book is not a Bible, and it's not going to save you, It is no cure for alcoholism, Many people revere this book, and treat it as such, but it really isn't all that great, It was written during a time in history when women were still secondclass citizens and their opinions were never asked, The language throughout is extremely sexist, It is directed at men, assuming that there are very few, or no, women alcoholics, In all these decades, the language in the book has not been edited, AA will never do that, This book is their second coming of Christ, after all,
I found the stories and personal accounts more entertaining than any other part, really, I have been sober almost five years, and have since stepped away from AA, I got sick of all the drama there, and the insincerity and the forced hugs, the hypocrisy, the God as a male concept.
Very patriarchal. I got sick of this book always being the same old book, It will never change. It will never adapt with the times, This is not necessarily a book just for alcoholics, In my field of study, I look at the human condition to examine its weaknesses, One human condition, habit, is a weakness, even though when doing the right thing or obtaining productive results habit has a positive connotation.
But let me explain the issue at hand first,
Addiction has become a country wide issue, It's gotten so bad that Congress has had to step in in regards to food addiction, Unfortunately, mostly due to the burgeoning fastfood industry that came about in thes, people have become addicted to sugars and transfats, But it doesn't stop there,
Our youth has been caught up in Internet addictions that include online gambling, gaming one student spoke of how she verbally abused her parents if she missed a day, and, worst of all, pornography.
The majority of those acquiring addictions are now between the ages ofand, And the porno industry is a raging machine subversively making billionsmore than rock 'n roll and country music combined,
But it doesn't stop there, There are also addictions to sports, television my daughter suffers here, shopping, sex, virtually anything that is used to avoid life's responsibilities, problems, and challenges.
Life is about problems and if you don't learn how to deal with them, handle them, big and small, then life will be difficult if not impossible for youhere, ending in suicide, also on the rise.
So how do we combat all this addiction AA's Big Book is a good place to start, It talks addiction and helps with the tangible task of managing emotion and behavior, The cause for addiction can be manifold, and this detail needs to be addressed by a therapist, This can be done privately or in groups or both, I have done both.
Like for many, my addiction was not of the debilitating variety, There are many good, productive, successful, men and women who "manage" their addiction, However, like any unproductive behavior, in time it can, does, and will get out of control, eating into one's relationships, career, and mental health.
We can only go so far in life hiding the truth and living with the lies we tell ourselves and tell others from within our addiction.
After a while, if the addictive behavior is not addressed it will destroy lives, marriages, families, society,
This book is a great place to begin for any who have an inkling that they have an addictive "behavior," unfortunately, addicts are masters of rationalizing and want to learn how to begin to manage their life better.
Begin working on it before it gets out of control,
It'll save you, or it'll durn near kill you,
And you won't know which until you're in too deep to get out,
How about that "rocketed into a forth dimension" part
And all that stuff about how you can go anywhere and do anything as long as your house is clean
Not to mention "To Wives".
I could go on and on,
It's a mystical treatise intended to lead the reader to God,
Yeah.
This was written by some really messed up guys, Do the research. Think you're different Think you can handle it When's the last time you told yourself, "This week I'm only drinking on Friday", and then you drank three more times plus Friday Ever had a family member, brilliant, bright, and loving who just couldn't "control" their drinking Ever wondered how you drank that much and lived.
Have you ever thought, "I still have a job, I have a family, I have my house, I pay my bills, Sure, I drink, but how could I be an alcoholic", Ever wonder if there was a way out There is, And the men and women of Alcoholics Anonymous have contributed to this book in itsth edition to show you the solution, Let me be clear: I know this book has helped lots of people and I don't want to discount that, I'm leery of giving itin the off chance that someone who needs help might see a two star review and write it off, when it might indeed be able to help them.
I could suspend my judgment on how bad the writing was, I get it. Testimonials aren't meant to be art, The stories and perspectives, though, are dated, If you're a liberal feminist, this is a hard book to get through on a gender/sexuality/race/class level, I also believe there are other options for people struggling with alcoholism/problem drinking, and that some of the aspects of this method of attaining a healthy relationship to alcohol can be irresponsible/inappropriate depending on a particular person's situation.
This book, though, need only concern itself with this particular solution, and I think only you can decide if it's the right course of action for you.
I think there are ways that it could be updated to make it stronger, more credible, more inclusive, A shot of fallibility and broadmindedness might go a long way, In the end, this reminded me a little too much of a catechism, some good ideas, just extremely boring, the whole higher power crap really annoyed me too, find power in yourself, not your imaginary friend, Kind of got bored half way through and didn't finish, I am so lucky to be able to study and practice the suggestions in this book every single day of my life, Thesteps included here and the suggested program of recovery literally actually saved and continues to save my life, For anyone struggling with addiction, for anyone who loves someone struggling, read this, Call me. "It's a way of living that has it's advantages for all, " I could and will talk about this book every day, forever, Hard to really rate and review this one, Im not an AA purist by any means, I quit . I went to AA for the first time over a year into my sobriety, it was nice and I see the benefits but I havent gone back since.
Had I gone when I was initially quitting I wouldve found it much more beneficial and wouldve formed a stronger bond with AA.
So, Im not a disciple of AA nor a hater, If it works, do it, Im not saying that from a point of looking down on it at all, Im grateful AA exists to give folks a support system if they dont have one.
Many people shun AA for its use of religion, I get it. Its very offputting. But the key is, you have to choose a higher power “of your understanding”, This way the weight of existential dread crush you, Youre powerless to your drinking but can leave it up to “nature”, Its put there to help more than harm, The the right amount of humility you can sidestep the God part and find some beneficial elements of AA, If not, thats cool too, Not what you think it is, It's kind of like when you ask somebody how do to something and instead of handing you a list of instructions or a diagram, they just take you by the hand and say, "Let me show you.
" This book shows you what alcoholism is with real people's stories, Turns out Alcoholism isn't what you think it is, and the people around alcoholics aren't either, Working in the mental healthcare field as well as my personal acquaintances I have heard many different views of AA and otherStep groups, ranging from the opinion that they are a cult that provided them
with zilch to being a spiritual program that was a miracle.
After reading this book and talking with others I know that this book has been able to perform miracles, I would recommend it or its branch offs NA,CA, OA, EDA, EA, Al Anon, etc, to anybody that feels they may have an addiction problem, or friends, family members, employers and anybody else that wants to better understand addiction.
I don't know whether it works for everybody, but it has worked for some, This book was a huge part in saving my life! Terribly sexist, and not spiritually inclusive, a lot of words are just plain crossed out or edited in my copy The revolution is not so much in this book as it's in the network of people who've read this book and then lived funner, happier, sexier lives than before.
This is a great work of literature!!! My father was alcoholic, Read it in three days a few months before jumping into the Alanon program, I'm not an alcoholic. I've never even been drunk or the least bit tipsy, for that matter, However, I found some valuable suggestions for living in the firstpages of this book, The remainder of the book contains stories from recovering individuals, I love hearing about people and how they tackle life so I got a lot out of their testimonies, They were easy to relate to and many were not only inspirational but humorous as well, Doctor, Alcoholic, Addict is my personal favorite chapter, I really struggled with how to rate the "Big Book, " I've been sober for overyears now, and I stopped being a semiregular AA probablyyears ago, And I was NEVER an "AA Nazi" at all, I never officially did all the Steps, and I'm pretty sure I've never even read the ENTIRE Big Book, BUT, after I had been sober formonths on my own and went to my first meeting out of just a desperation to be around SOMEONE who might understand all the emotions I was going through, it meant so much to be able to share my sobriety and my struggles with other sober and struggling people.
Having the Big Book and the "amp" to pore over AT THAT TIME absolutely made a difference, and I will always treasure AA.
However, I never could get totally comfortable with the god part of the program even then, and I have grown TOTALLY beyond all of that now.
In fact, I know now that AA is no better at getting and keeping people sober than just quitting coldturkey or any other recovery program.
So, with my rating I tried to balance the importance of AA in my early recovery with the criticism of it that I eventually developed.
My sobriety date: Aprilst, . WOW! This is going to be a hard review to write,
When I told my husband that I planned to review this book, he laughed,
"Isn't that like saying I'm going to review The Holy Bible"
"Why, yes, yes it is, "
In fact, this book is much like The Holy Bible,
Like my daughter'sth grade math teacher has his students create A Math Bible with math notes in a composition book,
this is a Bible that was written by Alcoholics.
Funny, the alcoholics familiar with AA, affectionately call this book "The Blue Bible" or "The Big Blue Book",
This book is jampacked with wisdom, JAM PACKED! It starts with bits of wisdom from the founders of AA with their reveal of thesteps and how to work the AA program.
But, the bits of wisdom I enjoyed best were the bits I gleaned from all the personal stories, I was left feeling totally enlightened, The honesty of the storytellers was a breathe of fresh air, They gave me a greater understanding and love for alcoholics and all addicts, They somehow helped me have a respect for alcoholics, especially a respect for the ones brave enough to break free, Most of all, I, now, after finishing the book, have a greater appreciation for human life, and the fragility of the human, It is so vital that we as humans help each other to learn how to affectively deal with our issues,
And, in one sentence, that is how I would describe AA and it's mighty Bible: It's a place where people go to help each other learn and deal with issues.
Because all people have issues and lots of people don't know how to deal with them, Unfortunately, instead of learning how to get happy, people give themselves permission to live drunk, which isn't living at all,
If you think that you could live a happier life, read this book, I promise it will leave you with a greater understanding of yourself and what you need to do to resolve your issues and to have selfrespect, serenity, peace, happiness, and joy.
I personally feel much more humble yet powerful, peaceful yet productive, happy yet thoughtful and most of all in touch with myself and who I am, who God wants me to be, and how He is going to help me get there.
I decided shortly into the book that in my review, I would just share the bits that I loved, Writing a review is like writing a review of The Holy Bible, You can't communicate the power by stating your opinion, You can share the verses and hope the reader will feel its power, So, here are the words verses that communicated to me in the order I read them:
p,ALCOHOLICS ARE SICK AND SHOULD BE HANDLED WITH CARE "When working with a man and his family, you should take care not to participate in their quarrels.
You may spoil your chance of being helpful if you do, But urge upon a man's family that he has been a very sick person and should be treated accordingly, You should warn against arousing resentment or jealously, You should point out that his defect of character are not going to disappear over night, Show them that he has entered upon a period of growth, Ask them to remember, when they are impatient, the blessed fact of his sobriety, "
p.EVERYONE NEEDS SUPPORTIVE FAMILY MEMBERS "My wife became deeply interested and it was her interest that sustained mine, though I at no time sensed that it might be an answer to my liquor problem.
How my wife kept her faith and courage during all those years, I'll never know, but she did, If she had not, I know I would have been dead a long time ago, For some reason, we alcoholics seem to have the gift of picking out the world's finest women, Why they should be subjected to the tortures we inflict upon them, I cannot explain, "
p.HERE IS THE POWER OF AA GLEANING KNOWLEDGE FROM THOSE WHO HAVE WALKED IN OUR MOCCASINS BEFORE US "Of far more importance was the fact that he was the first living human with whom I had ever talked, who knew what he was talking about in regard to alcoholism from actual experience.
In other words, he talked my language, "
p.DON'T AVOID amp PROCRASTINATE IT BUILDS UP AND MAKES YOU WANNA GET DRUNK "About this period, too, came increasing procrastination and the avoidance of responsibilities.
I would put off doing anything that I could until the next day, and consequently, everything would pile up and then there would be this blackout.
"
p.ADMIT YOU HAVE A PROBLEM AND USE THE FAITH YOU HAVE TO HELP YOURSELF "The thought simply never occurred to me that through the exercise of what I had I might find the answer to my problem, simply because I wouldn't admit that I had a problem.
"
p.STAY IN TOUCH WITH THIS GLORIOUS WORLD AND FIND YOUR PLACE IN IT INSTEAD OF HIDING " I wanted help, and I tried to cooperate.
As the treatment progressed I began to get a picture of myself, of the temperament that had caused me so much trouble, I had been hypersensitive, shy, idealistic, My inability to accept the harsh realities of life had resulted in a disillusioned cynic, clothed in a protective armor against the world's misunderstanding.
That armor had turned into prison walls, locking me in loneliness and fear, All I had left was an iron determination to live my own life in spite of alien world and here I was an inwardly frightened, outwardly defiant woman, who desperately need a prop to keep going.
Alcohol was that prop and I didn't see how I could live without it, "
p.GOD SPEAKS TO US "Then the miracle happened to me! It isn't always so sudden with everyone, but I ran into a personal crisis which filled me with a raging and righteous anger.
And as I fumed helplessly and planned to get good and drunk and show them, my eye caught a sentence in the book lying upon my bed: 'We cannot live with anger.
' The walls crumpled and the light streamed in, I wasn't trapped. I wasn't helpless. I was free, and I didn't have to drink to 'show them', This wasn't religion this was freedom! Freedom from anger and fear, freedom to know happiness and love, "
p.FIGHT THE FEAR "For eighteen years, from the age of twentyone to thirtynine, fear governed my life, By the time I was thirty I had found that alcohol dissolved fear, For a little while. In the end I had two problems instead of one: Fear and alcohol, "
p.ANSWERS ARE WAITING TO BE FOUND YOU JUST HAVE TO ASK PERHAPS MY FAVORITE PAGE OF THE WHOLE BOOK "I could no longer relieve the pressure of fear by starting home, as was once my habitual solution to the problem, because I no longer had a home.
Finally, and I shall never know how much later it was, one clear thought came to me: Try prayer, You can't lose, and maybe God will help you just maybe, mind you, Having no one else to turn to, I was willing to give Him a chance, although with considerable doubt, I got down on my knees for the first time in thirty years, The prayer I said was simple, It went something like this: 'God, for eighteen years I have been unable to handle this problem, Please let me turn it over to you, ' Immediately a great feeling of peace descended upon me, intermingled with a feeling of being suffused with a quiet strength, I lay down and slept like a child, An hour later I awoke to a new world, Nothing had changed and yet everything had changed, The scales had dropped from my eyes and I could see life in its proper perspective, I had tried to be the center of my own little world, whereas God was the center of a vast universe of which I was perhaps an essential, but a very tiny, part.
I have never had a drink since, "
p.BE GENTLE WITH YOURSELF AND LIVE FOR NOW "Once I did have a slip tried drinking again but the AA's tell me not to worry about yesterday, because nobody can change it, and not to worry about tomorrow because it hasn't come yet.
Live twentyfour hours at a time, they say, And it works. I'm sober for today. Like I said, I'm a twentyfouryeaold alcoholic and I'm happy, "
p.HEALING CAN HAPPEN FOR INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES "WE have only been in A, A. a few years, but now we're trying to make up for lost time, Twentyseven years of confusion is what my early married life was, Now, the picture has changed completely, We have faith in each other, trust in each other, and understanding, A. A. has given us that. It has taught me so many things, It has changed my thinking entirely, about everything I do, I can't afford resentments against anyone, because they are the buildup of another drunk, I must live and let live, And "Think" that one important word means so much to me, My life was always act and react, I never stopped to think, I just didn't give a whoop about myself or anyone else,
p,POWER COMES FROM GOD AND FROM OTHERS WHO ARE RECEIVING HELP FROM GOD "What is this power that A, A. possessed This curative power I don't know what it is, I suppose the doctor might say, "This is psychosomatic medicine, " I suppose the psychiatrist might say, "This is benevolent interpersonal relations, " I suppose others would say, "This is group psychotherapy, " To me it is God,
p.HEALING IS UP TO YOUR HONESTY WITH YOURSELF "No one could have told me then that I had not earned all my success, nor could anyone have told me that I was an alcoholic and a drug addict.
The only thing that bothered me was a queasy feeling I had in the pit of my stomach, It hinted to me that everything was phony, I had accomplished all the right things that our society expected, and I had no real peace of mind nor gratitude, I was nothing more than a spoiled, indulged, and talented brat, "
p.GOD WILL GRANT YOU PEACE IF YOU SURRENDER "I get out of bed and go to the man's room, He is reading, 'I must ask you a question,' I say to the man, 'How does prayer fit into this thing, ' 'Well," he answers, 'you've probably tried praying like I have, When you've been in a jam you've said, 'God, please do this or that,' and if it turned out to be your way that was the last of it, and if it didn't you've said 'THere isn't any God' or 'He doesn't do anything for me'.
Is that right' 'Yes,' I reply, 'That isn't the way,' he continued, 'The thing I do is say 'God here I am and here are my troubles, I've made a mess of things and can't do anything about it, You take me, and all my troubles, and do anything you want with me, ' 'Does that answer your question' "
p,LOVE IS EVERYTHING " For me, A, A. is a synthesis of all the philosophy I've ever read, all the positive, good philosophy, all of it based on love, I have seen that there is only one law, the law of love, and there are only two sins the first is to interfere with the growth of another human being, and the second is to interfere with one's own growth.
"
p.GET TO THE ROOT "The mental twists that led up to my drinking began many years before I ever took a drink for I am one of those whose history proves conclusively that my drinking was a 'symptom of a deeper trouble.
' Through my efforts to get down to 'causes and conditions,' I stand convinced that my emotional illness has been present from my earliest recollection.
I never did react normally to any emotional situation,
p.DON'T RUN FROM YOUR FEARS OR RATIONALIZE THEM AWAY " I wasn't afraid of anything or anybody after I learned about drinking, for it seemed right from the beginning that with liquor I could always retire to my little private world where nobody could get at me to hurt me.
. I was immersed in selfpity and resentment, . . It became more and more necessary to escape from myself, for my remorse and shame and humiliation when I was sober were almost unbearable.
The only way existence was possible was through rationalizing every sober moment and drinking myself into oblivion as often as I could,
p.BLESS THOSE THAT CURSE YOU IT WILL GIVE YOU PEACE "'IF you have a resentment you want to be free of, if you will pray for the person or the thing that you resent, you will be free.
If you will ask in prayer for everything you want for yourself to be given to them, you will be free, Ask for their health, their prosperity, their happiness, and you will be free, Even when you don't really want if for them, and you prayers are only words that you don't mean, go ahead and do it anyways.
Do it every day for two weeks and you will find you have come to mean it and to want it for them, and you will realize that where you used to feel bitterness and resentment and hatred you now feel compassionate understanding and love.
' 'The only real freedom a human being ever know is doing what you ought to do because you want to do it, ' "
p.REALITY IS AWESOME WHEN YOU'VE FOUND AND WORKED FOR PEACE "Above all, we reject fantasizing and accept reality, The more I drank, the more I fantasized everything, I imagined getting even for hurt and rejections, In my mind's eye, I played and replayed scenes in which I was plucked magically from the bar where I Stood nursing a drink, and was instantly exalted to some position of power and prestige.
I lived in a dream world, A. A. led me gently from this fantasizing to embrace reality with open arms, And I found it beautiful! For, at last, I was at peace with myself, And with others. And with God. "
.