Editing Go Ask Alice (section)

{{Short description|1971 novel by Beatrice Sparks}}
{{About|the book|the song by [[Jefferson Airplane]]|White Rabbit (song)}}
{{use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox book
| name              = Go Ask Alice
| author            = [[Beatrice Sparks]]
| language          = English
| country           = 
| genre             = [[Young adult fiction]]
| published         = 1971
| publisher         = {{Plain list|
* [[Prentice Hall]] (1st edition)
* [[Simon & Schuster]] (later editions)
}}
| isbn              = 0-671-66458-1
| image             = Go_Ask_Alice,_first_edition_cover,_Prentice_Hall_1971.jpg
| image_size        = 
| caption           = Dust jacket of Prentice Hall first edition, 1971
| illustator        = 
| cover_artist      = 
| series            = 
| media_type        = Print (hardcover and paperback), ebook
| pages             = 
| congress          = PZ7 .G534
| oclc              = 164716
| preceded_by       = 
| followed_by       = 
}}

'''''Go Ask Alice''''' is a 1971 book about a teenage girl who develops a [[substance dependence|drug addiction]] at age 15 and runs away from home on a journey of self-destructive escapism. Attributed to "Anonymous", the book is in [[epistolary novel|diary form]], and was originally presented as being the edited actual diary of the unnamed teenage protagonist.<ref name="oppenheimer">{{cite news |last=Oppenheimer |first=Mark |date=1998-11-15 |title=Just Say 'Uh-Oh': Two New Drug Novels, and the Book That Established the Genre |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/11/15/reviews/981115.15oppenht.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times Book Review]] |page=36 |access-date=2016-12-21 |via=Proquest |url-access=subscription  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430154232/http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/11/15/reviews/981115.15oppenht.html |archive-date=2016-04-30 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=nilsenreminiscing>{{cite journal |last=Nilsen |first=Alleen Pace |date=Summer 2013 |title=Reminiscing: One Perspective on ALAN's Beginnings |url=https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/v40n3/nilsen.html |url-status=live |journal=The ALAN Review |volume=40 |issue=3 |doi=10.21061/alan.v40i3.a.1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160720010747/https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/v40n3/nilsen.html |archive-date=2016-07-20 |access-date=2016-12-22 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Questions about the book's authenticity and true authorship began to arise in the late 1970s, and [[Beatrice Sparks]] is now generally viewed as the author of the [[found manuscript]]–styled fictional document.<ref name="Esq">{{cite news |last1=Clark |first1=Jonathan Russell Clark |title=Go Ask Alice Is a Lie. But Bookstores Won't Stop Selling It. |url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a40204753/go-ask-alice-book-is-a-lie/ |access-date=6 July 2022 |publisher=Esquire |date=5 July 2022}}</ref>  Sparks went on to write numerous other books purporting to be real diaries of troubled teenagers.<ref name=nilsenreminiscing /><ref name=yagoda /><ref name=mikkelson>{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/askalice.asp |title=Go Ask Alice: Was Go Ask Alice the Real-Life Diary of a Teenage Girl? |last=Mikkelson |first=Barbara |date=2008-01-04 |website=snopes.com |publisher=[[Urban Legends Reference Pages]] |access-date=2016-12-22 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120915093751/http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/askalice.asp |archive-date=2012-09-15 }}</ref><ref name=white>{{cite magazine|last=White |first=Caitlin |date=2014-07-03 |title='Go Ask Alice' Is Still Awash in Controversy, 43 Years After Publication |url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/29829-go-ask-alice-is-still-awash-in-controversy-43-years-after-publication |magazine=[[Bustle (magazine)|Bustle]] |location=New York City |publisher=Bustle.com |access-date=2016-12-29 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20161229191114/https://www.bustle.com/articles/29829-go-ask-alice-is-still-awash-in-controversy-43-years-after-publication |archive-date=2016-12-29 }}</ref><ref name=hendley>{{cite book |last=Hendley |first=Nate |date=2016 |title=The Big Con: Great Hoaxes, Frauds, Grifts, and Swindles in American History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8K_gDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA161 |location=Santa Barbara, California |publisher=ABC-CLIO |pages=161–163 |isbn=9781610695862 }}</ref> Some sources have also named Linda Glovach as a co-author of the book.<ref name=oppenheimer /><ref name=pw /> Nevertheless, its popularity has endured, and, as of 2014, it had remained continuously in print since its publication over four decades earlier.<ref name="white" />

Intended for a [[young adult fiction|young adult]] audience, ''Go Ask Alice'' became a widely popular bestseller.<ref name=nilsenreminiscing /><ref name=yagoda /><ref name="Esq"/> It is praised for conveying a powerful message about the dangers of drug abuse.<ref name=chapman>{{cite news |last=Chapman |first=Geoffrey |date=1974-04-10 |title='Go Ask Alice' Contains a Contemporary Message |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/63016801/ |newspaper=[[Bennington Banner]] |location=[[Bennington, Vermont]] |page=16 |access-date=2016-12-23 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription }}</ref> ''Go Ask Alice'' has also ranked among the most frequently [[challenge (literature)|challenged]] books for several decades due to its use of profanity and explicit references to sex and rape, as well as drugs.<ref name=businessclarksville>{{cite news|author=News Staff |date=2010-09-07 |title=Banned Books: Go Ask Alice |url=http://businessclarksville.com/arts/banned-books-go-ask-alice/2010/09/07/14506 |url-status=live |newspaper=Business & Heritage Clarksville |location=[[Clarksville, Tennessee]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161218134215/http://businessclarksville.com/arts/banned-books-go-ask-alice/2010/09/07/14506 |archive-date=2016-12-18 |access-date=2016-12-18 }}</ref> The book was adapted into the 1973 [[television film]] ''Go Ask Alice'', starring Jamie Smith-Jackson and [[William Shatner]].<ref name=foster /> In 1976, a [[stage play]] of the same name, written by Frank Shiras and based on the book, was also published.<ref name=shiras>{{cite book |last=Shiras |first=Frank |date=1976 |title=Go Ask Alice: A Full Length Play |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IlTNrDjPJ1sC&pg=PA1 |location=[[Woodstock, Illinois]] |publisher=The Dramatic Publishing Company |pages=1–3 |isbn=0871294907 }}</ref>