August 29

August 29 – AM

Page 20, There is a Solution, Chapter 2

You may already have asked yourself why it is that all of us became so very ill from drinking.  Doubtless you are curious to discover how and why, in the face of expert opinion to the contrary, we have recovered from a hopeless condition of mind and body.  If you are an alcoholic who wants to get over it, you may already be asking—“What do I have to do?”

It is the purpose of this book to answer such questions specifically.  We shall tell you what we have done.  Before going into a detailed discussion, it may be well to summarize some points as we see them.

August 29 – PM

Page xvii, Foreword to Second Edition (1955)

It was now time, the struggling groups thought, to place their message and unique experience before the world.  This determination bore fruit in the spring of 1939 by the publication of this volume.  The membership had then reached about 100 men and women. The fledgling society, which had been nameless, now began to be called Alcoholics Anonymous, from the title of its own book.  The flying-blind period ended and A.A. entered a new phase of its pioneering time.