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”:
