Alcoholics Anonymous - Big Book by Bill Wilson (Alcoholics Anonymous World Services 2001)(616.861). This is an amazing book filled with hope that has saved many an alcoholic from continuing a life of pain. It is filled with stories and suggestions; it does not tell what someone else must do, but it tells what has worked for other alcoholics. My rating: 8/10, finished 2006.

It'll save you, or it'll durn near kill you.
And you won't know which until you're in too deep to get out.
How about that "rocketed into a forth dimension" part?
And all that stuff about how you can go anywhere and do anything as long as your house is clean?
Not to mention "To Wives".
I could go on and on.
It's a mystical treatise intended to lead the reader to God.
Yeah.
This was written by some really messed up guys. Do the research.

How to handle sobriety without drinking,,,,

Various editions of the Big Book have been published. The first 164 pages remain word-for-word the same as in the first 1939 edition.

Don’t leave home without it!

"We are taught to differentiate between our wants (which are never satisfied) and our needs (which are always provided for). We cast off the burdens of the past and the anxieties of the future, as we begin to live in the present, one day at a time. We are granted “the serenity to accept the things we cannot change”—and thus lose our quickness to anger and our sensitivity to criticism. Above all, we reject fantasizing and accept reality."

This excerpt is from the final chapter in Alcoholics Anonymous (4th edition) and best sums up the reality that is living with alcoholism. Whether it’s a parent, spouse, ex-spouse, child(ren), it’s safe to say that everyone knows someone impacted by this disease.

I read this book as part of research I am doing into addiction. Though I am not a member of the program, I know a few friends of Bill W. and am grateful for the recovery program they have and hope that those out there suffering will find a way out of the darkness that is this disease.

This book saved my life. It's one of the best books I have read.

I have read the second edition of this book, which is not up to date, but was very cheap on Kindle. Unexpectedly, it is an extraordinary spiritual guide, as well as containing tale after tale hammering home the harm alcohol can do to some.

Thank goodness for it.

Seems crude to give this book a star rating; I'd doubt if any other book has had as positive an impact on balance. But it is a pretty fascinating book (I only read a couple of the stories in the back), with regards to, you know, the history of alcoholism treatment, the history of alcoholism as a concept, self-control, descriptive/prescriptive thoughts on religion, other stuff. People like me tend to look upon alcoholics as these deficients; just stop drinking, we think. But, of course, between pornography, sugar, alcohol, credit card debt, etc., everyone's addicted to something or another.

My friend tells me at AA meetings they sometimes write "Self-knowledge avails us nothing" huge on a chalk board. It's an interesting line.

I fought reading this... childhood wounds from growing up with an alcoholic parent...then loving many alcoholics in my family/life to being an alcoholic myself...I could not have gotten through the first months of (choosing) sobriety, without this book. One day at a time + my higher power God, and support of people that have been personally 'walked the walk' and lived through addiction... and recovery!

I've put no "finish date" because most of us who use this book are never done with it. It is a sort of sacred scripture. Kurt Vonnegut called AA, "the only American Religion." This is the 3rd edition of a book that was originally released in the early 1940's, I believe. Quite simply, it is a step by step description of the system that some people used to keep themselves away from taking one drink today.
What I find fascinating is that the book is also one that describes the structure of any successful spiritual discipline. Notice that I did not say "religion." This is a description of how to live a life that is spiritually mature. The system is "epigenetic," in that as one reads it and lives one's life according to the principles outlined in the book, one finds oneself deepening in one's understanding of each step in the process. Each day gives birth to a new understanding, a more mature understanding of the various meanings of the steps and certain events in one's life.
America is a country that relies upon addiction in order to keep our current conceptualization of capitalism going. If people don't want more things and must have the "new and improved" version of whatever, capitalism cannot work. It doesn't have to be that way, but that is how it is. This book is invaluable to anyone on the spiritual path. Don't be put off by the word, "Alcoholics", in the title. This is a book for everyone.
A word about why it is in its third edition. The only changes since the original are at the end, where there is an appendix of people's stories of how their life changed after they started practicing the steps. The second and third volumes are only different in that they include the stories of younger and younger people who have found the program and have used it to change their life. This is a book of love and hope. It is a book for everyone.

some good ideas, just extremely boring. the whole higher power crap really annoyed me too. find power in yourself, not your imaginary friend.