Comments on: 8.26.07 Katherine Taylor & Alison Weaver

By: christina

christina — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:22:12 +0000

hi, i am currently a college dropout, with aspirations to be a writer, and publish my own memoirs… but i feel a bit stifled… i have no idea where to start…”gone to the crazies” was a book that i could feel myself being drawn into… i feel like i need to let my story out… i need to make it, and writing is the only future i can see for myself. i would like nothing more, than to contact alison weaver, and ask her a few questions… just have a small conversation with her… i have tremendous respect and admiration for this woman, who opened up so freely to this book. please give me this opportunity, and i will be forever grateful.

By: Grad from '94

Grad from '94 — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 18:07:34 +0000

Hey little sister. I believe you to be incredibly brave, and Al is absolutely bursting with love every time she writes about you. She is not attacking you. She is expressing love and sorrow and empathy and sympathy for you, and I believe that the only people you have to really worry about knowing your identity -if that is your concern- are grads. I am a grad, and yes, I know and loved very deeply many of the people she wrote about. I don’t find it to be exploitive. I have been looking for this book for nearly 13 years, and entertained thoughts of writing my own story. It took alot for her to do this. I have yet to hear of a single smooth transition into the “Real World” from THAT PLACE. But we’re still here, and that’s saying alot. Love you Al, love you grads, dropouts, love you little sis.
SURVIVORS.

By: Little Sister from Cascade

Little Sister from Cascade — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 01:28:09 +0000

Alison, I am one of your little sisters from Cascade. In your book, you describe my most personal life experiences. You published photographs of me from when I was 16 years old, and included details of traumatic experiences from my youth. I am appalled and totally shocked that you did this.
I have not heard from you in 10 years. My questions for you are, how do you rationalize your behavior? Do you think that exploiting the life story of a former ‘friend’ is ethical? And how would you respond to my recent lesson learned? The lesson you just taught me, and the truth to all this, that there is No One I can trust.

By: admin

admin — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 20:40:51 +0000

great question, lor!!

By: Lorissa

Lorissa — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 19:08:31 +0000

Both of these sound fascinating. I’m interested in how both deal with illusions: Rules for Saying Goodbye with the illusions we create for ourselves as we dream up a life somewhere else, and Gone to the Crazies with the illusions others create for us/around us that we fall into. So much of the world is about illusions though, isn’t it? I don’t have a specific question but I find this idea of illusions interesting and wonder how it plays a role in the books and how, or if, the characters were able to break free of the illusions they had to find themselves.

By: admin

admin — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 17:55:47 +0000

thanks, rachel! great questions and terrific books. more tk!
cheers, f.

By: Rachel Kramer Bussel

Rachel Kramer Bussel — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 17:34:47 +0000

Felicia, great choices, as always, both books I’m very curious about. For Alison Weaver - What advice would you give your teenage self about coping with Cascade if you could talk to her? Do you think you were somehow more susceptible to this brainwashing than the other students/did they also react similarly? Looking back, do you think there’s anything positive you gained from being there?