The essays at aa-deprogramming were written by individuals with considerable first-hand experience at AA. It is often commented here that I don't have that experience, so I can't know anything about the program. Those are people who know AA and have left it for myriad reasons.
It is fortunate that there are alternatives, as it doesn't benefit any program or individual when someone is coerced into attending. It also makes it even harder to get efficacy data about the program when a significant percentage of attendees aren't there voluntarily.
Getting back to the book in question in this thread. I guess I'm curious enough now to put down $9 and download it myself. The story of his sister isn't an indictment of AA in particular, though, as far as I can tell. It just reinforces something we all know: that it isn't just quitting drinking that is necessary. It sounds as though she was clinically depressed, suicidal -- problems way beyond the scope of any recovery program. As I said, she was miserable in her sobriety. I am just curious enough to read about why he thinks -- if indeed he does -- that her unhappiness could have been mitigated by a closer adherence to the tenets of the Big Book. I don't think anybody considers AA to be a cure for profound depression.
Don S