld, L. (2024, February 25). PROCTER GAMBLE’S DEVIL OF a PROBLEM. Washington Post. Retrieved April 25, 2024, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/07/15/procter-gambles-devil-of-a-problem/36f27641-e679-40f4-ac02-9d12c59a2f3b/

Burke, T. (2008, March 11). I’m Shocked, Shocked To Find that Some Memoirs Are Fake. Easily Distracted. Retrieved April 21, 2024, from https://blogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/blog/2008/03/11/im-shocked-shocked-to-find-that-some-memoirs-are-fake/

Clark, J. R. (2022, July 5). Go ask Alice is a lie. But bookstores won’t stop selling it. Esquire. https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a40204753/go-ask-alice-book-is-a-lie/

Emerson, R. (2022). Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World’s Most Notorious Diaries. BenBella Books.

Just say “Uh-Oh.” (20198, January 1). https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/11/15/reviews/981115.15oppenht.html

Lewis, R. (2019, March 12). ART, RELIGION CLASH IN ROCK LYRIC DEBATE - Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-04-25-ca-962-story.html

Mendelsohn, D. (2008, March 9). Stolen Suffering (Op Ed). The New York Times. Retrieved April 21, 2024, from https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/opinion/09mendelsohn.html

Michelle remembers, Jay’s Journal, and The Satanic Panic. (2020, March 12). Plucked From the Stacks. Retrieved April 21, 2024, from https://pluckedfromthestacks.wordpress.com/2019/07/08/michelle-remembers-jays-journal-and-the-satanic-panic/

Sparks, B. (1989). Jay’s Journal. Simon and Schuster.