Anonymous. Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers: A biography, with recollections of early A.A. in the Midwest. Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. New York 1980.

    Information about the rocky beginnings of AA in Ohio. Particularly interesting is the story of Clarence S., who in many ways was the real founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. In opposition to both Dr. Bob and Bill W., Clarence S. broke away from the Oxford Group in 1939, starting a group in Cleveland that was only open to alcoholics and their families. Clarence S. especially wanted to downplay “spiritual business at meetings” and instead to have “plenty of fellowship all the time”. He used, for the first time, “Alcoholics Anonymous” as the name for the group. The Oxford Group sent a goon squad to break up the first AA meeting; they physically assaulted Clarence S., and later conducted a slander campaign against him. Nevertheless, Alcoholics Anonymous thrived in Cleveland and served as a model for the rest of the country.
    “In Akron in the very early days, alcoholics had almost no say. Their wives got them to the meetings, which were, in turn, run by Oxford Groupers.” (p. 237)


Anonymous. Living Sober. Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. New York 1975/1998.

    The best of the AA books, it correctly begins with staying away from the first drink, the 24-hour plan. On the whole, sensible and practical. On the negative side, the book waffles on whether alcoholics should take mind-changing drugs if prescribed by a physician, and on whether it is a good thing to consume sugar. (On both issues, the answer should be no. No physician should ever prescribe a mind-changing drug to a known alcoholic — and such drugs include not only the older tranquillizers like Librium and Valium, but also the newer “anti-depressants”, like Prozac and the other SSRIs. Sugar is especially harmful for alcoholics, since it is the main cause of hypoglycemia, as well as the “protracted withdrawal syndrome”.)


Charles Bufe. Alcoholics Anonymous: Cult or Cure? See Sharp Press. San Francisco 1991.

    Bufe criticizes the religious aspects of AA and its Twelve Steps. (“These are A.A.'s revered 12 Steps, a combination of good, helpful principles and unhealthy, pernicious dogma.”) However, he thinks highly of the Twelve Traditions (“a blueprint for organization according to noncoercive, anarchist principles”). He gives an excellent history of the unsavory Oxford Group and its detrimental influence on AA. Repelled by AA's religiosity, Bufe decided to maintain sobriety on his own.


Susan Cheever. My Name Is Bill: Bill Wilson: His Life and the Creation of Alcoholics Anonymous. Simon & Schuster. New York 2004.

    A frank, yet admiring biography of Bill W.  Susan Cheever is in the program, as was her father, novelist John Cheever. Bill W. took drugs other than alcohol; he became a multi-millionaire from sales of the Big Book; he was wretchedly unhappy in sobriety, suffering thirteen continuous years of severe depression; he believed in spiritualism; he was a sexual compulsive, whose public behavior was sometimes grossly inappropriate; he smoked heavily and died of cigarette-induced lung failure.
    In the last months of his life Bill W. repeatedly demanded whiskey, and attempted to assault the male nurse who refused to get it for him. Since he had ceased attending A.A. meetings in his final years, this suggests that he had relapsed.


James Christopher. Unhooked: Staying Sober and Drug-Free. Prometheus Books. Buffalo, New York 1989.

    A helpful book by the founder of Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS). The SOS approach is to take the good things from A.A., but to leave behind the religiosity and cultism which characterize some (but by no means all) A.A. groups and individuals. SOS treats sobriety as an issue separate from everything else in the life of a recovering alcoholic: No matter what happens, you don't pick up the first drink. Many SOS members attend A.A. meetings as well as SOS meetings.


Dr. Earle M. Physician, Heal Thyself! CompCare Publishers. Minneapolis 1989.

    This is a good, if rather rough, book. Dr. Earle joined AA in 1953, and his story, “Physician Heal Thyself”, appears in the 1955 edition of the Big Book.  Dr. Earle had a fascinating life in sobriety. He is committed to the biogenic approach, and speaks highly of Dr. James Milam. He gives a good critique of the Big Book.


Dr. James R. Milam and Katherine Ketcham. Under The Influence: A guide to the Myths and Realities of Alcoholism. Hardback edition: Madrona Publishers 1981. Bantam paperback edition: NY 1983.

    The best book on alcoholism.  Milam was the leading advocate of the biogenic (as opposed to psychogenic) approach. The biogenic approach holds that alcohol is a physical addiction, not merely a symptom of psychological problems. Milam is pro-AA, but critical of some aspects: specifically, the notions that alcoholism results from character defects, that an alcoholic must “hit bottom”, and that it is good to eat sugar. There is an excellent discussion of nutrition and the role that hypoglycemia plays in the “protracted withdrawal syndrome”.


Matthew J. Raphael (pseud.). Bill W. and Mr. Wilson: The Legend and Life of A.A.'s Cofounder. University of Massachusetts Press. Amherst, MA. 2000.

    An excellent biography of Bill W. and an intelligent account of AA's early days. Raphael, who is in the program, states: “This book is an effort to rehumanize the cult figure, to reclaim Bill W. from A.A.'s fundamentalist tendencies to apotheosize the cofounder, to sacralize the Big Book, and thus to encumber the program with ecclesiastical trappings.” (p. 14)
    There is an interesting account of nineteenth century forerunners of AA, in particular the Washington Temperance Society, founded in 1840. The best elements of AA were already there: drunks helping each other, pledging total abstinence, telling their stories of drunkenness and sobriety, carrying the message.
    Bill (and later his widow, Lois, and his mistress, Helen Wynn) received millions of dollars in royalties from sales of AA books. In 1940 Bill bought out his publishing partner, Hank P., for $200 — taking advantage of Hank's being on a slip, “completely broke and very shaky”. In a few years the share for which Hank received $200 would have been worth millions.
    Over the years AA shielded Bill W.'s reputation in three areas: his interest in spiritualism, his experiments with LSD and other drugs, and his zealous promotion of Vitamin B3 therapy.


R.L. Wild. “Only with God's Help?” — article in The New Humanist (London) January 1975. To read it online click here.

    An excellent, far-ranging discussion of alcoholism and recovery. A loyal member of AA for almost 20 years, Wild eloquently argues for “a kind of Humanist AA where the therapeutic value can be exploited constructively in a nonspiritual manner”. AA's success in reaching the practising alcoholic is compromised: “Because AA has one member too many. God!”
    And God is not necessary. Wild informs us: “Some Scandinavian groups have reduced the twelve steps to seven and have eliminated God.” Further: “in at least two London groups he [God] is not qualified for membership. One of these, operating as a discussion group, is said to offer the finest AA in the country, boasting an excellent record of recovery and rehabilitation.”
    Wild concludes:




Nell Wing (a non-alcoholic). Grateful To Have Been There: My 42 years with Bill and Lois, and the Evolution of Alcoholics Anonymous. Revised and Expanded. Hazelden. Center City, MN 1992/1998.

    A personal account written by Bill W's assistant and executive secretary.  Includes many interesting details: AA served alcohol at its Christmas parties; Ebby (always referred to by Bill W. as his sponsor) was resentful that Dr. Bob, rather than himself, was considered the co-founder of AA; Bill W., though a zealous advocate of belief in a higher power, was not a churchgoer; Bill W. was obsessed with niacin, LSD, and seances; neither Bill W. nor the AA staff understood the seriousness of DTs (which are life-threatening). In the last years of his life, Bill W. ceased attending AA meetings, giving the flimsy excuse that he was always asked to speak.


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