Interesting article about the first edition of the Big Book
bona fido dog-lover
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: SF Bay area, CA
Posts: 99,795
Interesting article about the first edition of the Big Book
I found this article about the revisions and changes to the first Big Book to be very interesting and enlightening.
AA original manuscript reveals profound debate over religion
AA original manuscript reveals profound debate over religion
Forward we go...side by side-Rest In Peace
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Serene In Dixie
Posts: 36,740
Hmmm....
So now Hazelton is going to sell a book
for $65 to show us the suposed orginal
manuscript draft.
Dare I say....a commercial venture?
Hopefully....it will stir interest to those still
suffering to actually read our BB.
So now Hazelton is going to sell a book
for $65 to show us the suposed orginal
manuscript draft.
Dare I say....a commercial venture?
Hopefully....it will stir interest to those still
suffering to actually read our BB.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 26,425
where i am at today on this least...is that the AA bigbook wasn't watered down ..... Bill W. had his program...the big book is about the expereince of the first alchoholics to recover...I'm not big on Bill W being a saint...it was a WE program even back then...what we got in the big book is an experience on which we can all agree.....the forms of individual recovery can vary greatly....
I am comforted by the fact that the big book as it stands today allows me the room to be a part of....the 12 steps as outlined in the big book are all inclusive and work for me.
I'm a bit less gun ho on the 12x12 as for me that is more about Bill's personal journey...being the good alkie i am, i can shoot holes in the 12x12...but not so the BB...The big book is simple. If the original manuscript was what we had instead of the bb....I'm not sure I would have found hope and sobrity.
Just my take
I am comforted by the fact that the big book as it stands today allows me the room to be a part of....the 12 steps as outlined in the big book are all inclusive and work for me.
I'm a bit less gun ho on the 12x12 as for me that is more about Bill's personal journey...being the good alkie i am, i can shoot holes in the 12x12...but not so the BB...The big book is simple. If the original manuscript was what we had instead of the bb....I'm not sure I would have found hope and sobrity.
Just my take
bona fido dog-lover
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: SF Bay area, CA
Posts: 99,795
I agree that releasing this 'first edition' could just be a money making venture and not so much in the interest of AA's history. But when I saw the article I thought it would be a good subject for a read and/or debate.
12-Step Recovered Alkie
Join Date: May 2010
Location: West Bloomfield, MI
Posts: 5,797
Hey, at least it'll give a lot of alkies a bunch of crap to debate instead of carrying the message in either of the books to anyone new!!!
waaa-waaaa-waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
--and Anan..... I dig the 12 & 12. Truthfully, I've spend WAY more time with the BB but I don't think I could have understood the steps (when I was starting out) without the 12x12 (it didn't help that I didn't and still don't know anyone in my immediate area who's a real BB thumper/scholar). The simplicity of the BB just didn't stick with me. Once I started the 12&12, I was able to get a much better grasp on what the BB was saying when it discussed the steps.
--and I maintain (for the present, anyway) that the 12x12's 1st step reading is beyond reproach for a newcomer. Those pages saved my a** - I may not have stuck around if not for a few key sentences in there.
waaa-waaaa-waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
--and Anan..... I dig the 12 & 12. Truthfully, I've spend WAY more time with the BB but I don't think I could have understood the steps (when I was starting out) without the 12x12 (it didn't help that I didn't and still don't know anyone in my immediate area who's a real BB thumper/scholar). The simplicity of the BB just didn't stick with me. Once I started the 12&12, I was able to get a much better grasp on what the BB was saying when it discussed the steps.
--and I maintain (for the present, anyway) that the 12x12's 1st step reading is beyond reproach for a newcomer. Those pages saved my a** - I may not have stuck around if not for a few key sentences in there.
Belgian Sheepdog Adictee
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: In Today
Posts: 6,101
Here's the "Original" 1938 Manuscript for anyone to read right on line:
AA History -- The Original 1938 Multilith AA Manuscript
I printed it out years ago and put it in a RED 3ring binder and still read it today. Red, because the original BB was red.
Love and hugs,
AA History -- The Original 1938 Multilith AA Manuscript
I printed it out years ago and put it in a RED 3ring binder and still read it today. Red, because the original BB was red.
Love and hugs,
Forward we go...side by side-Rest In Peace
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Serene In Dixie
Posts: 36,740
Laurie...
Do I hear an echo from our years at the old
AnotherEmptyBottle?
I gave my copy to a sponsee in Fl.
as I could no longer read it.
Had it not been for you sharing
and your experience....way back then
I would have never thought to copy it.
: my dear friend
Do I hear an echo from our years at the old
AnotherEmptyBottle?
I gave my copy to a sponsee in Fl.
as I could no longer read it.
Had it not been for you sharing
and your experience....way back then
I would have never thought to copy it.
: my dear friend
Belgian Sheepdog Adictee
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: In Today
Posts: 6,101
Yes Carol, from our old days at AEB, roflmao
I have kept that paged 'bookmarked' in each of my computers since those days, and I still have my 'original' copy in my 3 ring red binder, all highlighted now, lol
And, low and behold, it is still free to read and print out on the internet, so the h*ll with Hazelden, lol
Boy Carol, we sure do go back quite a ways, dang thats almost 11 years now!!!
And yes, to all of you young 'whipper snappers' we are both still very much sober!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lmao
Love and hugs,
I have kept that paged 'bookmarked' in each of my computers since those days, and I still have my 'original' copy in my 3 ring red binder, all highlighted now, lol
And, low and behold, it is still free to read and print out on the internet, so the h*ll with Hazelden, lol
Boy Carol, we sure do go back quite a ways, dang thats almost 11 years now!!!
And yes, to all of you young 'whipper snappers' we are both still very much sober!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lmao
Love and hugs,
Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 2,126
From my understanding, The Original 1938 Multilith Manuscript is the BB, 1st Edition, in manuscript form.
What is coming out now is The Original 'Working' Manuscript' for the BB, from which the original multilith manuscript was taken. This one is complete with notes and 'strike-outs;' the original wordings, much of which was changed, even in the multilith manuscript.
I dunno; I could be wrong, but from what I've seen, and I also have a copy of the original multilith manuscript, this new (actually 'older') version may shock, and even anger some.....quite different from the multilith version, at least as far as I have seen and read.
NoelleR
What is coming out now is The Original 'Working' Manuscript' for the BB, from which the original multilith manuscript was taken. This one is complete with notes and 'strike-outs;' the original wordings, much of which was changed, even in the multilith manuscript.
I dunno; I could be wrong, but from what I've seen, and I also have a copy of the original multilith manuscript, this new (actually 'older') version may shock, and even anger some.....quite different from the multilith version, at least as far as I have seen and read.
NoelleR
Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 154
I compare this to someone evaluating my painting before I'm done with it. They could say "see! the proportions are all wrong! I KNEW it! She was really trying to talk about pumpkins-not the pain of mankind!!!" To which I would reply "Yeah, well that's why I painted over the pumpkin and ended up fixing the proportions before calling it finished".
A cake is just flour eggs and sugar- if you put an egg, some flour and a bit of sugar in your mouth it would taste horrible. But- give it time to bake and set- then you get delicious.
A cake is just flour eggs and sugar- if you put an egg, some flour and a bit of sugar in your mouth it would taste horrible. But- give it time to bake and set- then you get delicious.
A work in progress
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: South Jersey
Posts: 16,633
I dunno--I always find a "work in progress" to be interesting. How something gets from point A to point B. Writing is one of THE major aspects of my job, which also involves persuasion. I've often meandered down one path of argument/persuasion and decided I was emphasizing the wrong point, or not presenting the argument in the most logical and persuasive way. One of the things I do is to try to imagine someone who doesn't know the issue as well as I do, reading my work for the first time. I also give it to colleagues who aren't as close to the issue as I am to see if they are getting out of it what I intended to convey. Sometimes I take the suggestions and sometimes not, but I try to consider them with an open mind.
So, from that standpoint, I would find it very interesting, if not necessarily helpful from the standpoint of my own personal recovery.
So, from that standpoint, I would find it very interesting, if not necessarily helpful from the standpoint of my own personal recovery.
Laozi Old Man
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 6,665
Here lies the most important question about the OM;
"Motu said Wilson sent his original book to about 300 recovering addicts, religious leaders and doctors, among others, but some think the writing visible in the margins belonged to a small number of commenters. "
"Motu said Wilson sent his original book to about 300 recovering addicts, religious leaders and doctors, among others, but some think the writing visible in the margins belonged to a small number of commenters. "
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