Personal Stories From
The First, Second,Third and Fourth Edition's
This section has Personal Stories from the "Big Book"® of Alcoholics Anonymous. This material is available on-line because the copyright for the First Edition has expired.
Stories from later editions are not available on-line because of copyright restrictions.

In third edition, Part I (Pioneers of A.A.) stands unchanged. Nine
of the stories in Part II (They Stopped in Time) are carried over from the
second edition; eight new stories have been added. In Part III
(They Lost Nearly All), eight stories have been retained; five are new.

4th Edition Big Book
There will be 24 new stories, with 16 stories brought
forward from the Third Edition.

The Fourth Edition revises the three sections of personal stories as follows
One new story has been added to Part I, and two that originally appeared in Part
III have been moved to Part I; six stories have been deleted in Part 1. Six of the
Stories in Part II have been carried over; eleven new ones have been added, and
eleven taken out. Part III now includes twelve new stories; eight were removed
(in addition two the two that were transferred to Part I).

Stories All 2nd 3rd and 4th Editions
First Edition See List Above

Part One AA Pioneers

Dr Bobs Nighmare in 3rd 171 and 4th Edition Pg 171
AA # 3- 3rd 182 and 4th Edition Page 182
He had to be Shown 3rd Edition Page 193
He Thought He Could Drink Like A Gentleman 3rd Edition Page 210
The European Drinker 3rd Edition Page 230
The Newshawk 3rd Edition Page 251
From Farm to City 3rd Edition Page 261
Home Brewmeiser 2nd and 3rd Edition Page 297
Gratitude in Action 4th Edition Page 193
Our Southern Friend 4th Edition Page 208
Women Suffer Too 3rd 222 and 4th Edition Page 200
The Viscous Cycle 3rd Edition Page 238 and 4th Edition Page 219
Jims Story 1st Black Group 4th Edition Page 232
The Man who mastered Fear 3rd Page275 and 4th Edition Page 246
He sold himself short 3rd Page 287 and 4th Edition Page 258
The Keys of the Kingdom 3rd Page 304 and 4th Edition page 268


Stories Part Two

Too Young 3rd Edition Page 317
Fear of Fear 3rd Page 321 4th Edition Page 289
Those Golden Years 3rd Edition Page 327
The Housewife who Drank at Home 3rd Edition Page 335 4th Edition Page 295
Lifesaving Words 3rd Edition Page 342
The Missing Link 4th Edition page Page 281
Physician Heal Thyself 3rd Page 345 and 4th Edition PAGE 301
A Teenagers Decision 3rd Edition Page 353
Rum Radio and Rebellion 3rd Edition Page 356
Any Day was Wash Day 3rd Edition Page 369
It might have been Worse 3rd Edition Page 373
A Flower of the South 3rd Edition Page 384
Calculating the Costs 3rd Edition Page 396
Stars Dont Fall 3rd Edition Page 400
Grown Up All Over Again 3rd Edtion Page 418
Unto the Second Generation 3rd Edition Page 422
Me An Alcoholic?? 3rd Edition Page 432
Dr Alcholic Addict- 3rd Edition Page 439 4th Edition
My Chance to Live 4th Edition Page 309
Student of Life 4th Edition Page 319
Crossing the River of Denial 4th Edition page 328
Because I am an alcoholic 4th Edition Page 338
It Might have been Worse 4th Edition page 348
Tightrope Gay 4th Edition Page 359
Flooded with Feeling 4th Edition Page 369
Winner Takes All 4th Edition Page 375
Me and Alcoholic! 4th Edtion page 382
The Perpetual Quest 4th Edition Page 388
A Drunk Like You 4th Edition Page 398
Acceptance was the Answer 4th Edition Page 407
Window of Opportuity 4th Edition Page 421

Part III

My Bottle My Resentments and ME 4th Edition Page 437
A Five-Time Loser Wins 3rd Edition Page 457
Promoted to Chronic 3rd Edition Page 464
Join The Tribe! 3rd Edition Page 474
Belle of the Bar 3rd Edition Page 478
Jim's Story 3rd Page 483 and 4th Edition
Our Southern Friend 3rd Edition Page 497
A Prisoner Freed 3rd Edition Page 508
Desperation Drinking 3rd Edition Page 512
The Career Officer 3rd Edition Page 517
Another Chance 3rd Edition Page 526
He Who Loses His Life 3rd Edition Page 531
AA Taught Him to Handle Sobriety 3rd Edition Page 554
He lived only to Drink 4th Edition Page 446
Safe Haven 4th Edition Page 452
Listening to the Wind 4th Edition Page 458
Twice Gifted 4th Edition Page 470
Building a New Life 4th Edition page 476
On the Move 4th Edition Page 486
A Vision of Recovery4th Edition Page 494
Gutter Bravado 4th Edition Page 501
Empty on the Inside 4th Edition Page 512
Grounded 4th Edition Page522
Another Chance 4th Edition Page 531
A Late Start 4th Edition Page 535
Freedom from Bondage 4th Edition Page 544
AA Taught him to Handle 4th Edition Page Sobriety 553

4th Edition Stories -another view I got from alt.recovery.aa newgroup

Removed from the Pioneers section:

He Had to be Shown
He Thought He could Drink like a Gentleman
The European Drinker
The News Hawk
From Farm to City
Home Brewmeister

Removed from the They Stopped in Time section:

Too Young?
Those Golden Years
Lifesaving Words
A Teenager's Decision
Rum, Radio, and Rebellion
Any Day was Washday
A Flower of the South
Calculating the Costs
Starts Don't Fall
Growing Up All Over Again
Unto the Second Generation

Removed from the They Lost Nearly All section:

A Five-Time Loser Wins
Promoted to Chronic
Join the Tribe
Belle of the Bar
The Prisoner Freed
Desperation Drinking
The Career Officer
He Who Loses His Life

Two stories, Jim's Story and Our Southern Friend, were moved from the Lost
Nearly All section to the Pioneers section. One story, Doctor, Alcoholic,
Addict, was renamed Acceptance was the Answer.

A total of seven stories didn't make the cut from the revision of the second
edition to the third. By contrast, a total of 25 stories didn't make the cut
from the third to the fourth. Apart from the seven stories in the Pioneers
section that were retained, eight that appeared in the second edition appear as
well in the third and fourth editions.

 Stories 2nd Edition 1955

They Stopped in Time

1 RUM, RADIO AND REBELLION Page 317
This man faced the last ditch when his wife's
voice from 1300 miles away sent him to A.A.
2 FEAR OF FEAR Page 330
Carried to 4th Edition
This lady was cautious. She decided she wouldn't
let herself go in her drinking. And she would never,
never take that morning drink!
3 THE PROFESSOR AND THE PARADOX Page 336
Says he, "We A.A.'s surrender to win; we give
away to keep; we suffer to get well, and we die to
live"
4 A FLOWER OF THE SOUTH Page 343
Somewhat faded, she nevertheless bloomed
afresh. She still had her husband, her home and a
chance to help start A.A. in Texas.
5 UNTO THE SECOND GENERATION Page 355
A young veteran tells how a few rough experiences
pushed him into A.A.and how he was there-fore
spared years of suffering.
6 HIS CONSCIENCE Page 365
It was the only part of him that was soluble in
alcohol.
7 THE HOUSEWIFE WHO DRANK AT HOME Page 375
Carried to 4th Edition
She hid her bottles in clothes hampers and dresser
drawers. In A.A., she discovered she had lost noth-
ing and had found everything.
8 IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN WORSE Page 382
Carried to 4th Edition
Alcohol was a looming cloud in this banker's
bright sky. With rare foresight he realized it could
become a tornado.
9 PHYSICIAN HEAL THYSELF! Page 393
Carried to 4th Edition
Psychiatrist and surgeon, he had lost his way un-
til he realized that God, not he, was the Great
Healer.
10 STARS DON'T FALL Page 401
A titled lady, she still saw her world darkening.
When the overcast lifted, the stars were there.
11 ME, AN ALCOHOLIC 419
Carried to 4th Edition
Barleycorn's wringer squeezed this authorbut
he escaped quite whole.
12 NEW VISION FOR A SCULPTOR Page 426
His conscience hurt him as much as his drinking.
But that was years ago.

They Lost Nearly All

1 JOE'S WOES Page 445
These were only beginning when he hit Bellevue
for the thirty-fifth time. He still had the state hos-
pital ahead of him; and even after A.A., a heart-
breaking test of his new-found faith.

2 OUR SOUTHERN FRIEND Page 460
carried to AA pioneers 4th Editoin
Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and Southern farmer,
he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?"
3 JIM'S STORY Page 471
Carried to 4th Edition
This physician, the originator of A.A.'s first col-
ored group, but badly caught in the toils, tells of
his release and of how freedom came as he worked
among his own people.
4 PROMOTED TO CHRONIC Page 485
This career girl preferred solitary drinking, the
blackout kind, often hoping she'd stay that way for
keeps. But Providence had other ideas.
5 THE PRISONER FREED Page 495
After twenty years in prison for murder, he knew
A.A. was the spot for him . . . if he wanted to stay
on the outside.
6 THERE'S NOTHING THE MATTER WITH ME! Page 499
That's what the man said as he hocked his shoes
for the price of two bottles of Sneaky Pete. He
drank bayxo, canned heat, and shoe polish. He did
a phony routine in A.A. for a while. And then he
got hold of the real thing.
7 DESPERATION DRINKING Page 509
He was drinking to hold on to his job, to hold on
to his wife, to hold on to his sanity. Finally he was
drinking to keep away those little men, and those
strange voices, and the organ music that came out
of the walls.
8 ANNIE THE COP FIGHTER Page 514
For thirty-five years she fought God, man, and the
police force to keep on being what she wanted to
bea drunk. But a telephone call from a gin mill
where she was celebrating Mother's Day brought
in the nosey A-A.'s to change her life.
9 THE CAREER OFFICER
A British officer, this Irishmanthat is, until
brandy "retired" him. But this proved only a tem-
porary set-back. He survived to become a main-stay
of A.A. in Eire.
10 THE INDEPENDENT BLONDE
The lady was blonde, self-supporting and self-
suffcient. Then she began slumming doors, kicking
shins, and waking up in psychopathic wards. At
last the day came when all this changed.
11 HE WHO LOSES HIS LIFE
An ambitious playwright, his brains got so far
ahead of his emotions that he collapsed into sui-
cidal drinking. To learn to live, he nearly died.
12 FREEDOM FROM BONDAGE
Young when she joined, this A.A. believes her
serious drinking was the result of even deeper de-
fects. She here tells how she was set free.