Alcoholics Anonymous, Fourth Edition. Anonymous

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      ALCOHOLICS

       ANONYMOUS

      The Story of

       How Many Thousands of Men and Women

       Have Recovered from Alcoholism

      FOURTH EDITION

      ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

      NEW YORK CITY

      2001

      Copyright © 1939, 1955, 1976, 2001 by

       ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.

       All rights reserved.

      First Edition, sixteen printings, 1939 to 1955

       Second Edition, sixteen printings, 1955 to 1974

       Third Edition, seventy-four printings, 1976 to 2001

      Fourth Edition, New and Revised 2001

       First printing, October 2001

       Thirty-first printing, June 2013

      Personal stories on pages 407, 476, 494, 531, and 553 are copyrighted © by The A.A. Grapevine, Inc., and are reprinted here with permission.

      This is A.A. General Service

       Conference-approved literature

      Alcoholics Anonymous and A.A. are registered

       trademarks® of A.A. World Services, Inc.

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2001094693

       ISBN 978-1-893007-16-1

       eISBN 978-1-893007-66-6

       Printed in the United States of America

      CONTENTS

       PREFACE

       FOREWORD TO FIRST EDITION

       FOREWORD TO SECOND EDITION

       FOREWORD TO THIRD EDITION

       FOREWORD TO FOURTH EDITION

       THE DOCTOR’S OPINION

      1BILL’S STORY

      2THERE IS A SOLUTION

      3MORE ABOUT ALCOHOLISM

      4WE AGNOSTICS

      5HOW IT WORKS

      6INTO ACTION

      7WORKING WITH OTHERS

      8TO WIVES

      9THE FAMILY AFTERWARD

      10TO EMPLOYERS

      11A VISION FOR YOU

      PERSONAL STORIES

      PART I Pioneers of A.A.

       DOCTOR BOB’S NIGHTMARE

      A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.

      1ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS NUMBER THREE

      Pioneer member of Akron’s Group No. 1, the first A.A. group in the world. He kept the faith; there-fore, he and countless others found a new life.

      2GRATITUDE IN ACTION

      The story of Dave B., one of the founders of A.A. in Canada in 1944.

      3WOMEN SUFFER TOO

      Despite great opportunities, alcohol nearly ended her life. An early member, she spread the word among women in our pioneering period.

      4OUR SOUTHERN FRIEND

      Pioneer A.A., minister’s son, and southern farmer, he asked, “Who am I to say there is no God?”

      5THE VICIOUS CYCLE

      How it finally broke a Southerner’s obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. in Philadelphia.

      6JIM’S STORY

      This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.’s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.

      7THE MAN WHO MASTERED FEAR

      He spent eighteen years running away, and then found he didn’t have to run. So he started A.A. in Detroit.

      8HE SOLD HIMSELF SHORT

      But he found there was a Higher Power that had more faith in him than he had in himself. Thus, A.A. was born in Chicago.

      9THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM

      This worldly lady helped to develop A.A. in Chicago and thus passed her keys to many.

      PART II They Stopped in Time

      1THE MISSING LINK

      He looked at everything as the cause of his unhap­piness—except alcohol.

      2FEAR OF FEAR

      This lady was cautious. She decided she wouldn’t let herself go in her drinking. And she would never, never take that morning drink!

      3THE HOUSEWIFE WHO DRANK AT HOME

      She hid her bottles in clothes hampers and dresser drawers. In A.A., she discovered she had lost nothing and had found everything.

      4PHYSICIAN, HEAL THYSELF!

      Psychiatrist and surgeon, he had lost his way until he realized that God, not he, was the Great Healer.

      5MY CHANCE TO LIVE

      A.A. gave this teenager the tools to climb out of her dark abyss of despair.

      6STUDENT OF LIFE

      Living at home with her parents, she tried