Unmask Alice

Unmask Alice by Rick Emerson

Unmask Alice covers the story of Beatrice Sparks... a woman so desperate to become a writer, she fabricates diary excerpts and puts them out as non fiction....

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.

This was what made me want to read this book so bad!

Go ask Alice was used to push the agenda on drugs during the war on drugs. The father of a young lady who ended up dying because of her life choices, made it his mission in life to vilify the drug LSD instead of blaming the choices his daughter made that led to her death. He needed something or someone to blame.
The second book Jay's journal, came from a real boy... a real boy who committed suicide but she made his story into a dramatically version of events, making it seem like he was a devil worshipper.
Not only did she lie about being a psychologist, she used people to get what she wanted. She was the worst kind of bottom feeder.
These books helped fuel hysteria in the 70s and 80s. This book was a real eye opener on the dangers propaganda can have on the population. This is a problem we still see today. Politicians and the news feeding media hysteria to get what they needed. This book goes into details of what the president did to get what he wanted and it was never about public safety.
This is a cautionary tale of how you should always be mindful of what you are reading and whether you can take it for facts. You need to think for yourself and do research rather than blindly trusting.
The author did a ton of research and it was well thought out. I really enjoyed the way it held my attention. I actually had no idea about this woman and these books but now I want to know more.
4.5 stars for me!