Unmask Alice

LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries

By: Rick Emerson

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Hardcover | 5 July 2022

At a Glance

Hardcover
384 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.5 x 15.5 x 3.5

Hardcover

$60.75

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"Unmask Alice by Rick Emerson goes a long way to showing what investigative journalism could be in the right hands . . . this book is undeniably buzzworthy." -Portland Book Review

"An absorbing and unnerving read . . . this book demands to be finished in one sitting." -Booklist

Two teens. Two diaries. Two social panics. One incredible fraud.

"Unmask Alice by Rick Emerson goes a long way to showing what investigative journalism could be in the right hands . . . this book is undeniably buzzworthy." -Portland Book Review

"An absorbing and unnerving read . . . this book demands to be finished in one sitting." -Booklist

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.

Industry Reviews

"""Emerson's writing is smart . . . keeping readers engaged across an otherwise complex web of deceit."" —Observer

""Unmask Alice by Rick Emerson goes a long way to showing what investigative journalism could be in the right hands. The investigation into the work of Beatrice Sparks and her bibliography is intriguing and worth reading. Her motives were questionable, her history suspect, her subjects tragic, but this book is undeniably buzzworthy.""
—Portland Book Review

""An absorbing and unnerving read about how one conniving con artist's unquenchable thirst for acclaim fooled the publishing world and fed two cultural panics with lasting fallout,this bookdemands to be finished in one sitting.""
—Booklist"

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