Go Ask Alice, penned by an "Anonymous" author, is reportedly a real life recollection of the events of a young girl's life in the late 1960's. Many have questioned this, and it has since been categorized as a "fiction". It is said that this book was originally written, and not found, as a "warning" of the perils of drug use, but it comes off as nothing more than a beautiful and often heartbreaking story of the struggles of this young girl.
The story is written in diary format from the view of an unnamed girl going through what many people experience in high school: self image, acceptance, peer pressure, sexuality, and so much more. She receives her first hit of LSD unknowingly in a Coke can at a party and is there after thrown into a roller coaster of drug abuse, recovery, and relapses, as well as her many relationships with not only boys, but also friends and family.
Go Ask Alice is a VERY quick read. Given that it's written from the point of view of a struggling teenager, it is no literary master piece, but it does elicit such empathy on behalf of the author. The imagery is so wonderful that you cannot help but feel as though you understand exactly what she is going through at any point, despite perhaps never having done any of these drugs at all. I definitely recommend it: to teenagers, college students, twenty somethings, even middle aged parents dealing with their own troublesome teens.
Advice: If you have trouble starting out with it, believe me, just keep reading. Some parts can seem too brief while others may appear to ramble on, and some entries may leave you in confusion until they are explained a few pages later. It does all eventually come together, and is followed by an epilogue which is merely a small paragraph that may be the most emotionally loaded part of the whole book.
The story is written in diary format from the view of an unnamed girl going through what many people experience in high school: self image, acceptance, peer pressure, sexuality, and so much more. She receives her first hit of LSD unknowingly in a Coke can at a party and is there after thrown into a roller coaster of drug abuse, recovery, and relapses, as well as her many relationships with not only boys, but also friends and family.
Go Ask Alice is a VERY quick read. Given that it's written from the point of view of a struggling teenager, it is no literary master piece, but it does elicit such empathy on behalf of the author. The imagery is so wonderful that you cannot help but feel as though you understand exactly what she is going through at any point, despite perhaps never having done any of these drugs at all. I definitely recommend it: to teenagers, college students, twenty somethings, even middle aged parents dealing with their own troublesome teens.
Advice: If you have trouble starting out with it, believe me, just keep reading. Some parts can seem too brief while others may appear to ramble on, and some entries may leave you in confusion until they are explained a few pages later. It does all eventually come together, and is followed by an epilogue which is merely a small paragraph that may be the most emotionally loaded part of the whole book.
