# Is \[u\]Go Ask Alice\[/u\] a real diary?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 18, 2003, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451 "2003-04-18T01:07:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/1 "2003-04-18T01:07:43Z")
I searched this and found nothing. A few years ago, I read Go Ask Alice, and something about it bugged me. I thought it seemed absolutely fake. I talked to my best friend about it, and she said she’d felt the same way about it. I read it again, and it still seemed like b.s. to me. Looking the book up revealed nothing except for the fact that the “editor” of Go Ask Alice had also edited a large number of tv-movie-of-the-week-ish diaries (by pregnant teens, teen with AIDS, etc, etc). Dopers, I turn to you. Is Go Ask Alice a genuine diary by a genuine troubled teen? Or was it concocted as an anti-drug scare tactic?
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### Author:  [@Govindha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Govindha)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/2 "2003-04-18T01:39:28Z")
ummm…I also read it and have no idea. I did enjoy it though. It’s sad that she did all that to herself over drugs. It just goes to show you that some people just need to abstain.
however, I’d love to try some of that acid she had, it must have been some potent stuff, or a large amount.
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### Author:  [@Zanthor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zanthor)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/3 "2003-04-18T01:41:27Z")
havn’t read the book, go ask alice, but wonder if you are aware of the history of - go ask alice.
you prob are, but just in case…
as i understand it, its been a popular theme of, shall we say, exploration. ie, other worlds of perception, by many ppl.
to name a few. -
go ask alice was made poular back in the late 60’s or therabouts by rock group - jefferson airplane, song named, ‘go ask alice’. they also did ‘white rabbit’, heaps more, popular hang out, height ashbury park, san francisco.
they later became ‘jefferson starship’.
the song ’ go ask alice, was sourced from the famous book, alice in wonderland, by lewis carroll, written, based on an LSD type experiance,
quote, one tab ( mushroom ) to make you smaller, another to make you bigger - venturing into the microcosm and the macrocosm, altered states of perception.
other sources, - any of the writings by timothy leary, alan ginsburg, and many others, way back in the exploratory days of hippies, 60’s early 70’s.
check out also - ‘the doors of perception’, and ‘heaven and hell’, by famous english author, aldous huxley. who wrote extensively of his research into hallucingenics that give you atered states of perception.
eg, LSD, peyote, ( mescaline ) pyscilocybin ( magic mushrooms ) etc. although i think he was mainly investigatiing mescaline.
check out ‘brave new world’ awesome book, see also - ‘eyeless in gaza’
talked about his distress at western materialism, reliance on technology to solve all mankinds ills, and ways and means of getting back to spiritual perception, mysticism.
hope i have been of some help.
regards
Zanthor
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### Author:  [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/4 "2003-04-18T01:53:07Z")
My impression was that it was a fake. I recall working out good reasons for this view at the time, but it was a while ago. Hmm - maybe I should read it again.
I’ll be very interested to see what Dopers think re. this question.
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### Author:  [@Payton\_s\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payton_s_Servant)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/5 "2003-04-18T01:58:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Zanthor \*
> \*\*go ask alice was made poular back in the late 60’s or therabouts by rock group - jefferson airplane, song named, ‘go ask alice’. they also did ‘white rabbit’, heaps more, popular hang out, height \*\*
_Sigh_
The song is called **White Rabbit** and one of the lyrics in the song is _“Go ask Alice.”_
There is no Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship/Starship song titled **Go Ask Alice**.
/Crash Davis/
“Damn. I hate when people get the words to a song wrong!”
/Crash Davis/
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### Author:  [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/6 "2003-04-18T02:24:34Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Zanthor \*
> **check out also - ‘the doors of perception’, and ‘heaven and hell’, by famous english author, aldous huxley**
Actually, it was Thomas Huxley (grandfather of Aldous) who based _The Doors of Perception_ on “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell”, a William Blake poem that features the line “When the doors of perception are cleansed, all will be revealed as it is - infinite!” The influences of Blake and Huxley are evident in the music of the band known as [The Doors](http://www.getunderground.com/underground/music/article.cfm?Review_ID=42).
Incidentally, [here](http://www.epinions.com/content_36313534084) are a couple of reviews **look!ninjas** apparently came across while researching this question. Indeed, lots of speculation out there, but no definitive debunking. I was a library aide as a high school student in the mid-'70’s, and remember that Go Ask Alice was one of the books most frequently checked out (in both the “briefly examined” and “signed out” senses of the phrase).
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/7 "2003-04-18T03:44:41Z")
Yep, it was a fake. Although I have to say, I really enjoyed it.
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### Author:  [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/8 "2003-04-18T03:53:16Z")
Got a cite for that, **Guin**?
'Cause I thought it was a fake too, but when I did some Googling to prove it, I couldn’t find anything concrete. Lots of speculation, but no proof.
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### Author:  [@Zanthor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zanthor)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/9 "2003-04-18T03:59:43Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Payton’s Servant \*
> \*\*_Sigh_
>
> The song is called **White Rabbit** and one of the lyrics in the song is _“Go ask Alice.”_
>
> There is no Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship/Starship song titled **Go Ask Alice**.
> /Crash Davis/
> “Damn. I hate when people get the words to a song wrong!”
>
> /Crash Davis/ \*\*
exactly right, - remembered soon after i posted that the words ‘go ask alice’ are contained in ‘white rabbit’, but by then my kids had the comp, only just got it back.
DAMM!. hate it when ppl take the truth and shove it up your ass!!!
# sigh # ( supercilious turkeys! )
alas, havn’t heard the song in years, and rememberance wasnt too vivid when i 1st posted.
and yes, Sternvogal is right, Jim Morrison got the name of thier group from the book tiltle.
any other great truths you want to enlighten me on?
Zanthor
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### Author:  [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/10 "2003-04-18T04:08:56Z")
**Sternvogel** is right about where the Doors got their name, but wrong about the author of the book. It was Aldous, not Thomas.
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### Author:  [@TJ555\_The\_Golfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJ555_The_Golfer)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/11 "2003-04-18T04:40:38Z")
I have no cite, but I recall reading something that stated nobody had ever proven the diary was fake, but there was a lot of evidence that it was not true. Also, there was no evidence that could be confirmed that is was real.
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/12 "2003-04-18T04:47:29Z")
I am a diarist, former English teacher, and psychologist (who teaches the graduate drug and alcohol course). **Go Ask Alice** has never rung true for me, but I’ve never found evidence for or against its authenticity.
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### Author:  [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/13 "2003-04-18T05:24:25Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Ferrous \*
> \*\ ***Sternvogel** is right about where the Doors got their name, but wrong about the author of the book. It was Aldous, not Thomas. \*\*
You are correct. Obviously my memory (and the site I linked in my previous post) failed me. [Here’s](http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/lsd/doors.htm) a more authoritative page.
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### Author:  [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/14 "2003-04-18T06:22:53Z")
I had to read Go Ask Alice in college, for an adolescent lit class. I remember being pretty sure it was fake; it just didn’t ring true to me. Then I noticed that, on the copyright page, where it gives the classification of the book, it said ‘fiction’. Not definitive proof, I know, but just something else to lead me to believe it’s not real.
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/15 "2003-04-18T07:06:42Z")
According to the HarperCollins website:
> [@](#):
>
> **Beatrice Sparks, Ph.D.**
> Beatrice Sparks is a family and adolescent therapist who edited the diary that formed the basis for _Go Ask Alice_, and has since edited many diaries on topics such as gangs, AIDS, and teen pregnancy in the 1988 _Annie’s Baby_. She lives in Provo, UT.
Other works “edited” by [Beatrice Sparks](http://www.rickwalton.com/utahauth/bsparks.htm):
**Treacherous Love: The Diary of an Anonymous Teenager**
**Kim: Empty Inside: The Diary of an Anonymous Teenager**
**Annie’s Baby: The Diary of Anonymous, a Pregnant Teenager**
**Almost Lost: The True Story of an Anonymous Teenager’s Life on the Streets**
**It Happened to Nancy** “The editor of the classic GO ASK ALICE has compiled the poignant journals of a 14-year-old date-rape victim who contracted AIDS and died.”
The Library of Congress does indeed classify _Go Ask Alice_ as fiction.
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/16 "2003-04-18T07:12:26Z")
For those with access to a reference library, there is an article on Beatrice Sparks in vols. 97-100 of _Contemporary Authors_ (1981).
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### Author:  [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/17 "2003-04-18T10:03:21Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Walloon \*
> **It Happened to Nancy "The editor of the classic GO ASK ALICE has compiled the poignant journals of a 14-year-old date-rape victim who contracted AIDS and died."**
Whoa! This sets my alarm bells aringin’! If this were true, don’t you think that said victim would have been all over the TV talkshow circuit (Oprah eats this kind of thing up)?
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/18 "2003-04-18T16:21:12Z")
A few more plot outlines of books “edited” by Beatrice Sparks:
**Kim: Empty Inside: The Diary of an Anonymous Teenager** : Seventeen-year-old Kim, feeling the pressure of maintaining an A average to stay on her college gymnastics team, becomes obsessive about her weight and develops anorexia. (Library of Congress classification: “Anorexia nervosa—Fiction”)
**Jay’s Journal** : Jay’s journal reveals his growing involvement with witchcraft before his suicide at age 16. (Library of Congress classification: “Witchcraft—Fiction”)
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### Author:  [@Short\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short_Guy)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/19 "2003-04-18T16:41:34Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Jay’s Journal: Jay’s journal reveals his growing involvement with witchcraft before his suicide at age 16. (Library of Congress classification: “Witchcraft—Fiction”)
The important lesson here being that witchcraft causes suicide, in much the same way that masturbating causes severe spinal deformities and not going to church causes ugly boils all over your skin.
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### Author:  [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-go-ask-alice-u-a-real-diary/169451/20 "2003-04-18T20:07:11Z")
I went to high school in Provo, Utah. This area is where Sparks is from and at the time it was called ‘Happy Valley’; a culturally isolated, sheltered, church-dominated community. Most of Bea Sparks’ work strikes me as Mormon propaganda constructed with the intention of scaring kids straight until they lose most of their natural curiosity.
_Go Ask Alice_ was very popular with the teachers there and we watched the TV Movie version of it. (ABC after school special?) I read the book. Even as a naive kid in a sheltered environment, I was pretty sure it was ‘enhanced’.
Jay’s Journal was kinda scary, but struck me as complete hogwash, even with my familiarity of the location & ability to recognize the poorly-disguised references. It had the unintended effect of getting a lot of local kids interested in the occult.
My adopted mom, OTOH, was absolutely _certain_ that every word Sparks printed was, if not verbatim, then a clarification of the diaries she had read. She was also certain that Heavy Metal music was The Devil’s creation and I couldn’t convince her to open her mind with reminders of what southern baptists had said about Chuck Berry, Little Richard & Elvis Presley.
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