<
https://theconversation.com/we-now-know-troubled-teen-memoirs-like-go-ask-alice-were-a-mormon-wifes-fiction-so-why-are-we-still-treating-them-as-truth-243914>
"In 1971, an extraordinary book appeared. Published by an “anonymous” author,
Go Ask Alice documented the story of an ordinary American girl and her
descent into a world of drug addiction, prostitution, and madness.
You have likely heard of this book. Perhaps a dog-eared copy was passed around
your schoolyard, or you read it alone at night, turning pages by torchlight.
Go Ask Alice was a cautionary tale of the dangers of taking illicit drugs,
not only for their physical effects, but for the social and psychological
consequences too.
But
Alice was also a work of marketing genius. Presented as a true story, the
book contained a foreword by “the editors”:
Go Ask Alice is based on the actual diary of a fifteen-year-old drug user
… Names, dates, places, and certain events have been changed in accordance
with the wishes of those concerned.
The diary, kept in scraps and pieces, was purportedly found by one of the
editors and assembled for young readers so they might learn from Alice’s
terrible mistakes.
And yet, the story was not true at all. There was no Alice, no diary. Only
Beatrice Sparks, an aspiring writer who saw an opportunity for fame and
fortune, and grabbed it with both hands.
In the 50 years since its publication,
Alice has sold more than five million
copies. The book has never been out of print and remains on bestseller lists.
Sparks, who always claimed to be the diary’s editor, was in fact the author of
eight novels disguised as diaries by “real” teens. These include
Jay’s
Journal (1978) – “the shocking companion diary” to
Alice – and the closest
to a “true” diary that Sparks published, but a distortion still – and
It
Happened to Nancy (1994), the story of a 14-year-old girl who contracts HIV
after she is date raped by her college boyfriend.
Sparks certainly has a knack of understanding how teenagers feel, their sense
of isolation, confusion, and anxiety. This is perhaps why her books are still
popular. Despite their frequent homophobia, their propensity for panic (
Jay’s
Journal features satanic worship), and their obvious lack of lived experience,
there is an accessibility about the stories that appeals to young readers.
But Sparks’s “diaries” raise difficult questions about authorship and
authenticity, and the ethical responsibilities of authors, publishers, and book
cataloguers.
If an author of non-fiction is not who they claim to be, is their account
authentic? Why are Sparks’s diaries still described by publishers and
booksellers as “real” stories? What is the responsibility of librarians when
describing deceptive works?"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
