Book Description
First published in four volumes between 1873 and 1876, this witty, first-person account tells of the most infamous hero of the Victorian Underground. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

The Romance of Lust
I have read some of the other opions on this book. I myself found the book a great read. At first I was a little bothered by the incest between brother and sisters but I have read many stories and for centries this has been going on but anyway I would say it was enjoyable.
Also remember "opions" are like [...] holes we all have one (laughing)!!

A woman says this book is truly wonderful
Don't listen to the person who describes this book as containing abusive content--that is simply not true!There are some scenes of very mild spanking, etc., but participants are willing and eager.I think one of the reasons this erotic novel is so popular (besides the sheer number of pages describing every type of sex you can imagine!) is that our hero seems to genuinely love and respect the women (and men) that he cavorts with!He loves the hairy legs and large stomachs of the women (both young and old) and enjoys the differences between his female and male lovers.There is true affection between all the participants.

There is very explicit content--no doubt--and on practically every page too!But it is consistently entertaining and stimulating~!

As a woman, I can say that I love this book!

The Romance of Lust
This book contains extremely degrading sadistic text through-out.
Amazon should practice greater disclosure when it comes to presenting products with so much abusive content(perhaps a rating system) so those reasonable carefull in there selections do not purchase such dehumanizing content unknowingly. Greater and clearer discloser would benifit both the buyer and seller avoiding uncessary resentment as well as benifit society as a whole.
PS I not religously oriented and liberal in my viewpoints within limits.

Delicious!
If reading graphic ... scenes that will get your juices flowing is your thing, read on.Although there is a lot of repetitively descriptive terminology, the book is definitely a good one!It was written for pure sensual/... enjoyment!I would like to find more books written by this particular anonymous author!!

The absolute best of Victorian erotica writing .... WOW
Hitting the scales at over 500 pages the connosoire of Victorian erotica will absolutely read every single page probably over and over again ...... This book, first published as four volumes, is now generally reprinted as one book with all four volumes .. For those readers that have a proclivity to enjoy coming of age books as told by a young man than this is the best of all Victorian examples I have ever devoured....

A fifteen year old Charlie Roberts he manages to witness a recently married houseguest, Mrs. Benson, in the thoes of sex with her husband. The little voyeur is soon discovered by the newlywed, and, instead of becoming outraged and immediately snitching on his parents, Mrs. B swears Charlie to keep 'their secret' and she will 'reward him' for his silence. Well let me tell you what a deviously delicious reward it was, and, she went out of her way to reward Charlie over and over..... Matter of fact, she introduced Charlie to her friend and she also rewarded him over and over ......

Our hero, very quickly decides to spread his newfound knowledge with his two younger sisters and, feigning innocence, allows himself to be seduced by two successive live-in governesses, one of which he actually impregnates......

Charlie's appetite for the erotic and sexual becomes voracious as he managed to either seduce, or let himself be seduced, by practically anyone that comes within his grasp, including, of course, (it is after all Victorian erotic lit) his mother .... Male and female alike fall under his spell one way or another ....

I can't imagine much under the norms either eroticism or sexuality that isn't described in the most delicious and intimate detail in this book so it's easy to understand why repeated print runs, over the past 40 years alone,have been bought by Grove Press, Caroll & Graf, Masquarade Books and now in 2002 a new edition by Blue Moon to be relased in June. If the past sales are any indication, this edition will sell out fast as well and will also be treasured as keepsaked for those naughtiest of moments to read alone .... ... Read more

Book Description

This appealing teen read tells the story of Katie, a teen from an abused home, and her journey through foster care.

Katie is always surrounded by wealth, but feels terribly alone because of the secret horror of her angry, abusive father. When she's thrown out of her house and put into foster care, it seems like the end of the world.

But as she moves through the foster care system, she begins to realize that she can help others. Can she, at last, find courage and strength of her own?

Customer Reviews (4)

Marginally better than usual
Perhaps I'm being too easy on this book, but I did find it marginally better than most of the other books written by Dr. Sparks.The plot seems to have more substance than usual, and I must hand it to her for getting through an entire book without constantly breaking out into excessive italics, exclamation points, and sentences written in all caps.The book even starts out seeming like it could have been taken from (or at least based on) an actual teenager's diary instead of entirely made up by the over the hill ultra-conservative ultra-religious psychiatrist.

However, as in all of her other books, there are a number of suspicious problems.It just reads too much like a book written, in journal form, deliberately and premeditatively about a specific problem, and not drawn from the pages of a real-life teen's journal.How many teen journals has Dr. Sparks really read if she thinks that they all focus so exclusively on a certain issue in their lives?It's like she wants us to remember her characters by their problems (Katie's in foster care, Kim has an eating disorder, Nancy has AIDS, Alice does drugs, Jennie has an affair with her teacher) and not by realistic fully-rounded personalities.For example, what are Katie's favorite foods, what would she do with a million dollars, what was she like as a child, what are the types of mundane things she does to fill her time, what was going on in her life before she started having problems?In spite of being a bit better-developed than usual, the characters in this book just never really came alive for me and seemed like more than one-dimensional cardboard cutouts.Most teen journals are also composed of a lot of mundane he said-she said-type chatter, you know, writing about things besides problems in their lives.The frequent gaps in the narrative, like having several weeks between some entries, also add to the problems.And like Dr. Sparks's other characters, Katie also seems a lot younger than she's supposed to be.

Katie is a student at a Catholic girls' school (rather embodying the stereotype of the sheltered innocent Catholic schoolgirl) and living with her parents in a huge mansion, surrounded by wealth and luxury.Her mother is badly abused by her Jeckyll and Hyde father, and because of her father's controlling personality, Katie herself has never really been allowed to have friends, associate with boys, or go out and do the type of stuff most teens get to do.She gets excited about future possibilities when she and her new friend Jennifer meet two boys, Mark and David, at a museum, and secretly begin dating.In the midst of this, Katie's creepy and abusive father starts paying her unwarranted amounts of attention as soon as he notices that she's becoming a young woman.Feeling starved for love, she accepts his sudden lavish attention, not realising till it's too late that he's behaving in an extremely inappropriate and gross way.Things come to a head when he finds out she's been dating and dumps her in a very run-down area of L.A.Katie can't take her new environment, and while she's praying (being rather religious and concerned about repentance like all of Dr. Sparks's other creations) before going to kill herself, she's found by a man from the Salvation Army, who takes her to a shelter, and from there she gets put into foster care.Sadly, the depictions of foster care, and the children in it, seem to be pretty accurate instead of, as is Dr. Sparks's usual forte, made up or wildly exaggerated to scare her target audience.

As realistic as the foster care section of the book appears to be, however, this scenario just doesn't fit together at all.Why doesn't anyone from Katie's home, school, or small circle of friends ever attempt to contact the police or search for her?We're supposed to believe her horrid father just throws her onto the streets and no one ever is suspicious about why she just suddenly disappeared?Even in an abusive situation or a rich family that seems beyond belief, that no authorities would ever get suspicious!And why doesn't Katie herself want to go back home, or at least to another relative or someone who cares?At one point later on she does call her dad's secretary, who is happy to hear from her, but Katie can't even tell her where she is, nor does this secretary ever apparently get in touch with anyone from Katie's old life.And though she is frustrated, depressed, and angry over the situations she's been thrust into, Katie seems to adapt a little too quickly to her new life as a foster child, in foster homes, and in a crummy school two grades behind her actual grade (she lied about her age when she was found).

Wouldn't most teens, particularly if they came from education, manners, and money, like Katie is always talking about, be fighting tooth and nail to go back to where they came from instead of just accepting the situation?Instead she focuses on helping the other kids in her foster homes to become as mannered, educated, ambitious, and socially skilled as she is (with many mentions of prayer, religion, and repentance, of course).Now I could see this had Katie gone into foster care as a child, but for someone who's sixteen to just adapt that readily and without a fight?Coupled with her juvenile attitude and writing style in spite of being almost eighteen at the book's end, it just defies plausibility!Another example of an implasible scenario is when two of the boys at Katie's original foster home try to assault a little girl in the home, and just disappear after Katie fights them off to protect the child.There's no police investigation, and these boys are never heard from again.Social services never look for them.And again, why would anyone be expected to believe that a teenager from a rich privileged family can just disappear like that with no one ever investigating the matter and starting a search for her?The ending of the book also seems a bit hard to swallow, given the grim reality most foster kids Katie's age face when it comes to finding adoptive parents.It's also hard to believe how many of these younger kids so easily come under her wing and quickly change their bad/unresponsive/rough/uneducated/bad-mannered ways to her way of thinking and living, but again, this is a book written by someone who seems to have a poor grasp of just how modern teens think, act, write, talk, and behave.

There's a bit of supplementary material in the back on child abuse, crisis hotlines, abductions, and throwaway children.The back matter seems skimpier than usual, not as extensive as the appendices in her books on subjects like AIDS and teen pregnancy.Even though it started out seeming like it could have come from a real teen's journal, ultimately it turned out to be just a typical Dr. Sparks book.The only real difference here is that it does have a bit stronger plot than usual.

Finding Katie

The book, Finding Katie, is a diary that was written by an anonymous teenage girl who after being rich, popular and having everything she wants would soon find out what it is like being in foster care. Katie is a 16 year old girl who goes to a Catholic school with her friend Jennifer and lives in a mansion like house with a pool. Katie's mother uses drugs and alcohol to get her through her pain from being abused by Katie's father. Katie's mother is a lot like Juana from The Pearl because Katie's mother is being treated badly by her (Katie's mother) husband just like Juana was being treated after Kino found the pearl. Katie's father ignores her until he sees her in a pink 2- piece bathing suit and then he starts to buy her things that she doesn't need. Katie goes into 3 foster homes and teaches the children living there about education. This book should be read by only mature readers because the book talks about things that children who aren't in middle school wouldn't know about and shouldn't know about until they are in middle school and are old enough to understand it. This book is excellent because it taught me that not all teenagers have an easy life but that some have a very rough and brutal life. This book would be a good read for teenagers who like true stories about someone their age who talks about finding a first crush and having their whole life change because of a parent or both parents.

yeah right.
Sorry, but this was written by a 15 year old? If she was coming from the "great" education that she had that was emphasized so much by the teen in the book.... no way. It wasn't very realistic. The fact that she seemed like an 8 year old but was about to turn 18 kept me from getting into it.

Worth a read for younger kids, although some of the parts may scare them.

The original James Frey
Brought to you from the author of Go Ask Alice... yeah, right.

This is probably not the first great hoax in publishing history, but I'm sure it's one of the most successful.

In spite of the fact that the actual source of this book has long been revealed and known, the publishing company continues to brazenly assert that this is a genuine document. It's as ridiculous as the continuing insistence that The Amityville Horror is a true story, too.

It should take any literate adult no more than one and one half pages to determine that this is neither the language nor the syntax of an adolescent/young adult.

It is a known fact that this shameless propoganda was the work of Beatrice Sparks, a Mormom activist who created an entire series of these books, in which children are destroyed by the evils of homosexuality, premarital sex, drug abuse, satanism, etc.

Without diminishing what positive impact this book, or any of the others, may have had on impressionable youth, and without condemning its good intentions (is anyone in favor of having AIDS?), these books are complete rubbish.

Like Mr. Frey, the intentions are not the point.

The point is that these books are being published as nonfiction.

And they are lies. ... Read more

Book Description
First publication by the Debtors Anonymous 12 Step Fellowship. It describes the basics of the D.A. recovery program and includes 38 success stories of D.A. members. It offers experience, strength, and hope to help other compulsive debtors and all those who want to stop incurring unsecured debt, such as credit cards, unsecured loans, personal loans, unpaid taxes, and more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Inspirational & Practical
This book gives both practical information on a very popular and much needed self help program, Debtors Anonymous.The contributors tell their stories of hope and inspiration of what led them to get into debt and how they got out of debt.It also gives many suggesions for folks who are 'underearners.'People who underachieve and don't earn enough to live on or don't earn up to their potential. HIghly recommended.

Hope and inspiration PLUS ideas
A truly remarkable book full of hope and inspiration for anyone who is in debt and wants to get out.The stories of how others have done it offer so much encouragement while providing practical ideas to make the day to day decisions easier.It's full of examples of how reversing the debting dilemma changesother areas of one's life.A must read if you feel hopeless and helpless about your financial situation.

Bringing hope for people with debt and money problems
This program and this book changes peoples lives! It gives the reader inspiring stories of hope from people recovering from debt problems, bankruptcies, compulsive spending, and living in deprivation. The moving accounts of people turning their financial lives around in the context of this 12-step program truly shows how we can recover from compulsive debting. I have read this book numerous times and each time I am given another gift of hope. If you can't get to a Debtors Anonymous meeting, this is the best resource for you. Excellent!! ... Read more

Amazon.com
For Los Angeles private eye Vincent Rubio, the idea of having a tail means a lot more than being followed. Vincent is a velociraptor, one of those little dinosaurs who caused so much panic in Jurassic Park. He keeps his tail tightly strapped up in the special latex costume that he wears to make himself look human.

In Eric Garcia's wild but winning first mystery, dinosaurs never did get wiped out--they evolved secretly and now make up about 5 percent of the world's population. There are dinosaur doctors, lawyers, even detectives like Rubio--although he's hit a low point in his own career because of the suspicious death of his beloved partner. Now the distraught Vincent sucks up so much basil that he can't do his job. But when a human who knows the dinosaurs' secret is killed during an arson fire at a popular dino disco called the Evolution Club, Rubio's luck begins to change. He starts to snoop, following the trail of a lovely human female to the office of Dr. Emil Vallardo, where bizarre experiments are being done on interspecies breeding between humans and dinosaurs. It's all great comic book fun, full of nice little inside jokes, served up deadpan and with full respect for the private eye genre it enlivens. --Dick AdlerBook Description
He's a P.I. with a tail, a gumshoe with claws. He's the first dinosaur detective-and he just might make all other crime-solvers extinct. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (58)

An entertaining story
This book is the first book in the Dinosaur Mafia series, in terms of publication date, but the 2nd one if you take the events of the books chronologically.The truly amazing thing about these books - in which the dinosaurs have NOT gone extinct, at least not all of them, but have evolved to a smaller size and live side-by-side with humans - with the help of a lot of latex, glue and straps to disguise them - is that while you are reading them you just go with it, because it is written so convincingly.This story is mostly about Vincent Rubio, a detective and the main character of all the Dinosaur Mafia books.Rubio's partner and mentor Watson has been killed - supposedly in a hit-and-run by a taxi in New York while taking part in a mysterious investigation. Rubio has gone on a serious bender with the basil (dinosaurs can't get drunk by drinking alcohol - their recreation of choice is with herbs, which get them "high") and is refusing to buy the story about what happened with Watson and as a result has just about burned all his bridges and lost most of his business. Things are looking really bleak when he gets thrown a bone by one of the big companies in town - which seems to lead right back to the case that Watson was investigating when he was killed. Although this story is a bit dark, it provides quite a number of laugh-out-loud moments as well.At its base, this story is a well crafted detective yarn.See Anonymous Rex/Casual Rex omnibus for my review of both books.

A great idea, perfectly executed
I read this book some time ago, but I am backfilling some of my reviews.

Some books I buy based on the dust cover notes.This was one of those books.I am normally not much of a reader of detective novels unless they are very good.But the idea of a detective who was actually a dinosaur living disguised as a human was too intriguing to put down.

I ended up loving it.Garcia gets it just right.He captures the tone of classic detective novels perfectly, but with tongue-in-cheek.Very few books make me laugh out loud, but this one did.He creates an intricate backstory of the secret world of dinosaurs that you really want to believe in.But it is more than just a gimmick.Garcia also has a suspenseful detective story woven in.I highly recommend this book to anyone whether they like the detective genre or not.I believe Eric Garcia will go on to great things beyond the dinosaurs.

Half good, half bad
The Good:

*The central 'conceit' was written well and incorporated into the novel succesfully (I didn't question anything about it once)


The Bad:

*The supporting characters were terribly written.If they weren't completely personality-less and flat, they were extremely annoying to read.Glenda, in particular, was really irritating...especially her dialogue.Which brings me to my next point:

*The dialogue-there's really not much else to say about it other than it wasn't very good.

*A lot of times I found myself wincing at the forced humor or cliched turn-of-phrases.

*As the central mystery unraveled, I found myself caring less and less.For such a short book, the case developed way too slow and resolved itself way too quickly.Garcia spent a disproportionate amount of time describing the dino life than the case (which was way more interesting, anyways) so the plot suffers.

DESPITE the negative points, I'd read another dino novel by Garcia simply because the conceit of the book is so clever and well-executed.

Neat idea, slow story
I wanted to like this book more because it has a lot going for it.It's a nice concept (completely ridiculous, but so what?), and the writing is good.Unfortunately, it just didn't keep me hooked all the way through.

I think my problem was the dinos are so thoroughly integrated into human society that there's very little conflict.That's not a big deal, but the story itself just didn't catch me either.There were definitely some cool parts, and the end of it is pretty solid.But the fantasy elements don't seem as essential as they should be.This could almost be a conventional mystery, which isn't bad, but I caught myself wondering why we were even bothering with dinos, except near the very end of the story.

I also think Garcia's writing is a little too "Jokey".He is funny, but it often seems forced.As if the writer is directing the plot toward a funny "bit" rather than a satisfying scene.Often the jokes, cute at first, go on way too long.

I can't really fault this book much.I liked it more than I hated it.But, overall, didn't do much for me.

Wickedly clever, imaginative, and loads of fun
Forget everything you know about dinosaurs.Not only did they not become extinct 65 million years ago, they currently make up about 5% of the "human" population.Rather than stomp all of us humans out of existence eons ago, they decided just to live in our world secretly, donning complex human guises and protecting their continued existence exceedingly carefully.You'd be amazed at just how many celebrities and power brokers are actually dinosaurs in disguise.All they want is to keep their secret, find the time and opportunity to really be themselves every now and again, and maybe get a good buzz on with basil or certain other herbs if and when the urge strikes.They live by two golden rules: never let a human learn their secret (and kill any who do) and never, ever, ever engage in interspecies relations with a human.

With Anonymous Rex, author Eric Garcia first brought this strange new world to life, garnering critical acclaim and a cult following for his efforts.He is a brilliantly wicked author, packing loads of comedy into noir-ish tales of dinosaur private investigator Vincent Rubio.Poor Vince has had a rough nine months.It all started when his partner Ernie was run over by a taxi in New York; Vince went a little nuts after that, broke a lot of rules and at least one nose during his investigation of the accident, and got himself declared dinosaur non grata in both New York and back home in Los Angeles.He is in an emotional and financial tailspin now, nursing a major basil addiction and basically trying to find a reason to keep on keeping on.With little left to his name, he finally gets a case thrown his way, an insurance job investigating a fire at a local dino club.As luck would have it, the club owner had important contacts in New York, and before you can say Velociraptor, Vince is back in the Big Apple conducting interviews for a case that may well have some relation to his old partner's death.

This thing gets pretty involved, as a simple case of possible arson soon leads Vince into a conspiracy of dinosaur-sized proportions involving human-dinosaur genetic experimentation (not to mention human-dinosaur relations of a much more personal nature).That is a serious no-no in the Dinosaur Council's notebooks.Slowly but surely, Vince starts assembling the pieces of the puzzle, but progress doesn't come without setbacks - a couple of attempts on his life, some inconvenient deaths of informants and friends, a serious lack of funds, and even a dangerous relationship with a singularly appealing human female.Danger is Vince's middle name, however, and in time he breaks out of his emotional funk, manages to stay away from basil long enough to clear his head, and relentlessly pursues a solution to a surprisingly complex mystery.

The book is written in first person, in the classic style of ye olde detective mysteries from the golden age of Dashiell Hammett and Sam Spade.And make no mistake - aside from the unique dinosaur angle and the constant showcase of sarcastic wit and genuinely funny writing, Garcia knows how to construct and tell a good mystery.Anonymous Rex is a thoroughly engaging read from start to finish.There's an edge to this story, a fair share of surprises along the way, and all sorts of social commentary you can read into things or simply ignore.If you've been yearning for something different, Vincent Rubio, P.I., is on the case, and the game's afoot. ... Read more

Book Description
Aide and executive secretary to AA's co-founder Bill W. for 20 years, Nell Wing shares her memories and impressions of 42 years of involvement with the Fellowship. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Drowning in Alcohol
This book offers a life preserver for someone who is drowning in alcohol.The reader can accept or reject it.I accepted it and it saved my life. I have been sober for 10 years, one day at a time.

its pulp
the big book is one of the most obtuse, poorly written and edited books ever assembled. This is a book designed to do nothing more than glamorize AA and the faith healing based Program it created. it is of absolutley novalue to anyone who is interested in sobriety who is not in aa, or anyonewho is still capable of critical thinking. the author of this review is aex-aa drone, and is a fully recovered alcoholic. 4 years sober.3 yearsout of that perpetual sicknesss cult.

How many people have NOT been helped by this book?
This path is not for everyone- it is for those who believe that they must have a Calvinistic, dualistic, Christianity inspired method to cope with their addiction.

However, many of the premises of this book are simplyhogwash. To wit:

1. "One drink, one drunk."This has beenproven false numerous times in double blind tests.The truth is, it's theheavy drinker's *beliefs* about alchohol's presence and its effects thatcounts.

2. The "progressive" nature of the "disease."For most people, this just ain't so- even for most of those with heavydrinking problems.

3. AA is the "last house on the block." Notso- there's numerous ways to "get sober."

There has been muchbehavioral research since this book was first published.While some *may*benefit from such groups for a short time, the notion that people have a*disease* which is "arrested" by associating with people who havedrunk too much is not borne out by what data there is.

I know I will getmuch responses from people claiming the "program""helped" them, but for every one of these, there's another personthat said and DID, "I don't want substances to control my life, and Idon't want crazy people to tell me what to do."

keep it simple and see if you relate
This book is meant to take at face value read it like you read a text book. It is meant and used widely as a text book, and if you can relate to what you read you can gain help from it. Do not complicate it by trying toread between the lines it is very straight forward and to the point. Keepit simple, and take it easy.

A Text book for getting and staying sober.
Want a new life? Read it! Read the black bits, don't put anything into the white bits and find a freedom you never imagined you could have. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The best book published by the Emotions Anonymous fellowship
This is a book of 366 daily meditation readings related to the Emotions Anonymous (EA) program, written by Emotions Anonymous members. It focuses on traditional twelve-step themes such as acceptance, making choices, confronting fears, not trying to control others, the concept of a Higher Power, love, meditation, learning to use emotions as assets rather than allowing them to become liabilities, positive attitudes, taking risks, self-acceptance, surrender and trust.

If you are interested in Emotions Anonymous and only buy one book published by the fellowship pass on Emotions Anonymous and It Works if You Work It, and get this book.

Regarding The Book Today
I had been familiar with the 12 step program through Alcoholics Anonymous.
"Today" is an uplifting daily meditation book that could benefit all walks of life. This book is affiliated with Emotions Anonymous. Emotions are something we all have to use or abuse and reading these uplifting thoughts everyday have been very helpful. Thank you EA people!!

Great book even for non-12 steppers
This little green book is worth its weight in gold! I like it for its simplicity in accepting yourself wherever you are, taking life one day at a time when the going gets tough, and allowing God to lead you where you are meant to be led. It probably won't appeal to those who are non-spiritual/non-religious.It's one of those books that I'd want to keep no matter what. ... Read more

Book Description
Starring Frank Etheridge, a man who picked up certain skills in Germany that give him power over men and women. He uses this talent as best he can on the outside world, but also works within the family. ... Read more

Book Description
Lewd, bawdy, and sensual, this cult classic is a collection of Victorian erotica that circulated in an underground magazine known as The Pearl from July 1879 to December 1880. Now dusted off and totally uncensored, the journal of voluptuous reading that titillated the eminent Victorians is reprinted in its entirety. The 18 issues of The Pearl are packed with short stories, naughty poems, ballads of sexual adventure, letters, limericks, jokes, gossip, and six serialized novels including "La Rose d'Amour," filled with inventive and exotic lovemaking scenes; "Miss Coote's Confession," with graphic descriptions of initiations into pleasure; and "Young Beginners," a collection of exuberant sexual adventures. Scatological and scandalous, The Pearl is definitely not for the straitlaced or pure of mind. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

"Sub-Umbra, or Sport Among the She-Noodles"& So Much More!
Readers Beware: This is NOT John Steinbeck's novel:) !

THE PEARL wasn't originally a book, but rather an underground men's magazine, the publication of which spanned the 18 months from July 1879 to December 1880, when it ceased publication. Considered the height of scandalous in its day, THE PEARL strikes the modern reader of erotica, densensitized by a deluge of visual images on the Net and by the open publication of "Forum"-type writings, as rather quaint in its restraint.

Still, THE PEARL is undeniably erotic, and must have had the upper-crust ladies (and a few of the men) of Victorian England blushing mightily and breathing hard as it was read by them or to them by their lovers and/or spouses.

What strikes the modern reader is the quality and the precision of the writing, which is topnotch, graphically imaginative, and designed to titillate. THE PEARL consists of a number of serialized novelettes (the aforementioned "Sub-Umbra" and the delightful tale retold in "Miss Coote's Confession" among them), random short stories, the obligatory letters from readers section, and ribald limericks and poems. If you need some new blue jokes, THE PEARL's a treasure-trove.

Much of this material has seen print in the "Ribald Classics" section of a modern major men's magazine and elsewhere over the decades. Both as an historical artifact and as an omnibus of classic adult entertainment, every serious adult reader should own a copy.

Get your mind out of the gutter... and let mine float by.
As dirty books - or should I say "naughty books" - go, the Pearl has few equals. It's neither as pretentious as "My Secret Life", as twisted as "Justine" (De Sade, not Durrell)nor as overblown and plodding as "Fannie Hill." Regardless, this is not a book you take seriously. When my evil twin, Skippy, was a sophomore, cloistered in an all-boys prep school in the 1960's, one of his worldly classmates scored a copy of the Pearl in an "avant garde" book store in New York City, and smuggled it into school. Along with Robert Rimmer's "The Harrad Experiment" and Terry Southern's "Candy", he rented it out to his eager, reprobate adolescent peers for a dollar a week. Skippy read it cover to cover then, and again in college. It was better than comic books, he claimed - well, except maybe Fritz the Cat.

By today's "standards" (now *there's* an oxymoron), the erotica in the Pearl is pretty tame, almost innocent. However, most of it is carried off with a certain witty, genteel, Oscar Wilde-ian elegance to the whole enterprise that's sadly lacking in what passes for "erotic fiction" in the 21st century - stuff you wouldn't read with a haz-mat suit on. In the Pearl, you can see where Henry Miller and D. H. Lawrence might have taken some of their "cues" for the "juicier" parts of their more literary novels. Some of the stories are sexist. But that's the way people evidently thought, then. We had to wait another generation or two before Anais Nin and, later, Erica Jong could speak for a freer generation of women.So from a purely historical perspective, the Pearl is worth reading, if not owning. It's a more of a "mile post" in many readers' careers, something one passes and soon forgets after a certain young age.

The collections of limericks interspersed between the serialized "stories" are actually the most entertaining part of the book.

The Pearl
Well I did not enjoy this book at all. I could not say this is a good book. I usually enjoy almost everything but this is the first in "years" I do have to say FOR ME was awful. Maybe someone else will have better luck!

Best of the Victorian Era
I've had a copy of this book for over 20 years, and I still go back to it from time to time when I'm looking to [have a good time with myself].Of the Victorian erotica I've read (probably half a dozen books or so), this is the one I find most helpful, most appealing.I've even thrown it away a few times, only to repurchase it later because I missed it so.

The book contains quite a range of material, from short stories to serialized novels to poetry and limmericks.Perhaps half of the material here is S&M-realted (primarily involving people hitting each other with birch sticks), which doesn't especially appeal to me, but I've learned which stories focus more on what I'm interested in, and so the S&M bits don't distract me.

Most of the non-S&M stuff starts off with introducing innocent young women to the delights of sex.Some of the "young women" are teenagers, and some of the teenagers are barely teenagers.There are also many scenes that reinforce the Victorian stereotype of "women want sex, they just can't admit to wanting it."This results in numerous cases where women say "no, please don't."Of course, in the story they really do want it....Anyway, if you're offended by stories depicting under-18s having sex, or of stories that involve non-consensual (or very nearly non-consensual) sex--you will want to avoid this book.

There are some bisexual scenes in the book.Most of these are female-female, but there are a small handful that are male-male.

Great read!!!
I first read this book when I was a teenager, and I found it be to such a good book that I kept it under my mattress to be read every night at bedtime!It was thrown away sometime during my growing up years and I have been looking for it ever since.Imagine finding it now, after all these years!!If you like Victorian erotica, and you don't mind reading segmented accounts of sadomasochism and animalism [(sex with animals)], then this is the book for you!Highly recommend reading this. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

No Change for Agnostics
I was disappointed and depressed by this book.Chapter 4, "We Agnostics", retains the heavy-handed treatment of Agnostics found in "the Big Book": "We agnostics and atheists chose to believe that human intelligence was the last word... Rather vain of us, wasn't it?"Agnostics are not atheists; and agnostics are no more or less prone to vanity than those with religious faith.If there is vanity here, it is on the part of the author - who falslely presupposes what Agnostics believe about human intelligence, and uses this erroneous presupposition to conclude that Agnostics must be vain.Shortly thereafter in the chapter the Agnostic disappears for some reason.The Atheist then is then brought to his knees, literally, when confronted by one of those seemingly unstoppable attacks on egotism: "Who are you to say there is no God?" Of course the Agnostic would have answered, "Who are you to say there IS a god?"Perhaps this is why he disappears in chapter 4 in both "the Big Book" and "A Simple Program."

AA still has a long way to go in its treatment of Agnosticism and Atheism.In this context, "A Simple Program" represents little or improvement on "The Big Book".

Cheaper than a 12 pack
This book explains what it means to be an Alcoholic.Being an Alchoholic is as much an attitude towards yourself and life, as a craving for alcohol.For the many who are at the bottom looking for answers, or to the skeptic who isn't sure whether or not they are an Alchoholic, this book offers clear answers to a confusing problem.

I bought this book one day after experiencing a wonderful hangover, and then it sat on my bookshelf unread for years.I actually read the book while drinking a glass of wine.As I turned the pages, I realized more and more the exact measure of how much I had lost control of my life, and the capacity I possessed for lying to myself.

Spend 12 dollars for a 12 pack and have fun tonight, or spend 12 dollars on this book and learn what it takes to have fun for the rest of your life... real fun.

Wonderful Book
Twenty years of soberity here. Yes it is time for an update and this is it. I would recommend this book to new people in AA along with the book An Encounter With A Prophet.

A truly needed book in the Program- Possibly a new Big Book.
With 7 years in the Program, I am amazed that a book like this hasn't been published sooner.A very needed addition/update to the Big Book.Possibly a preview of what the next revision of the Big Book will look like.Although I am considered a "Big Book thumper" I find no fault in this translation of "our bible...."Masterfully done and a true landmark for those of us in the Program today.....Yes it is 1998 and time for an update such as this..... rwtexas ... Read more

Book Description
Since 1954, Twenty-Four Hours a Day has become a stable force in the recovery of many alcoholics throughout the world.With over six and a half million copies in print (the original text has been revised), this "little black book" offers daily thoughts, meditations, and prayers for living a clean and sober life.A spiritual resource with practical applications to fit our daily lives. "For yesterday is but a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision" is part of the Sanskrit proverb quoted at the beginning of the book which has become one of the basic building blocks for a life of sobriety.In addition to a thought, meditation and prayer for each day of the year, this handy, pocket-sized volume also contains the Serenity Prayer and the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous.It is a simple, yet effective way to help us relate the Twelve Steps to everyday life and helps us find the power not to take that first drink each day. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

One page per day
That's all you need to help stay focused on recovery.This is a pocket sized paperback.Therefore it is convenient to keep handy.Some good places for this book are the glove box of the car, night stand, purse, kitchen table, the bathroom, or wherever it helps you to remember to read this everyday.

Each page is labeled by date and contains: A.A. thought for the day(which contains a question as well), meditation for the day, and prayer for the day.

This is a good book for all people to stay balanced and focused on the spiritual side of life.You do not need to be in A.A. for it to be helpful.

twenty-four hours a dayexcellent
AN EXCELLENT WAY TO START YOUR DAY.IT STARTS THE DAY RIGHT AND IF YOUR DAY IS HECTIC THINK BACK UPON THE READING.DON'T FORGET TO BREATH DEEP AND REALIZE WHATEVER THE PROBLEM IS YOU ONLY HAVE TO HANDLE IT FOR 24 HOURS A DAY.

sober23and counting
The last writer is on a Jesus soap box.This book and AA meetings have made a better person, a more loving person and a better Christen out of me. All recovery depends on a decision to trust God, make amends for past sins, and live a clean and sober life. Most people may want to stop abusing but cannot or will not change the way they think and live. I believe Jesus delivered me but someone else may think Buddha helped them. I tried the way of religion and the way of no religion and still was miserable. This book guided me to a new spiritual life that no church or religion could do.

AA Success
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:
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.

Daily Reading and Daily Living is the Key to Sobriety.
I kept this book with me for the first year of sobriety and mindfully lived what it said throughout my daily life.Following this I bought and utilized many other daily meditation books and continue to do so.I also wrote and published my own form of this book.To read and live inspiring words each day is effective, healing, and will lead to success and serenity in your life.Highly recommended also of course recommend my book, " Your Daily Walk with the Great Minds of the past and Present"Check it out and begin transforming your life. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (32)

Worth reading with a salt shaker next to you
Author Charles Bufe, in his foreword, states that the final purpose of his book is to analyze A.A.s strengths and weakness, yet it is its weaknesses he most often turns to, using tone to that effect. For instance, rather than state, matter-of-factly, that the meetings he attended were comprised of smokers and coffee drinkers, he describes the attendees, in Chapter 1 (which is titled, "A Typical A.A. Meeting") as smoking cigarettes and "slurping" coffee.

Also in Chapter One, on page 13 and 14 he refers to cigarette smoke and smokers eight times, illustrating his strong anti-nicotine stance. That said, Charles Bufe wrote this book in the 1990s, a time when smoking at A.A. meetings was more acceptable. I live in San Diego, California in 2007; no A.A. meeting allows smoking inside the rooms, period. Still, I did attend A.A. meetings here in 1989 and 1990 and while it's true that many fellow A.A.s smoked and drank coffee throughout the meetings, the picture this author paints is not of a typical A.A. meeting but a "type." The fact that he chose this particular kind of meeting as his example seems to reflects his distain for certain drunks with what he deems objectionable habits. If Mr. Bufe had attended the wide variety of meetings that I have attended, he would have come away with a more accurate experience of the diversity within A.A., and I like to think he would have then written about the A.A.s that I meet--teachers, students, salespersons, attorneys, scientists, construction workers, writers, automechanics, realtors...

I've attended meetings where only water is permitted; meetings where no food or drink of any kind is permissible; meetings where coffee, tea and cookies are served; meetings held outdoors, at the beach, in folks' homes, and yes, inside churches and other institutions. And I've got to tell you I've never heard a fellow A.A. "slurp" coffee or any other beverage.

The author makes too many generalizations which weakens his message. For instance, he states, on page 95, that even mild criticism of the Steps or the Big Book will be met with "sarcasm, anger and put-downs." That's true of certain hardliners, but it's equally true that I've attended A.A. meetings--just last week, in fact--in which members voiced their feelings that A.A. might be or is a cult; that they can't stand the Big Book because it's poorly written and boring. (This from members who secretary and are otherwise of service.) That said, I attended a Beginner's Meeting in which my question, "Is there anyone here who has a higher power other than their sponsor; is there anyone who has a non-human higher power?" was met with admonitions, advice and negative feedback aimed at talking some sense into me. Then again, at the end of the meeting, a few people came up to me, one by one, to say "thank you for sharing that." I make it a point to share "my" experience, and I remember--and remind others when I feel it's necessary--that all I need to be a member of A.A. is a "desire" to stop drinking. When I remember that I have as much right to be in A.A. as the hard-liners, I don't feel inclined to sarcasm, anger or put-downs of my own.

The strength of Mr. Bufe's book is his providing history and context for the creation of A.A. I also like how he takes the question, Is A.A. a Cult? And responds point by point by first detailing the characteristics that most cults--and A.A. possess. (I won't spoil it for the potential reader by letting you know whether or not he concludes that it is or is not.)

Regardless of how you see A.A.--that it is the only solution or that it's just another problem religion hiding behind the term spirituality--this organization isn't just the biggest and oldest but the only well-established support group in town.Yes, there is Rational Recovery and Secular Sobriety and a few other secular groups, but it's been my experience--by attending some secular meetings--that for the most part, A.A.-bashing seems to be their primary focus with additional pats on the back for not needing the 'other' organization or that God crap.

I usually come across extreme portrayals of A.A. I either experience the gushing and emphatic "A.A. is the only solution for alcoholics" or "A.A. is a cult that ruined my life." Mr. Bufe's book is more balanced than most. I'm glad he wrote it, and I'm glad I read it. And I keep in mind it isn't the last word on the subject.

Oui, ce monde est bien plat: quant à l'autre, sornettes!
One point cries out for clarification, since a couple of uncritical minds disinterested in conducting proper research have posted predictably incorrect information regarding the Oxford Group Movement: The Oxford Group Movement and the Oxford Movement are two entirely different entities; one did not grow out of the other.

The Oxford Movement, you muttonheads, was a creature of John Henry Cardinal Newman, an Anglican cleric who used this organization in an effort to posit the Church of England as direct heir of the early Apostolic church. The movement lasted from 1833 to 1845, at which time Newman converted to Roman Catholicism. However, the Oxford Movement's reputation far outlasted the Cardinal and was still quite well-known in England at the time Frank Buchman took his evangelical crusade there in 1921.

Buchman, founder of the Oxford Group Movement, cribbed the name from both Oxford University and Newman's Oxford Movement in an effort to gloss his creepy little fundamentalist conclave with a patina of respectability--cashing in on the reputation of that venerable institution of higher education and seeking to conflate his organization with Newman's in the hope that naïve Englishmen would confuse one for the other and approach Buchman's baby with more respect.

John Henry Cardinal Newman, the Oxford Movement: 1801-1890.

Frank Nathan Buchman, the Oxford Group Movement: 1878-1961.

No relationship. None.

All that aside, Bufe's book was exceedingly well-researched and cogently argued. Whether AA dies or survives is of little interest to me--and Jack Trimpey's Rational Recovery Political and Legal Action Network may have a word or two about that--but it's high time that American courts of review began striking down the decisions of lower courts to sentence people to mandatory AA meetings upon pain of incarceration. We have a tidy little feature in the First Amendment of our Constitution called the Establishment Clause and, since AA is, by its own admission, a religion (see the reproduction of "A Manual for Alcoholics Anonymous" at [...], the federal government has no business dealing with it. This goes for compulsory meetings in the prison system and required participation with AA groups in state- or federally-funded treatment centers. Never mind that AA is worse than useless, even as studied by its own George Vaillant, a member of the Board of Trustees of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, who discovered that it didn't help the alcoholics any more than no treatment at all, and that it had the highest death rate of any treatment program tested. AA is simply another tedious manifestation of mindless superstition and magical sky daddies who'll solve all your problems if you just get down on your knees and humble yourself. Sheesh!

Taboo: A Destructive Family Disease...
As a reaction to the following issues this book covers:
a) Alcoholism... disease? illness? addiction? soul sickness? spiritual malady? Bunch of ASSes?
b) Recovery programme... cult? religion? secret society? blatent deception? anti-social social ghetto coersion? life saver? Testimony of the will to survive by going to any lengths?
c) The last great social taboo... undoubtedly.
I feel I should identify myself as a person once addicted to alcohol (def. unable to stop drinking) now sober and a member of AA. I consider myself fully recovered.

Now to the flesh and bones of it. I am freethinking with my own identity 14 months in to AA 'membership' - even many outside AA will know the definition of that. These of course are MY opinions, not those of a cult... which, yes, AA inadvertently is.

Surely anyone inside or outside the AA programme, with or without alcoholic addiction is informed enough to know that there are a range of methods to assess/abstain from/recover from ones alcoholism today, but it seems this was anything but true 70 years ago at AA's 'conception' between Bill W. and Bill W. (oh sorry AA number two Bob). Surely one reason for the nigh on evangelical enthusiasm of the original text, unchanged to this day of course (AAism 'if it ain't broke don't fit it') sounds this extreme in a world hesitantly beginning to open its eyes to its own alcohol problem. This was the first REAL solution.

AA has had broad press, perhaps through:
a) Its proliferation, yet independence of demographics and socio-politics. A result of AA's 12 Traditions.
b) The spread of the self confessed 'Good News' via inadvertently 'covert internal operatives' working in the world's recovery centres, health organisations and media. A result of the AA required Anonymity at press level, and overindulged 12 Step work.

Yet, as may surprise the sceptics, I myself am fully aware of, and applauded, alternatives such as: Rational Recovery (perhaps the antithesis of AA 'science'/'theology'); Psycho-cognitive therapeutic methods; Local and Nation Government orientated initiatives and Independent non 12 Step Recovery Centres.

I have not been brainwashed. Yet.

Any claims that AA's (individually or as a 'Group Conscience') make that the 12-Step Programme is not religious is folly. Find a dictionary. But... so what? The danger lies in the blatant coercion and dependency developed when an Alcoholic - surely anyone who has witnessed the mental and physical breakdown of a human being under this condition, whatever label ones wishes to brandish upon it, must recognise as a severally ill person - walks into an environment riveted together with seemingly otherworldly theological premises whilst receiving the first smile or acceptance from a fellow homo-sapient in what is all too often many a year.

Thus 'The Addiction WILL Transfer' I was told. It did. Unfortunately i'm hooked, dependant upon a self-sustaining organisation that allowed me to fully recognise my addiction, but then undercut the very thing alcohol had progressively taken. My self-belief. I am truly grateful for the second chance at life that this particular approach to recovery has given me... something one has to experience first hand. But I believe there IS a softer, easier way.

If you are an alcoholic looking for cessation of your drinking DO WHAT THE PROGRAMME SAYS - NOT AA. The two are very different. The word 'meeting' does not appear in the original text describing how Bill W. and the 'old-timers' recovered. No 'ninety meetings in ninety days', no lifetime membership is even mentioned. These are spin offs of what AA has become... a life saving, yet insular cult, perpetuating the isolation from those without the problem years after the 'symptom' (alcohol addiction) and the 'spiritual malady' (yes, self-centredness) have been resolved.

The real issue for the alcoholic, diagnosed or self-assessed, is not coffee quality, smoking environment, or even religious self-docterination. It is a damned sight more powerful. It is this:

How do you become free of a terminal illness that is not accepted as an illness, an illness that tells you do not have it, that if you abstain from alcohol many around you will not believe you that it was there in the first place. An illness that you are petrified to name to your employer (if you are lucky enough to still have one), your family (if you are lucky enough to still have contact with them), your friends (if you are lucky enough to still have any)...

...then to be informed that the 'only cure' is developing and maintaining a relationship with a God that you don't believe in, society doesn't believe in, and that you have a shot at actually inventing for yourself. Only then, you are taught, will you be given a shot at living any kind of @normal' life!

Alcohol addiction is an area which requires massive research and funding. Perhaps the more critics, the more awareness. One thing seems sure... AA has made a slight 70-year dent in our 6000+ year history of alcoholism at self-confessed low success rates. Wouldn't authors be putting themselves to better use addressing the problems, not finding them with the solutions?

This book missed the point.

Counterpoint
Many people who have written about the failings of AA have no idea about the actual program nor do they care to hear about those that have lived a very normal life after having "recovered" from this disease.

The spawning of the "therapy" community is actually what has caused this shift within AA. The program of AA does not ask it's members to do anything outside of working the 12 steps and then in turn helping another alcoholic work theirs. It is a 12-step program not a self-help program. There is a distinction between the two and one is nothing like the other.

Most people who struggle within the 12-step framework of AA are working on a self-help model and use AA as a catch all for all their life problems, that is a sure fire way to fail. The Big Book of AA actually states that you should seek outside help for anything other than your drinking.

It never states that you will always be sick it actually states on the first page "We, OF Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body." Never does it say that we will constantly be sick. Those that say they are recovering alcoholics are wrong to say that, or they have not done the work as it was laid out for them in the Big Book.

It also never states that we should stay sober "one day at a time" rather we should live our lives "one day at a time", planning for the future and being responsible in every other area of our lives, family, vocation etc.

The people who struggle in this program or the self proclaimed victims of this program that does not worknever really understood what it means to work it is it was intended and through the last 50 yrs the "therapy" community has so infiltrated the AA fellowship that the watered down, cry-baby version does not work...I agree. AA had a success rate of over 75% when it was founded and that was because they did nothing but try to help people have an experience that would free them from alcohol, they did not care about their bad day at work nor did they care about anything other than alcoholism. The poor success rate today is a direct effect of therapy and the self-help mentality proliferating through AA today.

The program also never states that the fellowship should come first, it actually states that once having found a spiritual awakening our responsibility is to pass that message on. It does not tell us we "have" to go to meetings and live our whole lives as just a member of AA. What it directs us to do is live our lives based in love and tolerance and find another alcoholic to work with if they are willing to do the work and then "while maintaining" that spiritual awakening live a very productive and full life free from the bondage of alcohol.

Relapse is not an accepted part of recovery, those that relapse are people who have either never done anything except go to meetings (meetings alone will not work) or those that have done the steps and then decided that they did not need to help other alcoholics through the steps. Both guaranteed to fail.

I am a "recovered alcoholic" and live an extremely full life with a small portion of my life dedicated to AA, I have a very successful career in finance, play many sports, I am married and do many, many things outside of my life as a member of AA.

For those that have been in the program and found it did not work I urge you to find someone who has worked the 12 steps and does not preach that AA is to be your life rather a program that will lead you to a place where you get your life back. For those of you who have never been an addict or offer opinions on something that you have no experience with - are you that narrow-minded to think you actually know what you are talking about? Reading and research is a great way to learn about something but would you let a person who has studied being a pilot and read everything there is to know about flying be your pilot? Neither would I.

A welcome alternative viewpoint
As the most widely promoted group that fights alcoholism, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) often benefits from being a condition of probation.If judges were to read this book, they might not be so quick to send problem drinkers to AA.

Bufe traces AA's roots to an evangelical organization called the Oxford Group Movement, founded by Frank Buchman, that aggressively proselytized on major college campuses during the 1920s and 1930s, stressing personal confession, invasion of privacy, and sexual obsessions.After Buchman proclaimed "I thank heaven for a man like Hitler" in 1936, the group's influence waned.Two years later it was renamed Moral Re-Armament (MRA), and devolved into a McCarthy-type hate group.While it still exists (as of this writing, it's named Initiatives of Change), MRA fizzled after the deaths of Buchman and his successor, but not before it spawned Up With People!, a religion-based "traveling pep rally" that makes its cast members pay to perform.

AA started as a small cell within the Oxford Groups.Following a period of growth, it became a separate organization shortly after Buchman's Hitler quote.The famous 12 Steps were taken from various Oxford Group tenets.

Since AA is dedicated to overcoming dependence on alcoholic beverages, it ignores other addictions like tobacco and caffeine.And it encourages addiction to AA meetings.People who regularly attend AA meetings are expected to relinquish their pride and individuality.

The book provides secular alternatives for thinking people who may have alcohol problems.It also lists 17 traits that help define a cult.While AA exhibits some cult-like tendencies, it's not exactly a cult.But it's no sure cure, either:Bufe estimates that AA's goal of permanent sobriety is met perhaps 7% of the time.I've not seen any independent scientific studies disputing this contention, but religion and science don't mix, and AA doubtless prefers to keep it that way.

Some reviewers have a problem with Bufe's secular outlook.I'll bet the same people don't mind when a book is biased in favor of religion.Why is objectively examining religion forbidden?All claims should be thoroughly scrutinized, and those that demand exemption from scrutiny should be analyzed first.The people who claim that AA has a secular intent fail to note that fully half of the 12 Steps (2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 11) presume a deity, making AA a sectarian group.

However, the complaint against calling any AA meeting "typical" is valid.Bufe's first chapter could instead have been described as a sample meeting.He might also consider amending it after attending a few meetings in different towns, as many city ordinances now prohibit smoking in public buildings.

The book is informative and well written.After reading it, you'll know more about Alcoholics Anonymous than 99% of its adherents do.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The vanishing not elusive prophets
Collected in this volume are papers read at joint meetings on the prophet as historical person or literary character. Fourteen papers representing studies on more general aspects of prophecy in general (Fenton's Israelite Prophecy), specific books (Collins's Threading in Amos), and small units (Dijkstra on Amos 7:9-17 or Spronk on Judges 4:4-5) are collected in this volume. It is difficult to make a generalized assessment with such a diverse group of essays. In general the discussions represent recent movements away from a historical understanding of the text to the position that it is later redacted literature.The prophets as persons are only a weak consideration in these essays.Such persons, if historical, are well hidden behind the literature created about them. When the prophet is considered a historical figure it is mostly because of a unique feature of the text that might be explained as stemming from an original thinker, like the confessions of Jeremiah or Amos's moment of confrontation with Amaziah. Spronk's paper, for example, holds to the authentic placement of Judges 4:4-5 (describing the prophetess Deborah) but deconstructs Deborah from the named wife, judge, and prophetess to an anonymous necromancer working out of the tomb of Rebecca, Deborah's nurse. A number, but not all, support Auld's thesis that Israel's prophets were poets (not prophets) with features, like the title (nab'i) being added later. I found Fenton's article on "Israelite Prophecy..." and Dijkstra's contribution, which concentrates on Amos 7 but expands to address hermeneutical concerns, to be more informative than many of the others. I would consider this to be one of the more disappointing collections to be published in recent times. In general, the articles express the author's presuppositions more than advances on the biblical text. ... Read more

Book Description
Included in this first published collection are the troupe's signature play, Latins Anonynous, which satirizes the rejection of one's cultural heritage and The La La Awards, in which Latino personalities suffer outlandish impersonations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The LA LA Awards
I am on the Debate and Forensics Team at my high school and I have seen "The LA LA Awards" performed many times.I love the characters and the script and I plan on performing this piece at a tournament soon.It ROCKS!

Rick Najera--the pioneer of latino comedy
Latin's Anonymous,a collaborative project, was the beginning of Rick Najera's playwriting career culminating with THE PAIN OF THE MACHO, hismost most recent book. In this are signs of the making of a genius in yearsto come-- from his Mexican-American-split-personality character to SEPERATETURF, a sketch on the plight of Puerto Rican and Chicano actors vying forsmall roles. Rick Najera shows that he is a cunning satyrist, dealing withthe world of duel identity. Recently, I had the oppurtunity to view thiswork live at the Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago. It was as fresh todayas when he created it a few years ago. Insightful, concise, and brave. RickNajera pulls no punches as he deconstructs the Latino experience inAmerica. He takes stereotypes, sets them up, then knocks them down. From anex-member of Menudo, to a border guard in PAIN OF THE MACHO, Rick Najeratakes latinos and shows them to be complex human beings.

Rick Najera--the pioneer of latino comedy
Latin's Anonymous,a