As any lover of literature might tell you, all books are not created equal. But this does not mean that there is nothing to be gained from novels that are, in many ways, flawed. Over at the New York Times, writers Leslie Jamison and James Parker discuss “supposedly terrible books that left a lasting impression”:
I will always love Go Ask Alice for the very qualities that make it an aesthetic failure. As I said: It’s unabashed, unadulterated, unapologetic. I first read it as a young girl, with a heartfelt diary of my own — gold-edged pages, meticulous cursive script — and Alice’s feeling-flooded entries gave mine permission to exist.
