Customer Reviews

A Simple Program: A Contemporary Translation of the Book, Alcoholics Anonymous

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Twenty years of soberity here. Yes it is time for an update and this is it. I would recommend this book to new people in AA along with the book An Encounter With A Prophet.

With 7 years in the Program, I am amazed that a book like this hasn't been published sooner. A very needed addition/update to the Big Book. Possibly a preview of what the next revision of the Big Book will look like. Although I am considered a "Big Book thumper" I find no fault in this translation of "our bible...." Masterfully done and a true landmark for those of us in the Program today..... Yes it is 1998 and time for an update such as this..... rw texas

This book explains what it means to be an Alcoholic. Being an Alchoholic is as much an attitude towards yourself and life, as a craving for alcohol. For the many who are at the bottom looking for answers, or to the skeptic who isn't sure whether or not they are an Alchoholic, this book offers clear answers to a confusing problem.

I bought this book one day after experiencing a wonderful hangover, and then it sat on my bookshelf unread for years. I actually read the book while drinking a glass of wine. As I turned the pages, I realized more and more the exact measure of how much I had lost control of my life, and the capacity I possessed for lying to myself.

Spend 12 dollars for a 12 pack and have fun tonight, or spend 12 dollars on this book and learn what it takes to have fun for the rest of your life... real fun.

This book was written in 1996 and I did not hear about it until 2011 when an "oldtimer" at a meeting slipped me a note about it. I came into the program in 1984 and while I was grateful for the new perspective on life after I managed to keep the plug in the jug with the help of AA, I nevertheless found myself struggling with the male dominated terminology and presumption of alcoholics being male throughout much of the text. It didn't feel like "one drunk talking to another" so much as one guy talking to another, so I found it a challenge to fully relate to the truth that I,as a woman, who still had a family and a business and a home, was actually also an alcoholic. I am very grateful to "J" for adjusting the gender aspects of the language in such a way that any newcomer, male or female can truly experience the "one with all" spirit that AA is supposed to embrace. When I have suggested neutralizing the gender references in the preamble "How It Works"at women's meetings, I have often been faced with hostility and informed that it would "change the program" which of course is impossible. What a relief to know that somebody finally managed to get the wisdom, love and hope of the spiritual program published in a form that prevents so many from rejecting it because they can't fully relate to the out of date "he, him, man" references throughout the original. This translation may save more lives than "J" will ever know. Thank you is not enough for saving a life. I lovingly suggest it to sponsees who are open-minded enough to see that the truth of the program is not affected by changing the personal pronouns.

I was disappointed and depressed by this book. Chapter 4, "We Agnostics", retains the heavy-handed treatment of Agnostics found in "the Big Book": "We agnostics and atheists chose to believe that human intelligence was the last word... Rather vain of us, wasn't it?" Agnostics are not atheists; and agnostics are no more or less prone to vanity than those with religious faith. If there is vanity here, it is on the part of the author - who falslely presupposes what Agnostics believe about human intelligence, and uses this erroneous presupposition to conclude that Agnostics must be vain. Shortly thereafter in the chapter the Agnostic disappears for some reason. The Atheist then is then brought to his knees, literally, when confronted by one of those seemingly unstoppable attacks on egotism: "Who are you to say there is no God?" Of course the Agnostic would have answered, "Who are you to say there IS a god?" Perhaps this is why he disappears in chapter 4 in both "the Big Book" and "A Simple Program."

AA still has a long way to go in its treatment of Agnosticism and Atheism. In this context, "A Simple Program" represents little or improvement on "The Big Book".