For everyone

I am not an Alcoholic but I found much of what I read here to be useful in many parts of my life. From taking a moral inventory of those I may have harmed, to making amends, to the practices of prayer, humility and serenity. Wise words here that everyone should ponder. I know I'll read this again.

Just starting this journey.

this might very well be one of the best books on discipleship i’ve read

A simple, straight forward book. We've been going through it chapter by chapter in a meeting together. Valuable if you want to get back to the steps, the building blocks of the program.

These essays where written 15 years after Bill Wilson wrote Alcoholics Anonymous. There's a tremndous amount of insight into human behavior her, truly a treasure trove for anyone interested in the human mind. the essays on the traditions are also an interesting proposal for an anarcistic governing system that actually has proven pretty successful. A system that treasures personal independence, and de-centralized local governing bodies.

More in-depth and just as eloquent as the Big Book, but with a delicious cheeky approach that proves, truly, we are not a glum lot!

The laymen's "Bible" to the 12 "cryptic clues" of 12-step Fellowship programs. Excellent, and a must-read for anyone serious about their recovery.

This book is well worth keeping in your arsenal along with many other tools to help support your mental and emotional attitude when dealing with addiction or an addict, along with 'The Courage to Change' and the AA's 'Blue Print for Success'.

I've read this book in meetings and I read it to myself, just to go through it once sequentially in the beginning to help me to understand the recovery program of AA. Only 5-10% of the people who go to meetings end up being sober--which to me is a fantastic success rate, and makes me worry about the problem of addiction. It's not the only group or method of recovery. Each group is an autonomous unit and is self supporting. You can't do studies about it, because it's anonymous, but research has confirmed some of the results. It takes 90 days for the brain to begin to reset back to the sober brain, and they have the saying, "90 meetings in 90 days." In Chasing The Scream they talk about the social aspect of recovery instead of the hijacked mind model. There have been articles in Atlantic and other journals about AA not being the only recovery program and not being scientific. Never said it was. In the comments of the Atlantic article, lots of people whined about negative experiences with a sponsor. Get a different sponsor, you still have to think, you don't suspend your thinking. Anyway, after the big book, this is perhaps the second book to read, and it's smaller. It's good to go through it systematically instead of catch as catch can at meetings, in my opinion. That's the model, you share your experience, strength and hope, and it's by attraction not promotion. And humility is very important, that's why it's anonymous. It's a society with a singleness of purpose: to be sober.

I consider this the most foundational text for working the steps. The Big Book is powerful, but it was written while the founders of AA were still trying to get sober and it would be hard to argue that it has no flaws. The 12x12, on the other hand, I have found to be very thorough on every step and provide deep insights on each one.

Practical and practicable wisdom for all. An invaluable book.

I found this book among my late husband's belongings. I knew it had a profound effect on his life and so, missing him, I decided to read it myself to get to know him better after his death at 67 of cancer. Without any hesitation, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their relationship with loved ones, with people in general, and to have a happier and healthier attitude about life. Truly, you do not need to have an alcohol problem or even believe in a "higher power" to benefit from the ideas and the exercises outlined here: the famous twelve steps can be walked by anyone wanting to be a better and more loving citizen, friend, partner, self.

The twelve traditions are also an interesting set of rules to consider: though they deal with organization, they seem, if taken at a personal level, to express a zen buddhist mentality.