 Lifesaver |
| Review Date: March 22, 2004 |
| Reviewer: James G. Greenhill, Durango, CO USA |
It perplexes me there are so few reviews of this great book. Last time I checked, there were eight -- at least it's double digits now.
It perplexes me because this book has saved literally millions of lives. For anyone struggling with alcoholism, this is the way to get sober. The principles of the program can -- and have been -- applied to just about any addiction. This program is the foundation of Cocaine Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and every other 12 step program. This is where it all started.
My pastor mentioned in church just today how the sprituality of people who've been in 12 step programs is sometimes especially striking. That's true. It's because if a person follows the 12 steps, they will find it a life-changing experience. They will not be exactly the same person they were when they started. For more on this, see a passage in the book known in the program that took its name from the book's title as "the promises."
If you read this book, also read the accompanying 12 Steps and 12 Traditions volume. The two go together -- though if you read only one read this one.
The book is especially helpful in dealing with the issue of a higher power.
The book goes way beyond what someone will find in a typical AA meeting. A person who is attempting sobriety needs this book, a sponsor and the meetings.
This is, statistically, the best shot there is at sobriety. This book and the program it spawned are an extraordinary gift for those who choose to accept them.
The newcomer might find the book somewhat dated. Stick with it. It's worth it. And, as time goes by, it will become clearer and clearer.
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One of the World's Greatest Books
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| Review Date: December 22, 2006 |
| Reviewer: K. Davis, Oklahoma City, OK USA |
I read the AA Big Book and joined Overeaters Anonymous thinking I was a compulsive overeater. Perhaps I would have been an alcoholic, but my body chemistry never tolerated alcohol, smoking or drugs, so I was spared that. It turned out the weight problem was also a body chemistry thing, and the time I spent in diligent application to the 12-step program led me to realize I wasn't a compulsive overeater after all.
Reading the AA Big Book was fantastic for me, and I recommend it to anyone. If you are not an addict, it will certainly not harm you to try a 12-step program. You are likely to come out, as I did after 10 months, with a deep respect for what these programs do. Miracles are everyday events in these groups.
Some of the people who have written reviews here resisted the tenets of AA because they are unwilling to submit to a higher power. That's human nature. Anything else is itself a miracle.
My concerns about AA prior to reading the book were the opposite. I am a Christian and I was under the impression that the 12 steps are in conflict with that. Such is not at all the case. No one is going to try to hypnotize you!
Nor is a 12-step program going to tell you to avoid medical help. One of AA's founders was a doctor, and right from the start AA began saving lives that doctors knew they could not save. It still happens in AA, daily.
If you are ready to be inspired, read this book. You will understand yourself and other people better. If you don't feel ready to be inspired, maybe you need to read it even more.
I noticed one of the reviews complained about archaic language in the book. It's not that archaic. You don't need a glossary to read it, as you do with the King James Bible or Shakespeare! For me, the language serves as a reminder of how long this organization has been helping people, and of its amazing roots.
Be sure to read the AA 12 Steps and 12 Traditions, too. If you know much about organizations, the 12 Traditions will blow your mind. AA is truly a non profit organization, not one just for tax purposes. Their traditions include the deliberate avoidance of accumulating wealth and property for the organization. It's about addict helping addict, without judgement but also with a centered perspective that casts light on truth.
The simple but powerful structure of meetings--including those held in online chat rooms--as well as the tradition of anonymity make AA a unique safe place. Reading this book is one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself and for the people you care about, addicted or not. You can also read it free online (just Google AA Big Book and it's one of the first entries), but for me that doesn't replace a real book to hold and read. It would be hard to find a better investment than the purchase of the AA Big Book. ---Kathy Diamond Davis |
If you are here wondering about your drinking problem.
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| Review Date: October 24, 2005 |
| Reviewer: Eric S. Bruesch, |
Don't know if you're an alcoholic? Here's the definitive test. Forget the CAGE test, the Minnesota tests, forget all of those. Go to a bar. (Of course, this will be easy.) Try some controlled drinking; meaning, have one or two, and then stop.
Being honest, how'd that work out? Were you able to control the amount you took? If so, congratulations. You may just be a heavy drinker. If/when alcohol becomes a problem in your life, you can quit. You will never have a DUI, or a Drunk In Public charge; or throw objects at your poor spouse, or black out-- the complete memory lapse while you're awake. You skirted the real trouble.
If you find you can't control the drink at all, you are probably an alcoholic. In the above experiment, if you are like me, you blacked out. You drank far more than you intended to. You fell off barstools and said it was just poor lighting. You had sexual encounters that you later regretted, even though you don't remember them.
At the same time, in your home, you have several bottles hidden so that no one can ever discover your entire stash and pour it down the drain.
You have to diagnose yourself, I'm afraid. Being honest, who among us would accept the diagnosis of another anyway? Not me.
If you find you are an alcoholic, please go to one meeting. Just one. Be sober when you go. Pull someone aside and ask all the questions you wish.
And buy this book. If you go to a meeting and have no money, someone will make liberal credit arrangements so you can have it. Read the first 164 pages. If they don't make sense, go to another meeting and ask for someone to help you go through those pages.
You will become a spiritual person. That's a promise. In fact, just by looking at this site you know you are evolving. You know that much better than I do. And life will get better than before you took your first drink.
It's a marvelous life. We'd love for you to join it. Surely you will meet many of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny.
The broad highway is open to anyone to wishes to walk it.
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AA Big Book's big impact
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| Review Date: August 2, 2005 |
| Reviewer: Michael Flynn, Ventura Co. USA |
| The book reeks of the authentic, the real, the possible. I was much encouraged about a family member's chances of recovery from alcohol as I read it. |
Timeless Wisdom
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| Review Date: September 13, 2005 |
| Reviewer: B. C. LMFT, St. Joseph, MN |
As a family member affected by alcoholism, I have kept a copy of the Big Book around for the last 12 years. From time to time I pass my copy on to an alcoholic who wants to read it. If it doesn't come back, it has found a home and I get another one.
It took a couple of "hopeless" drunks to create a program so simple in spiritual directions, yet so rich in practice, to remind us all that, to be healthy, we need to attend to our spiritual selves to lead meaningful lives. That self centered willfulness leads only to destruction of self and others. And, for alcoholics, it can lead to physical death.
1930's style, timeless direction.
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