BOOK REVIEWS

OF

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

A COLLECTION OF TWENTY-EIGHT REVIEWS

OF THE BASIC TEXT OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS





BOOK REVIEW

NEW YORK TIMES, June 25, 1939

ALCOHOLIC EXPERIENCE

BY Percy Hutchison



Alcoholics Anonymous. 400 pp. New York: Works Publishing Company. $3.50



Lest this title should arouse the risibles in any reader 1st me state
that the general thesis of "Alcoholics Anonymous" is more soundly based
psychologically than any other treatment of the subject I have ever come
upon. And it is a subject not to be neglected, for, irrespective of
whether we live under repeal or prohibition, there will be alcohol
addicts, precisely as there are drug addicts. It is useless to argue
that under one legal condition or another the number will be less or
more. When populations are to be reckoned in the million, fractions
cease to count. Under prohibition alcohol will be manufactured and
bootlegged, as it was during our late "noble experiment," precisely as
narcotics are today smuggled and bootlegged. It is, consequently, the
individual only who has to be considered, not the problem of supply and
dissemination. Alcoholics Anonymous is unlike any other book ever before
published. No reviewer can say how many have contributed to its pages.
But the list of writers should include addicts and doctors,
psychiatrists and clergymen. Yet it is not a book of personal
experience, except in a limited sense, any more than it is a book of
rules and precepts. Whether the author of any given chapter can be
physician or addict, the argument comes hack to a single fundamental;
and that is that the patient is unable to master the situation solely
through what is termed "will power," or volition. One contributor, who
thought he had "got by" on a diet of milk, one day said to himself that
he could safely add a little whiskey to his lacteal nourishment. He did.
And then a little more, and then a little more. In the end, he was back
to the Sanitarium. His "will" was operating one hundred Per cent; yet
there was a fallacy somewhere. It is to root out this fallacy and
supplant it that this book has been compiled. The present reviewer,
since this is no ordinary publication, believes it only fair that he
should state that at one time he advanced fairly deeply into the field
of psychology and he is free to state that the entire superstructure of
"Alcoholics Anonymous" is based on a psychology of volition that he
himself once advanced but which was never universally acceded to. And
that is what we glibly call "will," and usefully so in general practice,
should for scientific accuracy be reduced to more elemental terms. And,
such an effort made, what results? Just this. That volition, "will
power," tracked to its source, is the automatic and irrefutable working
of a dominating idea. Consider Napoleon, the man of indomitable will.
What does it, in this final psychological analysis, came down to? It
comes down to the fact that so exclusively did Napoleon's mind contain
the idea that he was the man of destiny that there was no room for any
other idea, so that every act, every "willed" action, was the
unconscious result of, flowed from, that idea. Here, then, is the key
to "Alcoholics Anonymous," the great and indisputable lesson this
extraordinary book would convey. The alcoholic addict, and why not
change, should it seem we have become too intense, to "the drug addict,"
cannot, by any effort of what he calls his "will," insure himself
against taking his "first dose." We saw how the chap with his whiskey in
milk missed out. There is one way for our authors, and but one way. The
utter suffusion of the mind by an idea, which shall exclude any idea of
alcohol or of drugs. Better, let us say the usurpation of the entire
ideational tract by this idea. The idea itself may be, perhaps, fairly
trivial. Such as: I do not like alcoholic drinks. In fact, my stomach
revolts at their mention. Those who appear to dominate these pages
apparently would not subscribe to so simple a formula as I have
proposed. But my point is that it might be sufficient; and I base this
on the book itself, provided only that their thesis flood, so to speak,
the entire ideational tract. Yet would that be possible? Or possible for
long? That is the question. And, as a matter of fact, those several
authors give it short shrift. I have advanced it solely to exhibit the
stark psychological trail on which we have walked. The thesis of the
book is, as we read it aright, that his all-embracing and all-commanding
idea must be religious. Yet here again should the reader pause, for the
writers are talking of what William James celled "Varieties of Religious
Experience" rather than matters of individual faith. There is no
suggestion advanced in the book that an addict should embrace one faith
rather than another. He may fall back upon an "absolute," or "A Power
which makes for righteousness" if he chooses. The point of the book is
that he is unlikely to win through unless he floods his mind with the
idea of a force outside himself. So doing, his individual problem
resolves into thin air. In last analysis, it is the resigning word: Not
my will, but Thine, he done, said in the full knowledge of the fact that
the decision will be against further addiction. Most readers will pass
this book by. Yet of such a majority many might not be amiss in turning
its pages. There but for the grace of God, goes_____. A few will reach
for it furtively. It is a strange book. The argument, as we have said,
has a deep psychological foundation.









BOOK REVIEW

JOURNAL-LANCET, Vol.46, July, 1939

A NEW APPROACH TO PSYCHOTHERAPY IN CHRONIC ALCOHOLISM

By W.D. Silkworth, M.D. New York, New York



The beginning and subsequent development of a new approach to the
problem of permanent recovery for the chronic alcoholic has already
produced remarkable results and promises much for the future this
statement is based upon four years of close observation. As this
development is one, which has sprung up among alcoholic patients
themselves and has been largely conceived and promoted by them, it is
felt that this new treatment can be reported freely and objectively.

The central idea is that of a fellowship of ex-alcoholic men and women
banded together for mutual help. Each member feels duty bound to assist
alcoholic newcomers to get upon their feet. These in turn work with
still others, in an endless chain. Hence there is a large growth
possibility. In one locality, for example, the fellowship had but three
members in September, 1935, eighteen months later the three had
succeeded with seven more These ten have since expanded to ninety.

It is much more than a sense of duty, however, which provides the
requisite driving power and harmony so necessary for success. One
powerful factor is that of self-preservation. These ex-alcoholics
frequently find that unless they spend time helping others to health
they cannot stay sober themselves. Strenuous, almost sacrificial work
for other sufferers is often imperative in the early days of their
recovery. This effort proceeds entirely on a good will basis It is an
avocation. There are no fees or dues of any kind, nor do these people
organize in the ordinary sense of the word.

These ex-alcoholic men and women number about one hundred and fifty. One
group is scattered along the Atlantic seaboard with New York as a
center. Another, and somewhat larger body, is locate in the Middle West.
Many walks of life are represented, though business and professional
types predominate. The unselfishness, the extremes to which these men
and women go to help each other, the spirit of democracy, tolerance and
sanity which prevails, are astonishing to those who know something of
the alcoholic personality But these observations do not adequately
explain why so many gravely involved people are able to remain sober and
face life again.

The principle answer is each ex-alcoholic has had, and is able to
maintain, a vital spiritual or "religious" experience. This so-called
"experience" is accompanied, by marked changes in personality There is
always, in a successful case, a radical change in outlook, attitude and
habits of thought, which sometimes occur with amazing rapidity, and in
nearly all cases these changes are evident within a few months, often
less.

That the chronic alcoholic has sometimes recovered by religious means is
a fact centuries old. But these recoveries have been sporadic,
insufficient in numbers or impressiveness to make headway with the
alcoholic problem as a whole.

The conscious search of these ex-alcoholics for the right answer has
enabled them to find an approach, which has been effectual in something
like half of all the cases upon which it has been tried. This is a truly
remarkable record when it is remembered that most of them were
undoubtedly beyond the reach of other remedial measures.

The essential features of this new approach, without psychological
embellishment are:

1. The ex-alcoholics capitalize upon a fact, which they have so well
demonstrated, namely: that one alcoholic can secure the confidence of
another in a way and to a degree almost impossible of attainment by a
non-alcoholic outsider.

2. After having fully identified themselves with their "prospect" by a
recital of symptoms, behavior, anecdotes, etc., these men allow the
patient to draw the inference that if he is seriously alcoholic, there
may be no hope for him save a spiritual experience. They cite their own
cases and quote medical opinion to prove their point. If the patient
insists he is not alcoholic to that degree, they recommend he try to
stay sober in his own way. Usually, however, the patient agrees at once.
If he does not, a few more painful relapses often convince him.

3. Once the patient agrees that he is powerless, he finds himself in a
serious dilemma. He sees clearly that he must have a spiritual
experience or be destroyed by alcohol.

4. This dilemma brings about a crisis in the patient's life. He finds
himself in a position, which, he believes, cannot be untangled by human
means. He has been placed in this position by another alcoholic who has
recovered through a spiritual experience. This peculiar ability, which
an alcoholic who has recovered exercises upon one who has not recovered,
is the main secret of the unprecedented success, which these men and
women are having. They can penetrate and carry conviction where the
physician or the clergyman cannot. Under these conditions, the patient
turns to religion with an entire willingness and readily accepts,
without reservation, a simple religious proposal. He is then able to
acquire much more than a set of religious beliefs; he undergoes the
profound mental and emotional change common to religious "experience"
(See William James' Varieties of Religious Experience). Then too, the
patient's hope is renewed and his imagination is fired by the idea of
membership in a group of ex-alcoholics where he will be enabled to save
the lives and homes of those who have suffered as he has suffered.

5. The fellowship is entirely indifferent concerning the individual
manner of spiritual approach so long as the patient is willing to turn
his life and his problems over to the care and direction of his Creator.
The patient may picture the Deity in any way he likes. No effort
whatever is made to convert him to some particular faith or creed. Many
creeds are represented among the group and the greatest harmony
prevails. It is emphasized that the fellowship is non-sectarian and that
the patient is entirely free to follow his own inclination. Not a trace
of aggressive evangelism is exhibited.

6. If the patient indicates a willingness to go on, a suggestion is made
that he do certain things which are obviously good psychology, good
morals and good religion, regardless of creed.

a. That he make a moral appraisal of himself, and confidentially discuss
his findings with a competent person whom he trusts.

b. That he try to adjust bad personal relationships, setting right, so
far as possible, such wrongs as he may have done in the past.

c. That he recommit himself daily, or hourly if need be, to God's care
and direction, asking for strength.

d. That, if possible, he attend weekly meetings of the fellowship and
actively lend a hand with alcoholic newcomers.

This is the procedure in brief. The manner of presentation may vary
considerably, depending upon the individual approached, but the
essential ingredients of the process are always much the same. When
presented by an ex-alcoholic, the power of this approach is remarkable.
For a full appreciation one must have known these patients before and
after their change.

Considering the presence of the religious factor, one might expect to
find unhealthy emotionalism and prejudice. This is not the case however;
on the contrary, there is an instant readiness to discard old methods
for new ones, which produce better results. For instance, it was early
found that usually the weakest approach to an alcoholic is directly
through his family or friends, especially if the patient is drinking
heavily at the time. The ex-alcoholics frequently insist, therefore,
that a physician first take the patient in hand, placing him in a
hospital whenever possible If proper hospitalization and medical care is
not carried out, this patient faces the danger of delirium tremens, "wet
brain" or other complications After a few days' stay, during which time
the patient has been thoroughly detoxicated, the physician brings up the
question of permanent sobriety and,' if the patient is interested,
tactfully introduces a member of the ex-alcoholics group. By this time
the prospect has self-control, can think straight, and the approach to
him can be made casually, with no intervention by family or friends.
More than half of this fellowship has been so treated. The group is
unanimous in its belief that hospitalization is desirable, even
imperative, in most cases.

What has happened to these men and women? For years, physicians have
pursued methods, which bear same similarity to those outlined above. An
effort is being made to procure a frank discussion with the patient,
leading to self-understanding. It is indicated that he must make the
necessary re-adjustment to his environment. His cooperation and
confidence must be secured. The objectives are to bring about
extraversion and to provide someone to whom the alcoholic can transfer
his dilemma.

In a large number of cases, this alcoholic group is now attaining these
very objectives because their simple but powerful devices appear to cut
deeper than do other methods of treatment because of the following
reasons:

1. Because of their alcoholic experiences and successful recoveries they
secure a high degree of confidence from the prospects.

2. Because of this initial confidence, identical experience, and the
fact that the discussion is pitched on moral and religious grounds, the
patient tells his story and makes his self-appraisal with extreme
thoroughness and honesty. He stops living alone and finds himself within
reach of a fellowship with whom he can discuss his problems as they
arise.

3. Because of the ex-alcoholic brotherhood, the patient, too, is able to
save other alcoholics from destruction. At one and the same time, the
patient acquires an ideal, a hobby, a strenuous avocation, and a social
life, which he enjoys among other ex-alcoholics and their families.
These factors make powerfully for his extraversion.

4. Because of objects aplenty in whom to vest his confidence, the
patient can turn to the individuals to whom he first gave his
confidence, the ex-alcoholic group as a whole, or the Deity. It is
paramount to note that the religious factor is all-important even from
the beginning. Newcomers have been unable to stay sober when they have
tried the program minus the Deity.

The mental attitude of the people toward alcohol is interesting. Most of
them report that they are seldom tempted to drink. If tempted, their
defense against the first drink is emphatic and adequate. To quote from
one of their number, once a serious case at this hospital, but who has
had no relapse since his "experience" four and one-half years ago: "Soon
after I had my experience, I realized I had the answer to my problem.
For about three years prior to December 1934 I had been taking two and
sometimes three bottles of gin a day. Even in my brief periods of
sobriety, my mind was much on liquor, especially if my thoughts turned
toward home, where I had bottles hidden on every floor of the house.
Soon after leaving the hospital, I commenced to work with other
alcoholics. With reference to them, I thought much about alcohol, even
to the point of carrying a bottle in my pocket to help them through the
severe hangovers. But from the first moment of my experience, the
thought of taking a drink myself hardly ever occurred. I had the feeling
of being in a position of neutrality. I was not fighting to stay on the
water wagon. The problem was removed; it simply ceased to exist for me.
This new state of mind came about in my case at once and automatically.
About six weeks after leaving the hospital my wife asked me to fetch a
small utensil, which stood on a shelf in our kitchen. As I fumbled for
it, my hand grasped a bottle, still partly full. With a start of
surprise and gratitude, it flashed upon me that not once during the past
weeks had the thought of liquor being in my home occurred to me.
Considering the extent to which alcohol had dominated my thinking, I
call this no less than a miracle. During the past your pears of
sobriety I have seriously considered drinking only a few times. On each
occasion, my reaction was one of fear, followed by the reassurance,
which came with my new found ability to think the matter through, to
work with another alcoholic, or to enter upon a brief period of prayer
and meditation. I now have a defense against alcoholism which is
positive so long as I keep myself spiritually fit and active, which t am
only too glad to do."

Another interesting example of reaction to temptation comes from a
former patient; now sober three and one-half years. Like most of these
people, he was beyond the reach of psychiatric methods. He relates the
following incident:

"Though sober now for several pears, I am still bothered by periods of
deep depression and resentment. I live on a farm, and weeks sometimes
pass in which I have no contact with the ex-alcoholic group. During one
of my spells I became violently angry over a trifling domestic matter. I
deliberately decided to get drunk, going so far as to stock my
guesthouse with food, thinking to lock myself in when I had returned
from town with a case of liquor. I got in my car and started down the
drive; still furious. As I reached the gate I stopped the car, suddenly
feeling unable to carry out my plan. I said to myself, at least I have
to be honest with my wife. I returned to the house and announced I was
on my way to town to get drunk. She looked at me calmly, never saying a
word. The absurdity of the whole thing burst upon me and I laughed and
so the matter passed. Yes, I now have a defense that works. Prior to my
spiritual experience I would never have reacted that way."

The testimony of the membership as a whole sums up to this: For the most
part, these men and women are now indifferent to alcohol, but when the
thought of taking a drink does come, they react sanely and vigorously.

This alcoholic fellowship hopes to extend its work to all parts of the
country and to make its methods and answers known to every alcoholic who
wishes to recover as a first step, they have prepared a book called
Alcoholics Anonymous*. A large volume of 400 pages, it sets forth their
methods and experience exhaustively, and with much clarity and force.
The first half of the book is a text aimed to show an alcoholic the
attitude he ought to take and precisely the steps he may follow to
affect his own recovery. He then finds full directions for approaching
and working with other alcoholics. Two chapters are devoted to working
with family relations and one to employers for the guidance of those who
surround the sick man. There is a powerful chapter addressed to the
agnostic, as the majority of the present members were of that
description. Of particular interest to the physician is the chapter on
alcoholism dealing mostly with its mental phenomena, as these men see
it.

By contacting personally those who are getting results from the book,
these ex-alcoholics expect to establish new centers. Experience has
shown that as soon as any community contains three or four active
members, growth is inevitable, for the good reason that each member
feels he must work with other alcoholics or perhaps perish himself.

Will the movement spread? Will all of these recoveries be permanent? No
one can say. Yet, we at this hospital, from our observation of many
cases, are willing to record our present opinion as a strong "Yes" to
both questions.



*EDITOR'S NOTE. The book, Alcoholics Anonymous ($3.50) may be secured
from The Alcoholic foundation, Post Box 658, Church Street Annex, New
York City.







BOOK REVIEW

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

Works Publishing Company

Church Street P.0. Box 657

New York City...400pp....

$3.50

Reviewed by - DR. HARRY EMERSON FOSDICK



This extraordinary book deserves the careful attention of anyone
interested in the problem of alcoholism. Whether as victims, friends of
victims, physicians, clergymen, psychiatrists or social workers there
are many such, and this book will give them, as no other treatise known
to this reviewer will, an inside view of the problem which the alcoholic
faces. Gothic cathedral windows are not the only things, which can be
truly seen only from within. Alcoholism is another. All outside views
are clouded and unsure. Only one who has been an alcoholic and who has
escaped the thralldom can interpret the experience.

This book represents the pooled experience of one hundred men and women
who have been victims of alcoholism -- many of them declared hopeless by
the experts -- and who have won their freedom and recovered their sanity
and self-control. Their stories are detailed and circumstantial, packed
with human interest. In America today the disease of alcoholism is
increasing. Liquor has been an easy escape from depression. As an
English officer in India, reproved for his excessive drinking, lifting
his glass and said, "This is the swiftest road out of India," so many
Americans have been using hard liquor as a means of flight from their
troubles until to their dismay they discover that, free to begin, they
are not free to stop. One hundred men and women in this volume, report
their experience of enslavement and then of liberation.

The book is not in the least sensational. It is notable for its sanity,
restraint, and freedom from over-emphasis and fanaticism. It is a sober,
careful, tolerant, sympathetic treatment of the alcoholic's problem and
of the successful techniques by which its co-authors have won their
freedom. The group sponsoring the book began with two or three
ex-alcoholics, who discovered one another through a kindred experience.
From this personal kinship a movement started, ex-alcoholic working for
alcoholic without fanfare or advertisement, and the movement has spread
from one city to another. This book presents the practical experience of
this group and describes the methods they employ.

The core of their whole procedure is religious. They are convinced that
for the hopeless alcoholic there is only one way out - the expulsion of
his obsession by a Power greater than himself. Let it be said at once
that there is nothing partisan or sectarian about this religious
experience. Agnostics and atheists, along with Catholics, Jews and
Protestants, tell their story of discovering the Power Greater Than
Themselves. "WHO ARE YOU TO SAY THAT THERE IS N0 GOD," one atheist in
this group heard a voice say when, hospitalized for alcoholism, he faced
the utter hopelessness of his condition. Nowhere is the tolerance and
open-mindedness of the book more evident than in its treatment of this
central matter on which the cure of all these men and women has
depended.

They are not partisans of and particular form of organized religion,
although they strongly recommend that some religious fellowship be found
by their participants. By religion they mean an experience which they
personally know and which has saved them from their slavery, when
psychiatry and medicine had failed They agree that each man must have
his own way of conceiving God, but of God Himself they are utterly sure,
and their stories of victory in consequence are a notable addition to
William James' "Varieties of Religious Experience."

Although the book has the accent of reality and is written with unusual
intelligence and skill, humor and modesty mitigating what could easily
have been a strident and harrowing tale. - Harry Emerson Fosdick







BOOK REVIEW

THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

Boston, August 17, 1939

BREAKING THE DRINK HABIT



In view of the extent of liquor consumption in the United States since
the repeal of national Prohibition, a book recently published on the
subject of liquor addiction and its remedy seems designed for a wide
usefulness. This volume is entitled "Alcoholics Anonymous," issued by
the Works Publishing Company in New York and contributed to by authors
with experience in the overcoming of the drink habit.

The thesis of this book, as summarized by one reviewer, is that will
power is not enough to enable the patient to break the hold of
alcoholism, that he is more likely to win through if he suffuses his
consciousness completely with some commanding idea which excludes the
thought of alcohol or stimulants, and that for the surest prospect of
success this overwhelming interest should be religion - "the idea of a
force outside of himself."

It has indeed been proved true in case after case that something more
than individual will power - or "won't" power - is necessary in order to
heal what at least one special sanitarium recognizes in its advertising
as "a disease "What indeed could be more effective than an absorbing
conviction that, in the words of David, "God is my strength and power
and he maketh my way perfect." fortunately thousands are finding this
knowledge a sure and gratifying defense.







BOOK REVIEW

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN OSTEOPATHIC ASSOCIATION

September 1939



ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: By various writers. Cloth price $3.50. Works
Publishing Co., 17 William St., Newark, N.J.

Over one hundred men and women who have recovered from a seemingly
hopeless state of mind and body have contributed to this book. The
stories of these individuals in their struggles physically and mentally
to overcome alcoholic addiction are gripping. A physician writes in the
introduction that the action of alcohol in chronic alcoholism is a
manifestation of allergy. Therefore, hospitalization and proper
treatment is often necessary to free the patient from his craving for
liquor. When the mind is clear he is a candidate for psychological
measures. This book deals principally with such measures as exemplified
in the stories of alcoholics.







BOOK REVIEW

NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE

Vol. 221(15), October 12, 1939



ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: The story of how more than one hundred men have
recovered from alcoholism. 400 pp. New York Works Publishing Co., 1939,
$3.50.



The psychological aspect of alcoholism taxes the entire skill and
intuition of the therapist, and the authors of this book claim that in
the long run the ex-alcoholic patient who is properly trained in
psychological method is an extremely effective person to bring about the
cure of the neurotic alcoholic individual.

The first part of the book discusses methods, with particular stress on
twelve steps in the recovery program. This program includes the general
principles of psychotherapy found in such books as those by Durfee and
Peabody. There is, however, an essentially new note, namely, that the
alcoholic individual should be helped to admit to God, to himself and to
another human being (preferably an ex-alcoholic patient) the exact
nature of his personality deficit Some will perhaps shy from the
emphasis on God and religion until it is realized that the alcoholic
patient is asked in this relation to believe sincerely in a power
greater than himself. He then sees that his life is really unmanageable
without this power.

The second part contains the stories of twenty-nine individuals who were
cured by the method of working out their character problems in relation
to God, themselves and another human being. All these individuals were
"convinced by an ex-alcoholic therapist" Those who at some time must
deal with the problem of alcoholism are urged to read this stimulating
account

The authors have presented their case well, in fact, in such good style
that it map be of considerable influence when read by alcoholic
patients.







BOOK REVIEW

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION

Vol. 113(16), October 14, 1939



ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS. The story of how more than one hundred men have
recovered from alcoholism. Cloth. Price $3.50. 400 pp.. New York: Works
Publishing Company. 1939.

The seriousness of the psychiatric and social problem represented by
addiction to alcohol is generally underestimated by those not
immediately familiar with the tragedies in the families of victims or
the resistance addicts offer to any effective treatment. Many
psychiatrists regard addiction to alcohol as having a more pessimistic
prognosis than schizophrenia. For many pears the public was beguiled
into believing that short courses of enforced abstinence and catharsis
in "institutes" and "rest homes" would do the trick, and now that the
failure of such temporizing has become common knowledge, a considerable
number of other forms of quack treatment have sprung up. The book under
review is a curious combination of organizing propaganda and religious
exhortation. It is in no sense a scientific book, although it is
introduced by a letter from a physician who claims to know some of the
anonymous contributors who have been "cured" of addiction to alcohol and
have joined together in an organization, which would save other addicts
by a kind of religious conversion. The book contains instructions as to
how to intrigue the alcoholic addict into the acceptance of divine
guidance in place of alcohol in terms strongly reminiscent of Dale
Carnegie and the adherents of the Buchman ("Oxford") movement. The one
valid thing in the book is the recognition of the seriousness of
addiction to alcohol Other than this; the book has no scientific merit
or interest.







BOOK REVIEW

ILLINOIS MEDICAL JOURNAL

January 20, 1940



TO THE EDITOR: Of great interest to the medical profession is the new
approach to a cure for chronic alcoholism developed by alcoholics
themselves.

Every physician has been confronted with the problem of the incurable
alcoholic. He who although sobered and apparently sane as a result of
medical aid suffers the usual and expected relapse and returns to the
physician or to the sanitarium for another round of treatment. In his
remorse he solemnly rejects alcohol in any form. He then endures a short
period of sobriety and again returns to drunkenness.

Alcoholics are the last to admit their ability to "drink like
gentlemen," and therefore are prone to devise ways and means, or systems
for indulgence, which although inaugurated with sincere intent at the
time seem never to serve their purpose. They act only as the forerunners
to bigger and better sprees.

The chronic alcoholic seldom can be cured until he reaches a point at
which he admits his inability to cope with his problem and has in
addition a sincere desire to achieve complete and lasting sobriety.

The chronic alcoholic resents the efforts made by his relatives and
friends to help him. He feels they do not understand him nor his
problem. But when he talks to people who themselves have been drunkards
he realizes that these people do understand for they have had the same
personal experiences.







BOOK REVIEW

CHRISTIAN HERALD

August 1940



WITNESS: There is a book on alcohol you should read. It is published by
The Alcoholic Foundation of New York (P.0. Box 658, Church Street Annex,
New York). It's title: "Alcoholics Anonymous "The unnamed alcoholics
write their own stories, and those stories are dynamite.

Two-thirds of them, they claim, have laid the foundation for permanent
recovery. "More than half of us have had no relapse at all (after
treatment) despite the fact that we have often been pronounced incurable
"How were they cured? The method is simple: first of all they admitted
they were powerless to overcome alcohol by themselves; second, they came
to believe that "a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to
sanity;" third, they made a decision to "turn our will and our lives
over to the care of God as we understood Him"

There is more to the cure, but that's the heart of it. There may be some
confirmed drinkers who will sneer at the method and the procedures, but
they can't laugh off the fact that it has worked where other methods and
procedures have failed.





BOOK REVIEW

JOURNAL OF NERVOUS AND MENTAL DISEASE

Vol. 42(3), September 1940.



ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: How more than one hundred men have recovered from
alcoholism. (New York: Works Publishing Company, Church St. Annex P.C.,
$3.50.)



As a youth we attended many "experience" meetings more as an onlooker
than as a participant. We never could work ourselves up into a lather
and burst forth in soapy bubbly phrases about our intimate states of
feeling. That was our own business rather than something to brag about
to the neighbors. Neither then nor now do we lean to the
autobiographical, save occasionally by allusion to point a moral or
adorn a tale, as the ancient adage put it.

This big book, i.e. big in words, is a rambling sort of camp meeting
confession of experiences, told in the form of biographies of various
alcoholics who had been to a certain institution and have provisionally
recovered, chiefly under the influence of the "big brothers get together
spirit." Of the inner meaning of alcoholism there is hardly a word. It
is all on the surface material.

Inasmuch as the alcoholic, speaking generally, lives a wish-fulfilling
infantile regression to the omnipotent delusional state, perhaps he is
best handled for the time being at least by regressive mass
psychological methods, in which, as is realized, religious fervors
belong, hence the religious trend of the book. Billy Sunday and similar
orators had their successes but we think the methods of Forel and of
Bleuler infinitely superior.







BOOK REVIEW

THE NEWS-LETTER

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP PSYCHIATRIC SOCIAL WORKERS



Fall, 1940



ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS

(The story of how more than one hundred men have recovered from
alcoholism.)

Publishing Company; 400 pages



This review covers the book, a discussion with the authors, and
attendance at the meetings of the New York City group of Alcoholics
Anonymous. Contact with this group increases one s respect for their
work. To the layman, the book is very clear. To the professional person
it is as first a bit misleading in that the spiritual aspect gives the
impression that this is another revival movement. The book is simply and
clearly written. It gives a vivid picture of the emotional predicament
of the person suffering from serious alcoholism. It presents the
disorder as a disease; a fatal disease in the social and physical sense.
People who have benefited from the treatment tell their story in simple,
compelling language. There are excellent descriptions of what happens to
the family of an alcoholic. There is a sincerity and enthusiasm about
the writing of this work that commands attention.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS seems to have succeeded in cases where the
physician, the clergyman, the psychiatrist, or the social worker have
failed. The method works only with the patient who really wants to get
well; who is willing to face the truth about himself - his prejudices,
his infantilism, his evasions. It effects its most phenomenal results
with the patient who has gone so far that unless he does something
drastic he will either become insane, kill himself in drink, or commit
suicide. The patient must be willing to admit that he has failed, that
he has no power over his drinking, that the "wet-nursing" of his family
only makes him worse, that he must do this thing alone. In this frame of
mind he selects someone to listen to his story but for the first time in
his life he is being really honest with himself and admitting that he is
responsible for the mess he has made of his life. When he must prove
that he is willing to face reality by trying to patch up some of the
antagonisms he has created around him. Then he is ready for some deeper
reorganization of patterns. It is a sink or swim psychology; there is no
pampering by the group and no protection. The group accepts the newcomer
as an adult who really wants to get well; they will show him how but
they won't do it for him. Having admitted he has no power over his
drinking, he must be willing to allow a higher power to help him. This
is no ready-made spiritual formula; it is not a church religion. It is a
spiritual experience that somehow even extreme atheists seem to have
been able to achieve. (One can watch the process of this change at the
meetings of the group). The last step in the cure, the part that keeps
the patient from slipping back into drink, is that he devotes himself to
helping other alcoholics. The movement is kept alive by this type of
work.

It is more impressive to the professional person to watch the technique
in action than to read the book. The New York City group is made up of
intelligent people, many college graduates, and many professional
people. There is no holier-than-thou spirit prevailing, there is good
fellowship, gaiety, fun, and a real desire to stay sober.

The work is organized under an Alcoholic Foundation, which prevents and
alcoholic from obtaining a salary for doing the work. One or two of the
group tried using the approach on a fee basis, but the spiritual aspect
which keeps these people sober seemed to have died when the patient
tried earning money this way; these few people found themselves drinking
again and so returned to the volunteer relationship.

This new resource is developing groups all over the country. Social
workers will find them of great help with the extreme cases of
alcoholism. The book describes the method in detail - it is a layman s
approach, a layman's book. It needs no explanation for the patient and
should certainly be read by every alcoholic.



Lee R Stainer

New York City





BOOK REVIEW

CHURCH SCHOOL MAGAZINE

December 1940



ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: Works Publishing Company. 1939. $3.50.



Here is an impressive story of the achievement of more than one hundred
men in gaining freedom from alcoholism. Evidence in this volume seems to
indicate that medicine and psychiatry are powerless to cure many cases
of alcoholism: heretofore there was no end in sight except death or
insanity. But here is factual evidence that the worst alcoholic can gain
mastery over this temptation if he admits that he is powerless and turns
himself completely over to God. This spiritual technique demands genuine
humility, sincere efforts to make amends for all wrongs done, continued
fellowship with God through prayer and meditation, and efforts to help
other alcoholics who are ready to relinquish the belief that they can
resist alcohol through their own will power. The experience of these men
seems to offer real hope that an effective technique has been discovered
for conquering an enemy that has baffled doctors, psychiatrists, pastors
and thousands of distressed families.







BOOK REVIEW

SOCIAL PROGRESS

March 1941



ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: Works Publishing Company, New York, $3.50



Here is an unusual book. It is the dramatic recital of the experience of
more than a hundred men and women in their fight against alcoholism,
their victory, and their desire and determination to pass on to others
the secret of their release. The group who has contributed to this book
began with two or three alcoholics whose similar experiences drew them
together. "To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered from
a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body," says the introduction, "is
the main purpose of this book."

Let it be said at the outset that there is nothing sensational in these
stories, although they are filled with the drama of conflict, failure
and final release. These writers believe that there is but one cure for
the alcoholic. That is the realization of his own inability to cope with
his repeated failures and the recognition of the reality of that Power
greater than himself, whom we call God, to drive out his obsession. The
head of one of the nation's great hospitals for the treatment of
alcoholism and drug addiction contributes a statement to the
introductory pages declaring that here is the working out of the
principles of a sound "moral psychology."

The discussion of these principles is free of emotionalism. It is
neither sectarian nor partisan, for men and women of all religions and
of none, have contributed to the book "In our personal stories," says
one writer, "you will find wide variation in the way in which each
teller approaches and conceives of the Power greater than himself. One
proposition, however, these men and women are strikingly agreed. Every
one of them has gained access to, and believes in, a power greater than
himself. This power has in each case accomplished the miraculous, the
humanly impossible."

The movement has grown and spread without formal organization and groups
are widely scattered over the country. Its members, mostly business and
professional folk, go about their usual work, their avocation being to
help others through their friendship and moral concern to find release.

For ministers, social workers, psychiatrists, and all others who are
concerned with the rescue of those sick in mind and body, from the
possession of the liquor habit, this book is a source of suggestion and
inspiration.

E.G.R.







BOOK REVIEW

MENTAL HYGIENE

Vol. 25(2), April 1941.



ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: New York: Works Publishing Company, 1939. 400pp.

TWELVE AGAINST ALCOHOL: By Herbert Ludwig Nossen, M.D, New York:

Harrison-Hilton Books, 1940. 246pp.



These two books are similar in that both present in great detail case
histories of patients who are suffering from alcoholism. In this way
many old established facts about alcoholism are brought again to our
attention, such as the individual's early resort to alcohol as a means
of solving his problems or temporizing his major adjustments in life,
and the tragic and dramatic way in which the alcoholic drags down his
entire family with him, to say nothing of the other social and economic
repercussions. Reading these case histories, one becomes more than ever
convinced that the excessive drinking of alcohol is one of the
relatively minor phases of the individual's whole problem, particularly
when one considers the faulty psychosexual adjustments and general
immaturity and infantile characteristic of the alcoholic

For the successful treatment of a person who has become addicted to
alcohol, there must of necessity be a revolutionary change in the
patient's personality. The achievement of more adult attitudes and the
marked turning away from older selfish, infantile patterns of behavior
must involve an emotional upheaval. We are all aware that this inner
emotional change is more necessary than a merely intellectual
appreciation of one s difficulty, or what is called intellectual
insight.

It will be interesting to see how the religious program set forth by
Alcoholics Anonymous will work. It is not entirely new; it has been
tried before.

James H Wall



The New York Hospital, Westchester Division,

White Plains, New York.







BOOK REVIEW

WORLD CALL

June 1941



One of the most significant redemptive movements of our time is
expressed in a large book of testimonies called Alcoholics Anonymous. It
is written with the enthusiastic flair of discovery though its main
thesis is as old as the history of Christian redemption.

Alcoholism is a disease. Physicians and psychiatrists have been working
on it for years. It is a disease with an increasing prevalence. Many
practicing physicians write it off as incurable. The present movement
began with an individual who had been given up by the practitioners as
hopeless. He was converted to religion and began to work out the
practical effects of his conversion by trying to help other alcoholics.
This method was found amazingly successful and has some of the
professional physicians mystified. These alcoholics find that they need
spiritual support and that their own cures are best secured by helping
others with like affliction. They are forming an informal group of the
saved. It is a movement worth encouraging.







BOOK REVIEW

SOME FACTS ABOUT THE BIG BOOK

THE A.A. GRAPEVINE

July 1955





The new edition has 612 pages, as against 400 pages in the old. In terms
of cost it is the best non-fiction buy in the country. No other
commercial publisher in America could match the book, in size and format
alone, at its retail price.

The first edition runs to 100,000 words, the edition just off the press
is 168,869.

The old edition contained 29 stories, about 1,800 words each, the new
edition has 37 -- 24 of them brand new -- and all of them running to
twice the length (or about 3,300 words) of the earlier work. The new
stories are more detailed and more explicit, more revealing, and of more
useful contrast and variety.

The geographical spread, in the new book, is far greater: 15 cities, 10
states, and two foreign countries.

The vocational range is immense: buyer, industrial executive, surgeon,
banker, writer, educator, soldier, insurance agent, advertising
executive, furniture dealer, stock farmer, beautician, charwoman, truck
driver, insurance investigator, salesman, real estate agent, promoter,
accountant, sculptor, journalist, upholsterer, organizational executive,
patent expert, lawyer, doctor, and housewife. The most numerous in this
list is the housewife -- with six stories.

There are 110,000 words of absolutely new material, yet the practical,
therapeutical, and expository first 175 pages of the original work are
here intact. These pages have already gone into the American legend as
the "greatest redemptive force of the twentieth century." And these
pages will remain there, through the full history of man's pursuit of
maturity.







BOOK REVIEW

BEST SELLERS

Vol. 15: 96, August 15, 1955



ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS (Second Edition)

Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing Co., July 16, 1955.



This book is a revision of the first edition originally published in
1939, which has gone through 300,000 copies. Not only does it tell the
appalling story of alcoholism, but it also serves to give a deep insight
into the philosophy and functioning of A.A.

Five chapters devoted to the relationship of the alcoholic to his wife
and family contain many instances of marital and domestic difficulties,
their meaning and methods of handling them. Spouses and families that
have been spared the presence of an alcoholic can never fully appreciate
what it means to have a family member a victim. These chapters dispel
many of the misconceptions and false notions of how the alcoholic should
be treated, and they offer many sound suggestions in this area.

The second part of the book contains thirty-seven case histories of
alcoholics. Twelve of these relate to pioneers of A. A.; twelve tell
about people who stopped drinking in time. The remainder are
inspirational in nature.

At the present time A.A. numbers more than 150,000 members. In view of
its short history, less than twenty years, this is a phenomenal growth.
Since we have over 800,000 problem drinkers in the U.S. it is
immediately obvious that hospitalization is impossible even if it were
feasible. Because of this fact, efforts like A.A. take on a practical
urgency. As the book well indicates, A.A. does not seek to supplant the
psychiatrist or medical man. However, the group experiences of A.A. have
evidently been sufficiently strong to help chronic alcoholics take the
steps necessary for their rehabilitation.

This book is a welcome addition to the literature on alcoholism. It has
value for the alcoholic who is seeking help, his family and friends and
even the persons professionally concerned with his treatment and
recovery.







BOOK REVIEW



SATURDAY REVIEW

Vol. 38, August 27, 1955

"THE BIG BOOK" BIBLE FOR ALCOHOLICS



There was a time when the organization known as Alcoholics Anonymous,
which has become one of the greatest boons to the drunkards of the
world, had a membership, which was a little lopsided. On its rolls the
Bowery was better represented than Park Avenue, a fact deplored by the
organization's leaders. So, recognizing that the rich can become just as
alcoholic as the poor, the organization decided to do something about
it. Acting on its long-held tenet that only a sober ex-drunk can cure a
down-and-out drunk, the A.A. leaders looked around for an ex-drunk with
glamour and the ability to speak the Park Avenue language. They found it
in an ex-drunk countess. The result: Park Avenue became as well
represented as the Bowery on the rolls of A.A.

Now, in the past few years, another change has taken place in the
membership of A.A. -- a change that has proved even more important than
that accomplished by the countess, but which was comparatively unnoticed
by the public-at-large until last month. At that time A.A. held its
bone-dry twentieth-anniversary convention and, in conjunction with the
ceremonies, issued a revised, second edition of an oversized, ocean-blue
volume, which is familiarly known to all A.A members as "The Big Book."
The new edition, like its predecessors, is jacketed in a reversible dust
cover, one side of which is blank, which allows it to be read in trains
and buses without attracting the eyes of the curious. But, unlike its
predecessor, the new edition is not intended solely for alcoholics of
the last-gasp variety. Right in the middle of it lies a whole section
devoted to drinkers who have not yet lost their businesses or broken up
their homes or, as most of A.A.'s original members seem to have done,
landed in jail. Says ex-A.A. president Bill W. (who still keeps his last
name anonymous, though he has now stepped down from his executive
position): "Now we're getting cases whose drinking has merely become a
menacing nuisance, and we're glad for them"