Customer Reviews

Alcoholics Anonymous: Reproduction of the First Printing of the First Edition

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It used to be that these reprints were real expensive. It is great to be able to get them now at a reasonable cost. Hard not to give the highest rating because this is the book that saved my life.

To have a reproduction of an orignal text book that has in my opinion "quietly changed the world, one seemingly hopeles person at a time" at such a remarkably low price is phenominal knowing that when I did a search on the internet through several different auction it was rare to find an origianal first edition in good to excelent condition for under $1,000.

For over 60 years, AA's "Big Book" has brought comfort and hope to millions looking for a way through the fire of alcoholic addiction. The reprint of the "First Edition" (the book is now in it's Fourth) allows a look at the origin of the program, as well as an opportunity to assess the changes that have occurred in the last 60 years.
The first 164 pages remain unchanged, as well as the inclusion of certain stories (Dr. Bob's Nightmare, among others). The first edition contains stories of "lower bottom" drunks than the more recent editions, but also makes clear that the foundation of the program, primarily untweaked since the founding, represents a true course of recovery for the interested.
No matter which edition of the book you own, reading the 1st edition gives a great perspective, from both a historical and a spiritual angle, of what arose from that first meeting of Bill W. and Dr. Bob.

This book laid the ground work for a program of recovery that now serves over 2 million people world wide. This wonderful organization continues to grow and this book allows to you see how it all began at an affordable price and not at the collectors markup of thousands of dollars in some cases. I originally purchased this book because of a reference someone made to it. Its nice to be able to pick the book off the book shelf and find something someone refers to in the First Edition. One of my now favorites is the shortest story ever to be printed in the Big Book and it's only in the First Edition. Buy it and find out what it is (see page 252).

Some people have sobered up, merely by reading the Big Book. That start, and the HOPE offered in these pages, can be the beginning of a New Life, if the Alcoholic is willing to become honest, open, and willing to talk to others about his problem with alcohol.

The Big Book points out that alcohol is merely the symptom of a much deeper problem, an almost undefinable and non-specific spiritual malady which makes it impossible for the alcoholic to feel at ease with himself and others, without the ease and comfort found in a few drinks. The Big Book points out how most alcoholics are driven by several elements: FEAR, RESENTMENT [old angers], or the occasional feeling that they have been unfairly dominated by others [anyone can be, you know!]etc... and can be free of these by talking to other alcoholics.

The Big Book is an outline for recovery, never claiming to be a "cure" or a certain solution for everyone and anything. Some people have recovered from alcoholism, though, and the Big Book offers a suggested outline that seems to help a few.

The first 164 pages of the Big Book is the outline for recovery, which constitute the "program" of recovery. Then comes a baker's dozen personal stories, and the apparent miraculous relief that certain problem drinkers have experienced, armed only with the hope that there just might be another way to live without having to fight constantly with alcohol or the phenomenon of craving. Nor did they have to practice a constant vigilance, tight-lipped and white-knuckled. Instead, the alcoholics in these stories tell of being entirely relieved of such nightmarish scenarios, and are permitted by a Higher Power to live and love and enter into a new life.

The Big Book does not require a "belief" for recovery, nor that the alcoholic brow beat himself, punish himself, 'swear-off' or take an oath, or rely upon other people or human power, and neither does the Big Book demand affiliation with any organized religion, political view, ideology or organization. It is about a human malady for which there is not, nor ever has been, a cure. RECOVERY is distinct from notions of "cure". It suggests that the alcoholic talk to other alcholics about their common problem with alcohol.


The Big Book points out the difficulty with alcohol for women, who sometimes pass into oblivion, drinking alone, in silence, long before their family and friends realize that there was an alcohol problem, because they drank alone in some apartment.

The Big Book is about what you "do". What you do, is address Ego-centered living by using Twelve Steps that enable the alcoholic to find hope, serenity, and a sense of meaning to it all, where no other way seems to exist. The feeling of hopelessness, and the sense of being bereft of all power are removed by a Higher Power, and the alcoholic ends up finding a POWER, a miraculous POWER.

[The program of recovery does not belong, I might add, to any individual, or organization. In observation of which, I will add, that the program of recovery is a gift, and that no power on earth, neither man, nor institution, nor nation, nor any thing, can separate us from Sobriety, if it is the will of that Power to give us the gift. Neither disapproval, nor enmity, nor human ignorance, nor public ridicule, nor lack of popularity, can come between us and the gift of Sobriety, nor from the Power who gives it.]

Possibly the greatest tool is the one many people come to use naturally. It's called the UNIVERSAL PRAYER. It consists of three words. Can you say them? *** "GOD, HELP ME." ***

This book and publisher.....AA Services........is NOT the same as 'Alcoholics Anonymous'. Publisher is reprinting Alcoholics Anonymous's original literature, in order to make profit. They have gone so far as to utilize a similar book jacket that Alcoholics Anonymous used. I mistakenly bought this book, did not pay enough attention. Alcoholics Anonymous publishes under 'World Services'....not 'AA Services'.
This chameleon book is a shame, especially since AA Services could add/contribute more to recovery scene if they wanted to. Instead the owners of this misleading AA Services company has used terms, literature, etc, to make money off of recovery literature that Alcoholics Anonymous worked hard and honestly to develop and make a change in peoples' lives. I will be careful from now on, what I buy at Amazon.com or other sites I felt duped....

I really loved this reproduction of the first edition. Since I can't afford an original, I can still enjoy the historical side of this book.

The first edition of the AA "big book" is an interesting look into the members who started AA. The contributors speak with an intensity that is missing in some of the more recent editions.
kathleen

Awesome addition to my library. Great to read the original stories that have now been replaced. I get a lot more identification from these and so am very grateful to be able to obtain this book.

THE 12 STEP PROGRAM DOES WORK.........ONLY IF YOU WORK IT!

EASY...NO, BUT THE RESULTS ARE AMAZING. INVEST IN AA, AND YOU WILL REAP DIVIDENDS ON A DAILY BASIS !

SOBRIETY DATE: 10/1980