Book Description
This is the original study guide to the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.Filled with practical information for those first days of sober living, this little book: offers newcomers advice about the program, how long it takes, and what to look for in a sponsor provides in-depth discussions of each of the Twelve Steps and related character defects poses common questions about AA and helping others, identifying where to find answers in the Big Book features non-sexist language ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Good supplement to the Big Book
This is a great supplement to the big book, especiall if you are a group leader or if you just want to improve you understanding of the 12 Steps.

A greatly overlooked recovery book
This is a Hazelden book specifically written as a study aid to The Big Book.It helps to clarify and illuminate the 12 step process and is often used by sponsors as they guide their sponsees through the steps.It is a tool which, if used in addition to (and not in replacement of)the basic program literature, may add a layer of depth and understanding to the step process.This book is also used as the basis of step-study groups in some areas.It appears to have been used to a much greater extent in the past than it is now and it deserves a second look for what it may have to offer.

Happy Customer
The item I ordered arrived very quickly and in terrific condition. I will gladly utilize this seller again

Great book
Re: Mike McF. I don't think AA is for you, but I can assure you that AA does work for some people. Live and let live one day at a time easy does it.

Extremely Useful
Useful and worthy book for anyone wanting to practice the 12 steps in their life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

Shoe Addicts
I absolutely LOVED this book!It keeps you interested throughout the entire book.I love shoes myself and I felt like the author knew the love of shoes too!

A road trip that provides as much pleasure as the destination itself
This first hardcover novel by Beth Harbison leaves no doubt that she is a practiced writer and a keen observer of the world around her. SHOE ADDICTS ANONYMOUS is a delightful read that would bring the beach into a snowstorm if you don't happen to read it until winter. She deftly introduces each of the main characters in their own vignettes so that the reader can identify them, and with them, as the story progresses. I love it when I don't have to stop and wonder who's who.

These unique and wonderful women are victims of a genetic tendency that causes them to obsess (in this case, over shoes mainly). They are your friends, your relatives and, yes, you yourself. While three of them are floundering in their addiction, Lorna R. --- with $30,000 in credit card debt, a past due electric bill of $800 and her car about to be repossessed --- wisely admits she needs help. The debt-ridden eBay addict takes a proactive position and seeks help from a credit counselor. She also places a blurb on "Greg's List" inviting other women, specifically size 7 1/2 shoe addicts, to join her on Tuesday evenings to swap shoes, stories and secrets.

Various people respond to the ad, including a transvestite who swore he was willing to squeeze his size-11 foot into a 7 1/2 Delman. But in the end there were just four of them --- each with an empty spot in her soul that she tried to fill with all sorts of material things, especially shoes, each ready to make a change that would only be possible with support from those who understood what they were going through. The principles of Alcoholics Anonymous prevail, and group dynamics once again provide help for those who can't help themselves!

SHOE ADDICTS ANONYMOUS is like a road trip that provides as much pleasure as the destination itself. Beth Harbison has a comedic style that appeals to our subtle side. For example, when Lorna is at the bank trying to get her overdraft charges waived, the banker reminds her of the terms to which she agreed. She says, "Stop blaming everything on some stupid terms I agreed to a thousand years ago. You know darn well those papers contain a million words a page in negative ten point Ariel sans readability font." Amen, sister!

Whether you have a closet full of Ferragamos and Miu Muis or simply can't pass by a Famous Footwear without buying a new pair of sneakers, you'll love SHOE ADDICTS ANONYMOUS and be looking forward to Harbison's next book.

--- Reviewed by Maggie Harding, a substance abuse counselor in Phoenix, AZ who wanted to be Brenda Starr before life intervened. She reviews for www.bookreporter.com and www.faithfulreader.com. To contact Maggie, e-mail Magster2@cox.net

Did not live up to the hype
At best, this was a mediocre book - certainly not hardback material.Early on it has a few good lines, but peaks within the first 75 pages.

The story was good and had the author explored her characters' lives with any depth, it could have been a good book.The concept that all the women are trapped is interesting - except you never understand how they got to the place of being trapped.Then in the last two chapters, the characters are able to easily walk away from the very situations that were keeping them trapped.Even for a beach read, it was way too simple and convenient.It reads like an early draft and needs a lot more editing.

Dull and rather corny
"Shoe Addicts Anonymous" by Beth Harbison centered on the lives of four women - Lorna, Helene, Sandra, and Jocelyn and these four women were part of the "Shoe Addicts Anonymous" support group which was started by Lorna. All four women came from very different backgrounds and professions - Lorna, a waitress in a bar, Helene, the trophy wife of a Senator, Sandra, an agrophobic who was also a phone sex operator, and Jocelyn, a nanny for a difficult rich family. Somehow, the women (with the exception of Jocelyn) had a thing for shoes and this support group was an opportunity for them to swap shoes and also life stories.

The premise of this book was quite corny - especially with very typical characters with very cliche backgrounds that you can find in other chick-lits. There weren't any real solid story line and the characters were not very likeable either. Their sudden bonding with each other was rather quickly and not very belieable. If you are looking for a quick and light read, this may be for you. However, there are definitely better books out there in this genre.

Do yourself a favour and purchase this book.
This was an absolute page turner.I loved the characters and the storyline.Definitely one for the beach or long afternoons in the wintertime. ... Read more

Book Description
1908. A course of eight lessons on thought transference, telepathy, mental currents, mental rapport, etc., containing practical instruction, exercises and directions capable of being understood, mastered and demonstrated by any person of average intelligence. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

This book was written 100 years ago.It is out of copyright and can legally be downloaded free.
Just search this title on the internet and you can find this book as a free, legal download.You do not need to buy it unless you want a paper copy.

Mind-bending thoroughfare!
I bought this book mainly out of curiosity to see just how telepathy was considered almost a hundred years ago and found it surprisingly informative.A good read for anyone with interests in the paranormal and higher sensory perceptions. ... Read more

Book Description
The author of the popular Food for Thought takes a fresh, in-depth look at the Twelve Steps of Overeaters Anonymous.Each chapter carefully examines and interprets each of the individual Steps. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A Wonderful Source of Information
Are you a compulsive overeater? Have you tried just about everything you can think of or get your hands on to stop bingeing or obsessing about food? Have you come to a point in your life where you can honestly say that you are powerless over food and need help from a Higher Power? Get this book!

Based on the Twelve Steps for Alcholics Anonymous, this book will help you understand each step and how it can help free you from the bonds of food addiction. Written in easy-to-read format with wording in a way that makes it seem like you're chatting with a close friend, this book is the book to help you release your grasps on an addiction that you can't simply overcome with "willpower."

This book is life altering if you are ready to recover
I was shocked to see that there were actually negative reviews on this book.
One of the reviews I read sounds like it was written for another book as the content in the review was not related to any of the people or subjects contained in this book.
... On to what I have to say about this book. This is positively one of the greatest books I have read for overeaters. This is not a diet book, but a healing tool, and a spiritual tool using the twelve steps.
In many ways compulsive overeaters or binge eaters are like alcoholics. It is a compulsive disorder that has so little to do with food. We eat to "stuff" our pain, hurt, anger, fears, regrets, sorrows and disappointments.
Using the tools in this book and going to Overeaters Anonymous I have been binge free for two months. I haven't had any sugar during that time. At one time these both really did seem impossible. But thanks to this wonderful book and the help of OA I am healing. If you have problems with binge eating or compulsive overeating I think this book is well worth the money and more.

Food is not alcohol
I spent years going to OA meetings, diligently working the program and wondering why I was still a hopeless victim of food cravings.

If a child is running around screaming, having a tantrum, isn't that anindication that something is wrong?If your body is doing that, isn'tsomething wrong with your body?

For a great book on eliminating foodcraving by eliminating the cause, read "Dr. Abravanel's Body TypeDiet."It will set you free.

If you aren't well, read Dr. HuldaClark's "The Cure for All Diseases".You will learn how to healyourself.I overcame the chronic fatigue virus which I'd had for 8 years. Not only that, I have more energy and vitality than most people I know.

If you think, also, that you have deep psychological problems, read"Dianetics" by L. Ron Hubbard.I used to wonder what was wrongwith me that my life never got better in spite of years in therapy and myearnest efforts.I used to wonder why so many of the people in OA meetingswere the same insane people, unable to live fully, year after year. I readDianetics and laughed!It was the missing link to why psychology doesn'twork.My husband and I did Dianetics and I truly became saner, happier andfreer.

Excellent 12 Step Companion Book
Being in recovery in OA for 6 years and reading the OA and AA 12 & 12's NUMEROUS times, I was looing for something new and fresh to read.This book truly fit the bill.The author really breaks the steps down intomany subcategories and delves into issues deeply.Not a substituute forthe AA or OA 12 & 12 by any means, but a great "study aid" tothe 12 steps. ... Read more

Book Description
In this book, Wally P. will take you through the Twelve Steps as they were taken by the early A.A. pioneers. You will learn how to develop a direct two-way communication with the "God of your understanding", and how to follow the "Guidance" you receive. You will have the opportunity to experience the life changing spiritual awakening that occurs as the direct result of completing the Twelve Steps in four one-hour sessions. In addition, you will learn how to become a "life changer" by carrying this life-saving message of hope to others. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Perfect material
Thank you for the book. It was as decribed. I received it in a timely fashion also.

Strong Coffe!
It is time we get back to how AA was supposed to be. This book is a starting point that all REAL AA's should teach. Our rooms are filled with too many want abees.
Esben F. J.
Norway

Great book!
A small group of us chose to go throught the steps using this book.Any STEP work is a good idea.I believe this book is easy to understand and provides the guidelines needed to get the work done!!

The evolution behind the book
I havent gotten past the evolution of how we got to this stage where its become so serious for the Fellowship .
We have so many people who just dont have a clue of what the program is and what the Fellowship is .We have to know where we have been before we can deal with the present .

There Is A Hunger inAA
After having had the Back To Basics Beginners Meeting shared with me after several years of contented sobriety, I was excited to have found a perfect guide to help people in sharing the message of AA.This is a perfect tool to guide the sponsor/sponsee relationship in the direction needed to not only introduce the 12 steps but also to re-inforce the principles of AA in all our affairs.
The response from not only new members but also those with various degrees of continuous sobriety has been beyond my wildest expectations and show a definite hunger in the members of AA for a duplicateable program of recovery commited to the foundations of our program of "taking the steps" not just talking about them. ... Read more

Book Description
For members of any twelve-step fellowship, this book provides a simple and clear guide to the instructions for working the steps as outlined in A.A.'s Big Book.It reveals, in easy to understand language, the process for working each step, so that the reader can experience the Twelfth Step promise of a spiritual awakening. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

spiritual transformation
Awesome book! Appears to be simple to read and simple to do the exercises. It is hard than it looks, but Herb K. simplifies it better than most. If you want to morph into being a spiritual being, then this is the book is for you. This book is about spiritual personal transformation for both the religious as well as the non-religious person.

Get it, but don't use it as a door stop. It works, It really does.
I've done a few sets of steps in the last 31 years. This was a great, comprehensive, Big Book and 12x12 oriented guide. I'll recommend it to all my sponsees ... Read more

Book Description
6" x 9" burgundy leather-bound hard cover with:

- First 164 pages of the Big Book with lined pages opposite the text for note taking;
- Paragraph numbers along side the text for easy reference;
- Comprehensive index with 8000+ word and subject references;
- entire Original Manuscript including the stories;
-Footnotes explaining the more obscure references in the text and text changes over the years;
- two place keeping ribbons and special "lay flat" binding. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

The 12 Steps aren't for everyone and I'm glad that they work for me
The 12 Steps and the AA Big Book aren't for everyone. I am, however, very glad that they have been a viable tool for me in my recovery from addiction. Those of us who are drawn to investigate AA or similar 12 Step groups do so because on some level, our lives are not working the way that we think they should, or would like them to.

Anyone with an addict's personality has an insatiable need to fill themselves up with "something"...be it alcohol, drugs, food, relationships, and a myriad of other compulsive behaviors as a way to deal with their life.Often we addicts suffer from grave emotional and mental illnesses as well.I know this to be true first hand since I work in the healthcare field.Observing alcoholics and addicts in a healthcare setting has been a real eye opener. I have much more compassion these days for anyone who suffers from an addiction.

Several of the key characteristics of any addict's personality are grandiosity and defiance.I know this well from my own personal experience.Partnering grandiosity and defiance with a mental disorder can punch a double whammy.Think Borderline Personality Disorder, for example.Grandiosity and defiance are components of many mental illnesses.I have been on the receiving end of the double whammy a few times myself.But, I don't hold these kinds of relationships against the 12 Step movement because we claim our seat in our 12 Step group so that we can get well. We addicts/alcoholics have a spiritual, emotional, and mental illness.Learning what getting well means can be an ongoing process that takes years and years.

In practicing the spiritual principles and tools I am learning from my own recovery process, I am learning, one day at a time, to be able to set better boundaries with people who behave in a manner that I do not understand, or whose behavior feels attacking, bullying, abusive, overly aggressive.Sometimes the behavior simply feels inappropriate to the situation.After all, those of us who have used our addiction for most of our lives to deal with life by drinking, overeating, drugging, and seeking inappropriate relationships, we haven't learned appropriate ways to act and react because we've been too busy, desperately guzzling or bingeing instead of learning more effective ways to live life on life's terms.

I believe that anyone who writes a primarily negativem emotional discourse on the 12 Step movement is probably suffering from one of those grave emotional and mental disorders, even if it is just a mild personality disorder. I am not being critical or judgemental, I am just being honest about my observations. I consider myself one of these kinds of people at times, so I would be including myself in this observation. Again, I state:this is my own belief and it may not be yours.For whatever reason, these folks haven't been able to grow out of grandiosity and defiance into a more openminded and loving place.They are stuck in their disease process and negative thinking.At times, I have been "one of them".

Recently, I have heard a lot of sponsor bashing from people who are probably unqualified to do so.I personally have not experienced the high degree of misbehaviors, for want of a better word, that have been observed and described within the 12 Step groups. Always, my sponsors - and I have had at least 12 sponsors over a 9 year period - have been very well intentioned role models, kind, and committed to helping me grow along spiritual lines. These sponsors have been committed to their own recovery process.They are working their own steps and tools in order to recover. They share their own experience, strength and hope with me, which has been very healing.I will admit that at times, I have either observed someone else, or have personally experienced an incident with my own sponsor - rarely, though - where things got a little bit out of kilter.I either worked things out with my current sponsor, or found a new sponsor. Or encouraged a friend to do the same with his/her sponsor.Remember:as addicts/alcoholics we have failed to learn positive ways to relate to others, so having a sponsor is a great way to "practice" being a better person. We are able to "role play" with our sponsor in order to learn a better way of living and relating. Our sponsor is our coach. This has been my experience in my 12 Step recovery.

There is a saying in 12 Step rooms as relates to doing our 4th Step inventory and that is when we ask ourselves"what was my part"? When I first heard that term a thought went screaming and clawing its way through my head:My part? My part????? What do you MEAN, My Part???????This person did blah-blah-blah, and they are wrong, wrong, wrong. So, what in the WORLD do you mean by MY PART?I did nothing at all." As you can see, my mind was closed and I was very defiant about looking at the possibility of my own behavior being a contributing factor. I was used to getting nailed and being a target of the blame game.

What I've learned since then is that looking at "my part" is not blame, shame or guilt.It is a very neutral place to be where I can honestly assess my thoughts, actions, and behavior in a non-judgemental way to discern whether I inadvertently contributed to my own unhappiness with what occurred between myself and another person.Today, looking at "my part" it is a routine that I practice regularly to look at the big picture. I don't do it to beat myself up, I use it as a flashlight to illuminate the dark and hidden recesses of my psyche. My mind no longer screams at me, although I must admit that sometimes I having feelings of shame and guilt, and then I must work through those to get to a more neutral place. By the time I finish, I am in a much better place than when I started.

I want to encourage anyone who believes that they have had a bad experience with a 12 Step group or sponsor to be willing to examine their own behavior and motives. I don't doubt that some of the negative incidents mentioned have happened. After all, 12 Step groups are a mirror of life in general. They're just more intense, because the people in them already know that their lives are not working the way they would like for them to.Things are going to happen that mirror or project their character defects, as we say in program.

12 Steps doesn't work.
1. The Twelve Steps do not work as a program of recovery from drug or alcohol problems.
The A.A. failure rate ranges from 95% to 100%. Sometimes, the A.A. success rate is actually less than zero, which means that A.A. indoctrination is positively harmful to people, and prevents recovery. Some tests have shown that even receiving no treatment at all for alcoholism is much better than receiving A.A. treatment:
One of the most enthusiastic boosters of Alcoholics Anonymous, Professor George Vaillant of Harvard University, who is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. (AAWS), showed by his own 8 years of testing of A.A. that A.A. was worse than useless -- that it didn't help the alcoholics any more than no treatment at all, and it had the highest death rate of any treatment program tested -- a death rate that Professor Vaillant himself described as "appalling". While trying to prove that A.A. treatment works, Professor Vaillant actually proved that A.A. kills. After 8 years of A.A. treatment, the score with Dr. Vaillant's first 100 alcoholic patients was: 5 sober, 29 dead, and 66 still drinking.
(Nevertheless, Vaillant is still a Trustee of Alcoholics Anonymous, and he still wants to send all alcoholics to A.A. anyway, to "get an attitude change by confessing their sins to a high-status healer." That is cult religion, not a treatment program for alcoholism.)
The A.A. dropout rate is terrible. Most people who come to A.A. looking for help in quitting drinking are appalled by the narrow-minded atmosphere of fundamentalist religion and faith-healing. The A.A. meeting room has a revolving door. The therapists, judges, and parole officers (many of whom are themselves hidden members of A.A. or N.A.) continually send new people to A.A., but those newcomers vote with their feet once they see what A.A. really is. Even A.A.'s own triennial surveys, conducted by the A.A. headquarters (the GSO), say that:
81% of the newcomers are gone within 30 days,
90% are gone in 3 months, and
95% are gone at the end of a year.
That automatically gives A.A. a failure rate of at least 95%. But the GSO does not count all of those people who only attend a few meetings before quitting -- they don't qualify as "members". (That amounts to "cherry-picking".) If we included them, then the numbers would be much worse.


First there is the propaganda technique of "everybody's doing it": "AA or a similar Twelve-Step program is an integral part of almost all successful recoveries".
That is a complete falsehood. The vast majority of the successful people recover without A.A. or any "support group". It's what "everybody" is doing.
Then they use the propaganda techniques of use of the passive voice and vague suggestions: "It is widely believed that not including a Twelve-Step program in a treatment plan can put a recovering addict on the road to relapse."
It is widely believed by whom? And what do those unnamed people know? What are their qualifications? Are they doctors? Medical school professors? Or salesmen for a 12-Step treatment center? Why should we care what some unnamed invisible fools allegedly believe, anyway?
The authors also use the propaganda technique of fear-mongering: you will be "on the road to relapse" -- you will probably die -- unless you practice Bill Wilson's Twelve Step cult religion.
And then the fluff-headed Pollyanna attitude is outrageous: Just going to the wonderful A.A. meetings is supposedly all that is needed to fix some alcoholics.
But since A.A. has a zero-percent success rate above and beyond the normal rate of spontaneous remission, that cannot possibly be true.

A recovery Treasure
As a person in recovery for some time, I found this book a real treasure.Nothing is added or taken away from the first part of the Big Book but it is presented with a concordance, glossary and a space for notes.Having gone through numerous Big Books in study meetings and just giving them away, this one is a real treasure for me.Some historical notes and a copy of the original manuscript make it a must for us AA History fans. Keep coming back to this one!

the happy road
i have found that i actually pick this version of the big book up alot more than the other one. with it's indexes, dictionary, and journal pages i have more incintive to study my life through the program of alcoholics anonymous! after buying my first one i have bought 5 more for friends who have wanted it after looking at my book. if you want to stay sober this is a great book to help you on the happy road of destiny. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A reasonable introduction for people new to twelve-step programs
I would like to say that this book is amazingly life changing and profound, as the Emotions Anonymous (EA) fellowship can be, but it's not. If you're familiar with twelve-step literature from other groups, and looking for something new and different, you will probably find the treatment of the twelve-steps in this book pretty vanilla. EA's program assiduously copies as much from Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Al-Anon as can apply to people with with serious mental and emotional illness, and doesn't do much to extend it passed that.

In twelve-step addiction recovery programs (Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Crystal Meth Anonymous, etc), there is in implied goal of changing behavior: changing oneself so that the desire to use drugs and alcohol is gone, or is at least manageable. In most other twelve-step programs that don't deal with drug addiction, there are plans in place to help control the compulsive behavior the program deals with. For example, in Overeaters Anonymous members follow food plans, in Debtors Anonymous members keep numbers and make a spending plan, in Gambler's Anonymous veteran members counsel newcomers on dealing with financial and legal problems and provide direction, in Sexual Compulsives Anonymous members follow a sexual recovery plan. In the Emotions Anonymous program, however, there is no similar extension to help guide members in changing their behavior. While some EA members will develop a new code of conduct, there are no specific guidelines or process in the program (book) for it. If anything, completely removing a concept of abstinence or behavior modification has taken a gear out of the engine that motivates recovery in other twelve-step programs.

All of this is not to say that this book isn't worth reading. For people who are coming to EA and are not familiar with other twelve-step programs, this book is a good introduction for understanding how twelve-step programs work, and following the first 82 pages of explanation there are 146 pages of inspirational EA member recovery stories. A strength of twelve-step groups is that they have developed a common language to describe problems and coping mechanisms. As folksy and pastoral as that language can be, it amounts to a kind of serendipitous cognitive therapy as it is used in the fellowship, and can be easily understood by a non-professional audience.

Allow Yourself to Get Help
Most people always try to keep everything to themselves and I read about them blowing themselves away or taking others with them,just because they had to much pride to ask for help.
The twelve steps suggested in this book saved my life in another program 12 step program and have saved millions more.No body ever forced me to believe in anything,but if you actually and TRUELY work the steps as they are layed out in this text,it's hard not to believe in a Higher Power.I've seen too many big ego people blow their heads off,overdose,or what have you.I found following the book much easier.

12-step brainwashing at its most extreme
I made the mistake of getting caught up in the 12-Step Borg years ago, before authors such as Chas Bufe and Stanton Peele confirmed my suspicions that the entire movement is religious, and specifically evangelical -- rather than "spiritual" -- in nature, and that the fact it didn't work for me, no matter how hard I tried, did not mean there was anything wrong with me.

"EA" is the most ridiculous permutation of the Borg. Okay, in AA they want to give up alcohol and in NA they want to give up narcotics. Those goals at least make sense.

But in EA, the goal is to get rid of those pesky negative emotions, because there could *never* be any valid reason to feel sad or angry, unless one were willfully (will is bad, you see) rejecting one's "Higher Power." One achieves this dubious nirvana by repeating those annoying mantras like "One Day at a Time" over and over until one has managed to shut down one's thought processes. After all, in 12-Step Borg circles, not using one's brain is a *plus*. (Ever heard their expression "stinking thinking"?)

The worst "survivor testimony" in this entire book is by a woman named Jackie. When she was a young girl, her parents (and I use that term loosely) prostituted her out to strange men, which included making her dance with them.

Now, every day, she works toward earning the "forgiveness" of her "higher power."

Excuse me, but what *forgiveness" does anyone who's been put through that sort of atrocity by those who should have been the first to protect her have to earn?! Jackie's "parents" should be on their knees begging HER forgiveness. At the very least, they should be in prison for the rest of their lives -- getting from their fellow inmates, I hope, what their daughter got from their customers.

This reminds me of the Catholic Church's self-righteous proclamations that it was going to "try to forgive" those who speak up about having been raped by priests, and that the victims should "try to forgive" those priests, too. As if those priests deserve anything other than to be beaten to death in prison, as John Geoghan was.

The 12-Step Borg: not interested in right or wrong, unable to admit that it doesn't work for everyone -- the loudmouths who can't stop proselytizing it to the uninterested and the vulnerable are a minority, just as all loudmouths are.

No. The Borg's only concern is to "spread the message," just as a virus's only concern is to propagate its DNA. You Will Be Assimilated. Resistance is Futile ... and is a sign of "willfulness," too, because your "Higher Power" should be in control. Running one's own life? What ... blasphemy!!

I'm glad I threw this pernicious and mind-damaging book into the trash. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Groundbreaking Overview of Sex/Love Addiction and Recovery
This is a profound and important book which examines the very real, though often socially ignored, addiction to sex and love relationships. Because sex and romantic love are so highly touted in our culture, compulsive behaviors in this area are often overlooked, tolerated and even encouraged. As a psychotherapist I have found that this is often a primary addiction, underlying substance abuse, eating disorders, etc. It is based on the unmet need for genuine love and belonging (agape) missing in our families of origin and the culture at large..and the fundamental lack of self-love and self-acceptance that fails to develop as a result. Thus the endless search for that someone or something outside of ourselves that will be the balm to our loneliness and cure for our inner emptiness. The author brilliantly and poignantly chronicles the discovery and naming of his own addiction and the painful, though ultimately rewarding journey to wholeness and recovery. His chapter on withdrawal was incredibly powerful. I believe this was a book written before its time that deals with a fundamental human/societal problem..the myth that our happiness can be found outside of ourselves rather than within...and serves as a guide to those who have the courage to face themselves and walk through their pain out onto the other side.

Like the AA Big Book for SLAA
I became a member of SLAA (Sex And Love Addicts Anonymous) around 1988. This program saved my life. This book was a very important book to me, and all of us. Its writing was inspired by the man who founded SLAA (the way that Bill W and Dr. Bob founded AA) It has his story, and the stories of many other recovering Sex and Love Addicts, as well as a lot of theory and suggestions. It is not written for the lowest common denominator, as the originator was a Harvard graduate - but still, I never heard any of our members complain about its being hard to understand. The book is cleanly written and does not contain any obscenities. I am surprised that I didn't find any indication here at Amazon as the what this book really is - the core literature for SLAA - a 12-Step recovery program that still exists.
If you think you might have an addiction to sex and/or love - in any of its many forms - I recommend reading this book, and seeking out some meetings!

Required Reading for those wishing to recovery from S and L
This book will put you in touch with your core issues regarding Sex and Love Addiction. If you ever had any questions reguarding your sex and love history this book is for you. If you want to be free of the pain caused bythis disease of the mind then get this book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A Little Bit Of History Never Hurt Anyone
As I've gotten more days of sobriety under my belt I started to get curious about the history of AA.I figured that a program that has been around as long as AA needed some investigation.

I discovered, after reading "Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age", that AA had some tough times getting started.

It's all in the book:How AA spread from state to state; the money problems; the wives; the early meetings.Incredible, interesting stories!

After reading this book I had a better understanding and appreciation for how the program works.It's really miraculous.And it is illuminating to see that Bill and Bob tried just about everything to get the program going -- so when I question their suggestions or get in the mood to "rewrite" a tradition or two I have to remember that many of my ideas are not original -- it's most likely been tried before!

The "spirit" of helping others was made clearer to me.In these modern times when so many people come into the rooms from rehab or the courts, it is easy to forget what a wet drunk is and how to work with him/her.The book makes it clear that the early fellowship SOUGHT OUT drunks!!How many of us actually do that today?This is incredible ... especially when reading about the first fellowships in other cities.These guys did some MAJOR 12-stepping.

So if your program is stale or you are feeling curious, read this book for an injection of gratitude and appreciation.It worked for me!

An adjunct to other AA related literarure
I have had a copy of this book since early in my sobriety and it has helped me follow the path that Bill W. and Dr. Bob took when they started the fellowship of AA.It is indispensable when trying to put togetherspiritual and religious concepts.As it states on pp. 166-167: "Suchwere the final concessions to those of little or no faith; this was thegreat contribution of our atheists and agnostics.They had widened ourgateway so that all who suffer might pass through, regardless of theirbelief or lack of belief." "God was now expressed in terms thatanybody - anbody at all - could accept and try." So if you or someoneyou know wants to know the "why" of it, direct them to this book!In case you were wondering my sobriety date is 1/25/1977 and AA literaturehas been an absolute necessity in my recovery.

A must read-Not just for people in AA
I am from Eden Prairie, MN.and this is a thoroughly enjoyable piece of homework that a sponser can give a sponsee.In our AA Fri. nite meeting (it's been around for 25 years), we consider it a don't miss title.

A must for all 12 Steppers!
If you want to know some of the history A.A., this is the book. Find outabout 'Rule 62' and the controversy surrounding the steps, traditions andaffliations - even the story of how the booze industry almost co-opted AA!The early days are all here - well, almost all. ... Read more

Book Description
Various writers offer meaningful, personal interpretations of the 12 Steps of AA that help us understand and apply the basic concepts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

If you're not a "joiner"
I'm a do-it-yourselfer and find most of my how-to in books.This book has Q & A sessions to help yourself.It has an extensive "self-interview" after the First Step that is invaluable.It's easy to read and I loved it.

book is ok
This book is ok but there is already a 12 step book for AA. If I were going to recommend one other book besides the original BiG Book of AA it would be An Encounter With A Prophet, the book that helped me understand my higher power better. ... Read more

Book Description
Based on the spiritual foundation of Alcoholics Anonymous, these daily reflections and prayers offer inspiration, comfort, and hope to those of us recovering from addictions.A Day at a Time also draws upon the wisdom of the world's greatest poets, scholars, and philosophers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Only Way To Live
I don't think we as human beings actually recognize the power of daily reading, meditation, and reflecting.Practicing these powerful principles allows us to remain mindful of the moment and reflect upon the deeper question in our lives.To devote ourself to a daily meditation and to journal on these quiet times is priceless and will certainly aid in the evolution of our soul.For me this practice has allowed an awakening to take place and opens my life up to all the opportunities that are available in this universe.Please give this practice a try!This book will help you in your journey of living and cultivating an active consciousness in your daily life.

Richard A. Singer Jr.Author Your Daily Walk with the Great Minds of the Past and Present.

a day at a time
I have used this meditation book as a recovering person since 1983 and have given it as gifts for years.This is my favorite of these type books because it is not purely Christian in its focus.There are quotes includedby many diverse authors(Epicurius, Homer, Thomas Merton, Emerson, evenElizabeth Barret Browning to name but a few).It also leads one thru thetwelve steps as a suggested program of action rather than a guilt obsessed"should book". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An excellent resource for overeaters
As I have been working with the program of Overeaters Anonymous I am absolutely amazed at the changes that have occured in my life. This book is another one of those wonderful books that has helped ease me along in the very difficult task of changing and overcoming my eating disorder.
This book is a compiliation of many different OA members across the United States struggles and triumphs with Abstinence (from overeating). Their stories help you realize that many others go through those struggles every day the way you do with food. Many have been abstinent for 25 or more years. Many are newly abstinent.The stories are interesting to read and helpful. An excellent book for member of OA, overeaters or binge eaters.

A Great Resource!
This book is a fabulous resource for anyone looking for help working the Overeaters Annonymous Program or with food issues.It is a complilation of different member's experiences with Abstinence.This can be a difficulttopic to understand and this book helps by presenting a varied selectionwhich represent a broad spectrum of opinions and proven strategies forrecovery.

I highly recommend this book to anyone dealing with foodissues."The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of OvereatersAnonymous" and "A New Beginning - Stories of Recovery fromRelapse" are two more great books on this issue. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

For Lovers of Venice and gentle mysteries
I think Donna Leon is a gem. Her tales of Venice and its habitants are a delightful read and bring the city to life. Her characters are lovable and the background terrific. If you like a "gentle" mystery, Donna Leon is wonderful. Inspector Brunetti and his staff are developed so well that one feels they could be invited to dinner. Zuppa de pesce for all!!

An Ironic Murder Mystery Triggers Probing Questions Leading to New Insights
With The Anonymous Venetian (retitled by the American publisher as Dressed for Death), the Guido Brunetti mysteries reach their full power for the first time. As with Donna Leon's earlier books, The Anonymous Venetianfeatures a corpse that's prepared and deposited to create maximum confusion for the police. That tiny fragment of her style becomes a launching pad for much self-examination by readers about how others think and live, including transvestite "working women" and those who employ them.

The book offers two new aspects to the series that readers will also find rewarding: Vice-Questore Patta is knocked off his smug pedestal when his wife leaves him to live with a pornographer and Patta also hires the astonishingly capable Elletra Zorzi who makes the Brunetti series much more realistic in terms of portraying police procedures.

But this book could have been better titles as, "Vacation Lost." Brunetti is about to leave for two weeks away from stifling hot Venice for the mountains when a man dressed as a woman is found dead outside of an area where female ladies of the night normally operate. For reasons only known to Patta, Brunetti is assigned to lead the investigation in nearby Mestre. Although Brunetti promises to wind up the investigation as soon as possible, he knows that he's unlikely to be able to join his family. But dutiful to a fault, he proceeds to pursue a case that others want squelched.

The investigation takes Brunetti into the seamy world of those who sell their bodies to make a living . . . and where the police are seen as the enemy rather than as protectors. Brunetti finds himself out of his depth until his wife, Paola, asks some penetrating questions that shake Brunetti's self-absorption.

But watch carefully, there are unexpected events and people populating this book . . . and each unexpected aspect has meaning for the story.

Watch out for one more thing: This book may hook you on the series so that you won't be able to escape its appeal. I don't recall reading a third mystery in a series that's as good as this one.

Why? Venice makes the stories fascinating as you see behind the surface that the tourists experience. Brunetti is a fascinating, complex, and admirable character whom you will enjoy as a detective. His family life adds to the spice. The candid assessments of other members of the police also make for much good humor. The criminals in this case are people you'll be glad to see brought to justice. The methods will be equally intriguing. You'll also explore aspects of life you don't normally think about. As a result, Ms. Leon delivers more than you should expect from even a fine mystery.

Ciao!

For lovers of all things venetian
Donna Leon continues to bring me into the everyday life of the Venetians.I am transported.The detective element is also interesting.But, ah! to be a Venetian in Venice - that's the fun part.

What sexual gratification would a person get from wearing clothing of the opposite sex? Brunetti's fetish thoughts answered.
A word used in our human circles to describe a crossdresser would be transvestite (Italian: travestito) meaning someone who dresses in the clothes usually worn by the opposite sex. Transvestites may be bisexual, heterosexual or homosexual; Transvestite comes from the Latin word travesty.

Commissario Brunetti investigate the death of what is first to be thought a female worker or prostitute left under a clump of bushes near an Industrial site. The body had been found by a couple of factory workers on their break, all they could reallysee at the time was her silk red shoes on shapely ankles sticking out of the grass at the end. One of the men approached the women wondering if it was worth stealing the shoes realizing the body was motionless thought better of it and called the police. Twenty minuets later Brunetti and men manage a closer inspection he realizes the female was actually male, full make up wearing his/her very best wig, bright beautiful dress with laced undergarments and striking shoes.

When two more bodies turn up connected to the case Brunetti has to act fast, everybody around seems to be acting like a pack of hyenas (also ambiguous for their gender bend) Brunetti is facing the task of digging deeper into the mind of the crossdresser, which currently is filled to the brim with deception and misconception.

Once again Leon deals with the task at hand with ease, covering many topics, Corruption of government, the sex trade and drugs. The fictional characters are beautifully woven in, a comic team of testosterone police trying to prove what it takes to be real men, right up to my favorite the wonderful Sicilian Vice-Questore Giuseppe Patta (Brunetti Boss) whose wife has called his bluff at last and left him, committing the ultimate unforgivable act of seriousness' denting his incredibly ego, the most important thing on his mind now is how to restore his image.

Brunetti eyes are opened up to the seedier side of Venice once again, Left Occupied in thoughts dealing with the matter alone.

Leon pulls out all stops for a fun loving fantastic read in this series. This book is also under the title Dressed for Death.

The Anonymous Venetian
This was the second Donna Leon mystery that I read...note that it is published in the US under the title Dressed for Death.This is a fine mystery with some gruesome moments but also the superb character rendering for which Leon is known.The entire series is worth your time if you like mysteries which are realistic about power and corruption in modern-day Italian society.The foil for this dark seriousness is the city of Venice itself and Guido Brunetti's moments with his family, painted without sentimentality but with much warmth. ... Read more

Book Description
Alcoholics Anonymous meetings for gay people convene in regularly in more than 60 cities in the United States and in 20 countries world-wide. Thousands of LGBT people have changed their lives for the better using the principles of AA. The History of Gay People in Alcoholics Anonymous documents and honors the ways they have carried AA's message. This illuminating chronicle presents interviews, transcripts of recordings, and documents that detail the compelling history, recovery, and wisdom of gay people in AA. Appendixes review the steps and traditions of AA, the list of narrators, and ways the reader can become an ally to LGBT people on the road to recovery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Breaking the Silence
Ms. Borden has brought together a fascinating and important collection of "insider's history" regarding GLBT people in Alcoholics Anonymous. Organized in a straightforward (no pun intended) and very readable manner, the book conveys through first-hand accounts the place and significance gay and lesbian people have had in the development of this remarkable recovery program.

The only criticism this reader has is that there are so many more stories that should have been gathered, particularly from areas of the country (especially the Midwest) where equally important developments took place. The book is a bit "bicoastal" in this regard; there are amazing stories yet to be gathered and told from the middle of the country as well as the two coasts. (I know--I am here, and have been out and part of it since this 1970s in Iowa and Minnesota!)

Nonetheless: this history is a must-read for anyone interested in A.A. history--GLBT and straight alike. Thank you Ms. Borden, and Haworth Press.

A major contribution to understanding an important part of history
Anyone interested in how people in a stigmatized or marginalized position can empower themselves and change institutions should find this book fascinating. Audrey Borden has collected a rich set of moving narratives from people who were at the forefront as Gays and Lesbians made AA work for them, and in the process helped AA live up to its traditions. The selflessness, generosity and modesty of many of her sources make these stories all the more touching, given the struggles they faced and the lives they have saved. Well written by an insightful author. A wonderful contribution!

Terrific New Resource
Wonderful. A real must for anyone interested in AA.

The focus on 'Gay AA' history does not narrow the book; rather, the Gay focus provides a window through which AA tradition, practice, and history can be traced concisely.

Anyone interested in AA, or alcoholism, let alone Gay history, should have this volume. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

For the latest
This is simply the best. The best, the best.I also recommend For The Original Overeaters Anonymous Very Low Carbohydrate Food Plan: Greysheet Recipes. This is a beautiful book. I bought it because I'm on the very low carb food plan. It has great recipes. I really like the protein and vegetable recipes. I can never think of enough things to do with vegetables. Now I know what other people are cooking. I'm glad to learn more about phone and in person meetings. I never knew where the term "greysheet" came from. I have wanted to learn more about it for a long time. ... Read more

Book Description
What does a teen addicted to, say, marijuana, have in common with an adult alcoholic from almost 70 years ago? Plenty, according to The Big Unplugged. This book helps youth find common ground in Alcoholics Anonymous-a book which may sometimes seem remote to today's teens. The author summarizes each chapter of the Big Book, and in fresh, frank language, addresses issues faced and roadblocks erected by teens¿invincibility, surrender, spirituality, and more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Inspiration for many
I work in a substance abuse treatment center, and I have found that people that started drinking or using when they were young relate to this book easily.It puts things in simple terms and uses real stories to portray the points.I feel the language is foul at times, but the author does use it to make a point and relate to younger people.I'm buying this book for my father who has been sober for 15 years through AA, and is still working the program "one day at a time."

Here is how it Works.
1. The Twelve Steps do not work as a program of recovery from drug or alcohol problems.
o The A.A. failure rate ranges from 95% to 100%. Sometimes, the A.A. success rate is actually less than zero, which means that A.A. indoctrination is positively harmful to people, and prevents recovery. Some tests have shown that even receiving no treatment at all for alcoholism is much better than receiving A.A. treatment:
o One of the most enthusiastic boosters of Alcoholics Anonymous, Professor George Vaillant of Harvard University, who is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. (AAWS), showed by his own 8 years of testing of A.A. that A.A. was worse than useless -- that it didn't help the alcoholics any more than no treatment at all, and it had the highest death rate of any treatment program tested -- a death rate that Professor Vaillant himself described as "appalling". While trying to prove that A.A. treatment works, Professor Vaillant actually proved that A.A. kills. After 8 years of A.A. treatment, the score with Dr. Vaillant's first 100 alcoholic patients was: 5 sober, 29 dead, and 66 still drinking.
(Nevertheless, Vaillant is still a Trustee of Alcoholics Anonymous, and he still wants to send all alcoholics to A.A. anyway, to "get an attitude change by confessing their sins to a high-status healer." That is cult religion, not a treatment program for alcoholism.)
o The A.A. dropout rate is terrible. Most people who come to A.A. looking for help in quitting drinking are appalled by the narrow-minded atmosphere of fundamentalist religion and faith-healing. The A.A. meeting room has a revolving door. The therapists, judges, and parole officers (many of whom are themselves hidden members of A.A. or N.A.) continually send new people to A.A., but those newcomers vote with their feet once they see what A.A. really is. Even A.A.'s own triennial surveys, conducted by the A.A. headquarters (the GSO), say that:
X 81% of the newcomers are gone within 30 days,
X 90% are gone in 3 months, and
X 95% are gone at the end of a year.
That automatically gives A.A. a failure rate of at least 95%. But the GSO does not count all of those people who only attend a few meetings before quitting -- they don't qualify as "members". (That amounts to "cherry-picking".) If we included them, then the numbers would be much worse.
And also note that the claimed five percent of A.A. newcomers who are still left after one year is exactly the same number as the usual rate of spontaneous remission among alcoholics -- five percent per year. That is, in any randomly-selected population of alcoholics, approximately five percent per year will finally get sick and tired of being sick and tired, and they will just quit drinking. And the Harvard Medical School says that 80% of those successful quitters do it by themselves, alone, without any "treatment program" or any "support group".
If we subtract the normal spontaneous remission rate for alcoholism of five percent per year from A.A.'s claimed success rate of five percent, we get zero for A.A.'s real effective cure rate.
A.A. does not actually make anybody quit drinking; it just takes the credit for the people who were going to quit anyway. A.A. is just taking the credit for peoples' efforts to save their own lives.
o The Twelve Steps are actually a hopelessly bad program for recovery:
X Cult religion is not a good cure for alcoholism, and A.A. most assuredly is a cult religion.
X One of the biggest problems with the Twelve-Step program is the learned helplessness caused by the First Step, where people are taught to confess that they are "powerless over alcohol." This leads many people to believe that once they have a drink, that a full-blown relapse and total loss of self-control is inevitable and unavoidable. So some people go on suicidally-intense binges, thinking that it is pointless to try to resist temptation.2 --
X Step Two is just as bad: it teaches people that they are insane, and that only a Supernatural Being can restore them to sanity -- which means that they are helpless, and cannot heal themselves.
X Then Step Three teaches a lifestyle of infantile narcissism and passive dependency, where A.A. members turn control of their wills and their lives over to "the care of God as we understood Him", and then they expect God to take care of them and run their lives for them, and solve all their problems, and wait on them hand and foot, and do all of the hard work for them from then on...
"Let Go And Let God"
is their official motto, their lifestyle, and their approach to problem-solving.
X Then Steps Four through Ten induce guilt in the members by forcing members to make lists of all of their sins and flaws, and "defects of character" and "moral shortcomings", and confess every intimate dirty little secret to another A.A. member who isn't even ordained clergy, or even sworn to secrecy.
X In Step Eleven you are supposed to "channel" God and receive psychic work orders and power.
X Then Step Twelve tells you to go recruiting, to draft more alcoholics into this madness.
o There is also experimental evidence that the A.A. teachings about powerlessness lead to binge drinking. In a controlled study of A.A.'s effectiveness, court-mandated offenders who had been sent to A.A. for several months were engaging in five times as much binge drinking as the no-treatment control group which got no A.A. "help".
o A.A. boosters and propagandists constantly repeat the Big Lie that A.A. works great, and A.A. with its Twelve Steps is the way that everybody recovers:
... Read more

Book Description
An essential recovery tool for compulsive gamblers, these daily reflections and prayers offer us hope, support, and guidance throughout the year. Also addresses the issues and fears often faced by those of us in recovery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

good and useful book
This book should be in every home, it saves many lives, everyone I know who owns it in Iceland loves it. ... Read more

Book Description

In this thoroughly researched and groundbreaking biography of Bill Wilson, cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous, acclaimed author Susan Cheever creates a remarkably human portrait of a man whose life and work both influenced and saved the lives of millions of people. Drawn from personal letters and diaries, records in a variety of archives, and hundreds of interviews, this definitive biography is the first fully documented account of Bill Wilson's life story.

Alcoholics Anonymous is a worldwide organization that since 1935 has helped people break free from the destructive influence of intoxicating and addictive substances. This great wave of comfort and help that has covered the world had its beginning in one man, born shortly before the start of the twentieth century. Utilizing exhaustive research, Cheever traces Bill Wilson's life beginning with his birth in a small town in Vermont, where, following the breakup of his parents' marriage, he was raised primarily by his grandparents. Handsome and intelligent, with a wit and charm that both women and men responded to, he seemed at the outset to be capable of achieving anything he wanted.

Wilson, however, also suffered from deep-seated insecurity, and once he was away from the provincial Vermont town, he found that alcohol helped relieve his self-doubts and brought out the charm and wit that had made him a favorite in school.

"Help" eventually turned to dependence, and years after his first beer -- consumed at a Newport, Rhode Island, dinner party -- Bill Wilson finally had to come to terms with the fact that, while he loved the way alcohol made him feel, his life was spiraling out of control.Through a painful process of trial and error, using a blend of experiences, ideas, and medical knowledge gained through several hospitalizations, he was able to stop drinking. A few months later, when he met Dr. Robert Smith of Akron, Ohio, and was able to help him stop drinking also, Alcoholics Anonymous was born. Each man found in the other the support he needed to overcome the hold alcohol had on them. Together they discovered the power they had to help other alcoholics.

Success did not come overnight, however, and as Cheever compellingly relates, Wilson had many struggles in a life fraught with controversies, including experiments with LSD and an unconventional fifty-three-year marriage.

As one of the most influential and important thinkers of the twentieth century, Bill Wilson changed the way our society deals with addiction, and his ideas in turn have benefited countless individuals and their families. His life was complex, and in Susan Cheever's fascinating biography, he emerges as a man of great passion and courage; it is a story fully told for the first time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (24)

Just one more little one
how this squirrel made it to the top god only knows, the miracle is aa works for a few of us, too bad the rest of you drunks are screwedStarbucks Assortment

Not much new here...
While Susan Cheever makes a valiant effort to use imagery and some carefully styled first person musings of Emily and Bill Wilson, her efforts fall somewaht flat. On the balance, this is essentially a retelling of "Pass It On."There are a few details at the end regarding Bill W.'s sexual compulsions that are common AA lore, and have appeared elsewhere.

For those interested in the history of AA, this won't offer much in the way of insight into the early days of AA and how the program worked.Entertaining at points, but difficult to read attenteively if you have already read other accounts of Bill Wilson's life.

Cheever's artistic touches didn't do much for me.I would rather she had put additional effort into her research, and brought a fresh telling with some new facts or insights.

A completist must have.For the rest...optional.

So what?
I just finished reading this biography.I am so grateful for Bill and Bob and for me - they are a constant reminder that there is a Higher Power looking out for us.

So what if Bill was less than perfect?Yeah, I was a little surprised at some of the content of the book - but again I ask so what?Bill always said that Dr. Bob was the more "spiritual" of the two of them.He never claimed to be the saint that so many people in program seem to need to make him in order to ?????

Bill was an ordinary man with ordinary human issues - and he did his best with what he had.I believe that Bill would be amazed at the sainthood that seems to have been given to him since his death.

Personally, it makes me feel safe to know that throughout all of Bill's experiences he managed to keep sober AND to share this so important message.This book clearly tells us that while Bill was at times struggling with his demons, he cared about other people (drunks) anyway.

So, he had affairs?Who am I to judge?Step 4 - asks me to make a fearless inventory of MY affairs - not of other people's -

Reading this well researched and written book only makes me appreciate Bill and Bob MORE - wow! they were actual ordinary guys who gave the world the most magical of gifts and for that I am grateful.

One of the worst books
I read this book and I was disappointed beyond words.If you really want a great book about Bill W.I Suggest the book by Rober Thomsen, who
knew Bill Wilson personally (The title is Bill W.)

Nailing Genius
Two decades ago, I took up with a recovering alcoholic, and in a show of support, I attended several open Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. After a while, I had to confess that I found them really hokey. "That's because you are not an alcoholic," he replied. "If you were, you'd recognize the genius of the mind that created it. It's brilliant."

For the last two days, I've carried Susan Cheever's book about Bill Wilson around with me, reading, I must admit, compulsively. Cheever, whose father John's important fiction covers the period in which AA grew up, brings a literary eye to the development of a character familiar in American public life: the charismatic leader. If it's not perfect in every factual detail, it is rich in content about our society, addictive substances, and our own craving for a savior.

As in the lives of most alcoholics, there's a lot of pain. Surviving divorce in New England when it was rare, abandoned by a mother who remained nevertheless demanding, losing a sweetheart whose family had adopted him as their own--Cheever describes these events in Bill's early life in a sympathic but unsentimental way. She's less successful in blending the history of Vermont from colonial times to the present, but even with awkward flashbacks and forwards, this secondary narrative tells us a lot about the world that informed Bill'scharacter. He was politically conservative, but doggedly independent; someone who with little tutoring found within himself both musical and engineering talents. He attended his family's Congregational church but failed to find the spiritual sustenance that he needed. His admission to a prestigious boarding school coincided with an impressive spurt in physical and mental growth, but he dropped out when felled by depression after his girlfriend died.

By the time he takes up drink, we are prepared for a daunting ride. To anyone familiar with the genre of drunkalogues, it's predictable, but Cheever keeps the story moving by putting Bill's various binges in personal and historical context. By the time he gets to his Akron meeting with Dr. Bob Smith, AA's co-founder, all the elements are in place. It's perhaps unfair that Bill W.'s story gets more attention than Bob S.'s, but, steady and conventional (once sober) are less compelling than mercurial and brilliantly insightful. If the latter gifts are more impressive, so are Bill W's weaknesses--his inability to give up the tobacco that eventually kills him, the depressions that leave him weeping publically, and the perpetual womanizing. Amazingly, he works out the Twelve Traditions that guide the organization while clinically depressed. The more successful he and AA become, the more he craves anonymity.

Especially if you're unfamiliar with the practices of AA, it's instructive to see how they developed from the experiences of these two men and their cohorts. I was surprised that Bill W. had a powerful (although perhaps drug-induced) conversion but that he remained determined not to define God for anyone else. If he lacked impulse control in some areas of his life, he exercised it in others where most popular leaders fail. Cheever is even-handed about Bill's long marriage to the former Lois Burnham, whose life's work supported him and helped establish Al-Anon for families of alcoholics. While some might write the two off as codependent, Cheever brings sympathy to this long alliance. Perhaps someone will write a book about the women of AA, but, as Cheever notes, it was born in a man's world, and many people thought only men could become alcoholics.

Finally, Cheever's book makes clear that Bill W. knew that AA was not the final solution for alcoholism. He saw a psychiatrist. He experimented with LSD and Vitamin B--the first in hopes of finding a shortcut to conversion and the latter as an fixative for chemical dependency. He missed the days when he could attend meetings himself without being recognized.

Ultimately, dying of emphysema, he desperately wanted a drink. I found myself thinking: Why not? But his caretakers refused him, perhaps thinking of the millions who would follow. He was still a drunk, but he was their drunk. ... Read more