"Wayne Jones" <wayne.jonesnospam@rogers.com> wrote in message news:<Ri8Fa.40935$3Sm.9310@news01.bloor.is.net.cab le.rogers.com>...
> The AA is the place where everyone thinks people with alcohol problems
> should go but I bet few non-alcoholics realize that the literature and
> approach hasn't changed in 60 years.
> That's an eternity in the field of medicine and most other sciences.
>
> Surely there are some good books on the subject of addiction and how to
> fight it which are more up to date than the AA 'bible'
> One exception is 'Living Sober' which was helpful
>
> Can anyone recommend some?
>
> Wayne in Ottawa

Wayne, definitely see my Top 10 reading list web page,
http://aorange1.tripod.com/orange-top10.html

These three books (from among those listed) really stand out
as being helpful to people who are quitting:


Many Roads, One Journey: Moving Beyond the 12 Steps Charlotte
Davis Kasl, Ph.D.
Harper Perennial, A Division of HarperCollins Publishers Inc., New
York, 1992.
ISBN 0-06-055263-8 and ISBN 0-06-096518-5 (pbk.)
LC: RC533 .K365 1992
LCCCN: 90-56435
Dewey: 616.86'06--dc20 or 616.8606 K19m
This book is excellent. It definitely ends up in the Top 10 List of
books that you must read if you are
thinking about quitting (or perhaps if a loved one is trying to quit,
or needs to quit).
She covers addiction and alcoholism from a lot of different
viewpoints, including the need for
improved nutrition and getting off of other addictions like nicotine,
caffeine, or TV.


When AA Doesn't Work for You, Rational Steps to Quitting Alcohol
Albert Ellis, Ph.D., and
Emmett Velten, Ph.D.
Barricade Books, Inc., New York, NY, 1992.
ISBN 0-942637-53-4
Dewey call number 362.2928 E47w
This is a lot of good sensible advice. Dr. Ellis is the creator of
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
(REBT), which is the foundation of SMART (Self Management and Recovery
Training). --And he's
also the founder of SMART. If you are looking for some realistic,
rational, non-superstitious,
common-sense, help in quitting drinking, definitely read this book.


How Alcoholics Anonymous Failed Me Marianne Gilliam
Eagle Brook, an Imprint of William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York,
1998.
ISBN 0-688-15587-1
LC: HV5293.G55A3 1998
LCCCN: 97-37092
Dewey: 362.29286'092--dc21 or 362.2928 G481h 1998
In spite of its negative title, this is actually a very positive book.
This is one of the best-looking
'alternatives to A.A.' kind of books that I've seen (from my biased
viewpoint, of course). It definitely
contains a very strong flavor of spirituality, but without the cult
religion aspect. This is a good
'something' for those who try to take the middle road, for those who
try to be spiritual but sensible, for
those who want something other than either atheism or blind faith in
cult religion.
Bill Wilson had a bad habit of accusing everyone who didn't buy his
peculiar
Buchmanite religious beliefs of being an atheist. This book is a good
answer to that.


See the web page for longer reviews of those books.


* Agent Orange *
* agent_orange@linuxmail.org *
* AA and Recovery Cult Debunking *
* http://aorange1.tripod.com/ *
* Heisenberg said, "I'm not really sure if *
* that even was Shrödinger's cat. I think *
* he might have used somebody else's cat..." *