Customer Reviews

Alcoholics Anonymous: Big Book, First Edition

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

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.

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

I just received this fraudulent "First Edition" of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. The first thing I did was turn to the 12 Steps on page 37 of this book. I was horrified to find the 12th Step uses the language of the later editions "a spiritual awakening" rather than the phrase a "spiritual experience" that is the actual wording in the "First Edition." So, this is obviously not a true reproduciton of the First Edition. It is a bogus fraud in claiming to be the real "First Edition." Also the pages do not correspond to the "First Edition" or any later edition. So, if you wish to quote the pages from Alcoholics Anonymous at a meeting or to a newcomer you will considered out of your mind. It is very poorly laid out and subtitled and there are even subtitiles that don't even occur in any of the official Conference approved editions. It appears that somebody named Benei Noaj has stolen the copyrighted Big Book and is attempting to make money by selling a fraudulent copy he claims is the First Edition, but really isn't. He should be sued by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. which owns the copyright to this book. It is very strangely laid out and put together in what seems like a hurried fashion for money making purposes and falsely claims to be the "First Edition" of the Big Book. It is not. There are other exact reproductions of the First Edition which precisely duplicate the original which are worth purchasing if you really want a reproduction of the First Edition. This is a worthless phoney edition that is not worth the paper it is printed on. Don't Buy It! I would hope that Amazon.Com removes this book from their inventory. It is not what it claims and may be an outright violation of copyright law.

This book, originally titled "Alcoholics" by Anonymous, is the life saving text of Alcoholics Anonymous. So as not to confuse it with the name of the organization, AAs refer to it as "The Big Book" (one edition of this has 575 pages.) It was first published in 1939 and primarially written by an out-of-work salesman who had a "Spiritual Awakening." And it shows in the dated, flowery writing style and the rural American Christian theology spread throughout.

But the message! If you are an alcoholic, as I am, you won't be able to put it down. The idea that we are not alone and there is an escape from alcoholism is amazing, life-saving, and even miraculous to those of us who have "been there." The Big Book is also useful to those trying to understand the alcoholic or addict in thier midst.

"Alcoholics Anonymous" outlines twelve suggested steps to recovery. The steps are designed to allow those in recovery to live lives free from the anger, resentments, depression, self-centeredness, and self-loathing that haunted us while living in our addictions. Critics of the book (and the organization) generally point to the spiritual aspects of the book and refer to it as a cult. Proponents of the book shake thier heads at these comments and beleive them to be extremist remarks from individiuals who are unwilling give up thier addictions.

Personally, I'd rather the particular religious beliefs of the author were not strongly stressed. And I'd rather he had found a ghost writer. But the book still stands as the most amazing and useful tool for addiction recovery ever presented to humanity.

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.

While World Services may have lost the copyright to this, this is not the first edition. In reviewing it with sponsorship, the first edition is vastly different. I found it disturbing to realize that the first 164 pages are not from the first edition. When I read the first edition on line years ago, it appeared to be more direct and included more "musts" rather than suggestions. I think that the first editions out there my be watered down from the the second or third edition. Not only that, but in trying to redistribute this book, it's difficult to use because the first 164 pages are in less than 160 pages. A newcomer would not be able to follow this in a Big Book Study. Would someone please clarify?

I'm in AA, and was just perusing the Amazon pages. I came upon the Big Book, and was totally amazed at the price they're charging. At ouR AA group, we sell the Big Book for $6.00, $6.50 for the large print. Go to a meeting, sit & listen, and then go buy it there. It'll save you a ton of money, and you might hear something that sounds familiar.

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.

If you are new to the AA Program, don't buy this, it is not AA-approved literature. From my understanding, this is a cheap knock-off that AA does not sanction but also does not pursue in court lest it bring the AA name into public controversy. There is an important reason as to why every Big Book always has the text on the same page, so to prevent confusion. The true first edition up to the current one always has content on the same pages because it creates uniformity in message.

I would heartily encourage you to wait to get a Big Book for until you have a sponsor, the book is really meant to be read as a two-person experience that can help you recover from the affliction of alcoholism. Furthermore, it is best to buy AA literature from an AA office, such as your local Central Services branch, because the funds directly benefit your local AA service organizations.

I was in AA for the reason most people attend. I drank way to much for about four years, and needed help stopping.

When I first started AA, I read the big book, a lot. It was of great comfort to me-- the personal accounts more so than the twelve steps or the princibles.

If you are in AA and it is working for you, stay there. My feeling is who cares WHY? or How? a person stops drinking, as long as they do. I would never judge anyone for going to AA, if it works for him or her.

I, however, had problems with AA and some of the ideas in this book. I am NOT knocking AA--but will say why it didn't work for me.

I was never abused, molsted, and I had good parrents, a lot of friends, and a nice creative life. Nothing REALLY bad every happened to me.

I also, however, I also have mild Cerebral Palsy, controls issues, and can be described as a nervous, obsessive little guy.

So for me, alcohol worked on two levels: it slowed my horserace mind, and, frankly, I liked the taste. Obsessive little magpye that I am, booze got into my obsessive process--I buy too many CDs, smoke a lot, and drink to much coffee.

The problem is that alcohol is far more dangerous to throw into that process. The impact on a self-indugent person is more immediate and far more searing than with more harmless indulgances.

The trouble I had with AA is that the assumption is that there is some horrible beast within, and if this beast is not tamed by AA, you are going to drink. This may be true for some--and please, I don't think I am better than anybody else, but my relationship with alcohol was driven by obsessiveness, not a compulsion to numb pain.

If a abuse victim or a person who has not developed coping skills uses alcohol to numb themselves, to relate to the world, then yes, I think AA is a great option. It is not a question of them being weak: AA can give you tools to deal with truma that you used to try to deal with by drinking

But for me, the thing to do was to dry out and get on with my life. I found the committment of having to call a sponser, go to meetings, and live an AA life was not what I went to AA for. What I wanted back was my music, my writting, my relationships--where I got lucky on that no one ever quit on me even in the darkest hour, and that was pretty black.

In short, I told my sponser at the end I wanted MY life back. I did not want to trade my booze for an AA life, I wanted to reclaim everything that alcohol stole from me and move forward, not be part of a daily collective and a "new" life.


SO: two years and counting without a drop and not using AA. Everyday,I take a minute. I think of my friends, I think of my late night review writing, and being safe in my own body, mind, and car.

I want this. It is called life, and I know I can either have all this, and a whole lot more, OR I can have my beer back. It is no contest. I'll take what I have now, good and ill

This is me, this is no one else. I can't say what the answer is for you, and if you have found it to be an AA life, bless you, bless you, bless you: if you are not drinking, the heavens have smiled on you and I am certianly glad they have and I really, really hope you get everything that makes you happy and a whole lot more--you deserve it.

But that is you. Not me. Please, no comments about how I am doomed to drink

AA is an answer--not THE answer.