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 using willpower to beat the obsession to drink. But it wasn’t until she met another alcoholic and went to an A.A. meeting that sobriety took hold.
7CROSSING THE RIVER OF DENIAL
She finally realized that when she enjoyed her drinking, she couldn’t control it, and when she controlled it, she couldn’t enjoy it.
8BECAUSE I’M AN ALCOHOLIC
This drinker finally found the answer to her nagging question, “Why?”
9IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN WORSE
Alcohol was a looming cloud in this banker’s bright sky. With rare foresight he realized it could become a tornado.
10TIGHTROPE
Trying to navigate separate worlds was a lonely charade that ended when this gay alcoholic finally landed in A.A.
11FLOODED WITH FEELING
When a barrier to God collapsed, this self-described agnostic was at Step Three.
12WINNER TAKES ALL
Legally blind but no longer alone, she found a way to stay sober, raise a family, and turn her life over to the care of God.
13ME AN ALCOHOLIC?
Alcohol’s wringer squeezed this author—but he escaped quite whole.
14THE PERPETUAL QUEST
This lawyer tried psychiatrists, biofeedback, relaxation exercises, and a host of other techniques to control her drinking. She finally found a solution, uniquely tailored, in the Twelve Steps.
15A DRUNK, LIKE YOU
The more he listened at meetings, the more he came to know about his own drinking history.
16ACCEPTANCE WAS THE ANSWER
The physician wasn’t hooked, he thought—he just prescribed drugs medically indicated for his many ailments. Acceptance was his key to liberation.
17WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY
This young alcoholic stepped out a second-story window and into A.A.
PART III They Lost Nearly All
1MY BOTTLE, MY RESENTMENTS, AND ME
From childhood trauma to skid row drunk, this hobo finally found a Higher Power, bringing sobriety and a long-lost family.
2HE LIVED ONLY TO DRINK
“I had been preached to, analyzed, cursed, and counseled, but no one had ever said, ‘I identify with what’s going on with you. It happened to me and this is what I did about it.’”
3SAFE HAVEN
This A.A. found that the process of discovering who he really was began with knowing who he didn’t want to be.
4LISTENING TO THE WIND
It took an “angel” to introduce this Native American woman to A.A. and recovery.
5TWICE GIFTED
Diagnosed with cirrhosis, this sick alcoholic got sobriety—plus a lifesaving liver transplant.
6BUILDING A NEW LIFE
Hallucinating and restrained by sheriff’s deputies and hospital staff, this once-happy family man received an unexpected gift from God—a firm foundation in sobriety that would hold up through good times and bad.
7ON THE MOVE
Working the A.A. program showed this alcoholic how to get from geographics to gratitude.
8A VISION OF RECOVERY
A feeble prayer forged a lasting connection with a Higher Power for this Mic-Mac Indian.
9GUTTER BRAVADO
Alone and unemployable, he was given two options by the court, get help or go to jail, and his journey toward teachability began.
10EMPTY ON THE INSIDE
She grew up around A.A. and had all the answers—except when it came to her own life.
11GROUNDED
Alcohol clipped this pilot’s wings until sobriety and hard work brought him back to the sky.
12ANOTHER CHANCE
Poor, black, totally ruled by alcohol, she felt shut away from any life worth living. But when she began a prison sentence, a door opened.
13A LATE START
“It’s been ten years since I retired, seven years since I joined A.A. Now I can truly say that I am a grateful alcoholic.”
14FREEDOM FROM BONDAGE
Young when she joined, this A.A. believes her serious drinking was the result of even deeper defects. She here tells how she was set free.
15A.A. TAUGHT HIM TO HANDLE SOBRIETY
“God
