Family members and friends of alcoholics will find this book of readings a valuable resource into what their friend is learning as he or she attends meetings. It helps to answer the questions of why go to A.A. meetings and how this program can help alcoholics and their loved ones understand their illness. Alcoholic counselors and others in health related fields can use the readings an important tool in helping their clients attend A.A. meetings. Counselors are no longer able to require clients in treatment to attend A.A. meetings, but can make recommendations concerning the value of those meetings. These readings show what can be learned in A.A. meetings Alcoholics will discover in this book new insights into their disease. These readings challenge some of the statements made in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous but remains true to the ideal that more will be revealed. The author uses references from popular children stories (The Princess and the Pea to illustrate how sensitive alcoholics sometimes are), to great literature, (Odysseus struggling against the call of the Sirens to show how alcoholics also struggle against the appeal of alcohol), to references from everyday life, (trying to get rid of fruit flies illustrating how difficult it is to get rid of character defects) are also used.