Customer Reviews

Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The only historical work out of GSO worth reading. Brings home the powerful message that the good Doctor carried. Gives one puase to think of what AA could have become if Bob had outlived Bill.

While looking for a book by Dr. Bob Arnot, I accidently came to this book review for Dr. Bob and The Good Oldtimers. Well, I read the reviews and then asked an AA friend of mine of he had the book in his library. He did, so I borrowed it.

There's no author listed in the book, so I gather it might have been written by a group of archivists? The writing has that dry, "committee" like feel to it. Which is a little sad, because Bob Smith lived one interesting life! His story is very inspiring.

I read it in one sitting, about three hours, so it's not long. From my perspective, you don't have to be an alcoholic to enjoy this book. Cause I enjoyed it.

This is a very interesting biography. His life took many fascinating twists and turns. Some of the other reviewers noted that the writing is a little bland, but it really doesn't get in the way of a good story!

I picked this up as part of research project on the history of alternative therapies in America. I thought it'd be some dry recount of the early days of AA, but instead I found it to be a very warm account of a very intriguing man. The writing style lacks flair, but the plain language makes it readable for practically anyone. His final weeks are especially inspiring.

Overlooked piece of AA literature, which is sad. A wonderful story about Dr. Bob's life, his partnership with Bill, and the growth of AA in Akron/Cleveland.

Between Bill and Bob, it was the Akron proctologist that was the spiritual one. Bill understood it intellectually and could write about it (Big Book), but Dr. Bob lived the program.

This book is full of horrifying memories as well as funny and tender moments. The description of Dr. Bob's final days, and his appearance at the 1st International Convention gave me all sorts of new appreciation for the man.

This book is a warm description of the life of Dr. Bob Smith, the co-founder of AA with Bill Wilson. It's sad that Bob died so early, because Bill ended up with the lion's share of the fame from AA, but those of us who know keep him alive.

Compared to Dr. Bob, Bill W. was an eccentric of the first water. When you read his biographies, when you read of the tall, imposing, ego-driven man, pacing his house sawing on his fiddle, engaging in seances and playing Ouija, his experiences with chemical spirituality, his depression and infidelity, you understand the complexity of Wilson and gain some relief from it. "Well," you might say, " What a lunatic! If HE could stay sober, ANYBODY can!" Dr. Bob was the opposite, a down to earth, late-in-life convert to spirituality, with a quiet, normal spiritual life. It just goes to show, that sometimes opposites are paired for a reason. AA needed both types- the quiet sage, and the power-driver. I recently read a Charlie Rose interview with James Watson of the pair Watson and Crick of DNA Nobel Prize fame. Watson said Crick was the visionary, the "smart one", but he was the driver, the impatient one of the pair. It took both types to create the vision. I think of Smith as Crick, the quiet visionary, and Wilson as Watson, the impatient one, the salesman. Watson outlived Crick, too. Frankly, everybody like Smitty more than Bill, too.

I do take a certain other lesson from this book that I did not expect. The book speaks frankly (but briefly) of Bob's "dual addiction" with goofballs. As a surgeon at the time, he couldn't go to work stinking of booze, so he had to make do with uppers for the morning, downers for the shakes, and sedatives for sleep when a bottle didn't work. Since so many AAs are so prejudiced against dual addicts, it makes me wonder why? If Dr. Bob was a dual addict, it seems to me any present dual addict should be welcomed into AA with open arms. Dr. Bob would certainly never kick an addict out of a meeting.

It's not that this book is the most exciting story ever told or that it's sheer poetry to read. Two seemingly ordinary men created something extraordinary, something that's affected the lives of millions of people. In LIVING their beliefs, they showed the power that exists in being conscious of the choices we make 24 hours a day, one day at a time. AA got its real start in Akron -- that's where it started because that's where Dr. Bob and his Annie were. Bill had a harder time in NY. As Dr. Bob said, "Love and service keep us dry" and he really lived it. Bill may have been the better writer but in Dr. Bob's story we experience the early HEART of AA and we understand why it grew to be the powerful force it did. Dr. Bob isn't as well known as Bill W., he just didn't live as long, but the love and spirit he brought to AA played a crucial role in making it what it became.

One of A A best books really tell in depth the earlie days of A A I'm not a big reader but sat down and read this book in two days

Really enjoyed this book, clears up a lot of misinformation you hear at twelve step meetings. I have gone from being jaded with the whole movement to being inspired again. Thanks Dr Bob and all the oldtimers who remember what it was really like! Plenty of laughs and plenty of information, great insights into a man who was always so publicity shy. so glad I read this book it has given me some great insights and entertainment too!

I thought that this was a great book. I wanted to know more about 1/2 of A.A.'s co-founders and this book provided me just that. It explored how A.A. got its start and how the 'Big Book' came to pass. I had always felt that the growth of the A.A. program was organic and real, so it was nice to 'put a face to the name', so to speak. For anyone interested in learning more about Dr Bob and the inception of the Akron area A.A. and A.A. overall this book is a good place to start. It's well worth the read.