Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries (by Rick Emerson)

Book Lab Instructor

Katie Luder

Day/Time

Tuesdays, 3:00-4:00 p.m.

Dates

July 1 - 22, 2025

Location

Zoom

Synopsis

In the 1970s, Go Ask Alice captivated the Young Adult literary world, selling over 5 million copies and leaving a lasting mark on generations of readers. The book, presented as a "true" diary of a young woman's tragic descent into drug addiction, captured the attention of teens and parents alike with its raw exploration of the drug-fueled counterculture. However, the truth behind the story is far more complex and much stranger. The mastermind behind Go Ask Alice was not an anonymous teen, but Beatrice Sparks, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who was raised right here in Logan, Utah. Sparks wasn't finished there; she continued to publish more "diaries," such as Jay's Journal, which twisted the real-life tragedy of the Utah family into a sensationalized fiction for personal gain.

In Unmasking Alice, journalist Rick Emerson takes a deep dive into the deception, uncovering how 1970s and ‘80s society was primed to accept these dark, manipulated stories about young people as truth. This book is not just an exposé on Sparks, but a reflection of how easily the cultural fears of a generation can be exploited.