Inside These Rooms 2nd Ed.: Where I Learned to Love My Life, My God and My Fellows

How this Book was formed: "There is a remarkable amount of wisdom Inside these [A.A.] Rooms every day. I listen as a meditation and snatch the bits and pieces of that wisdom out of the ether." --Marion O. R., author of Inside these Rooms. For most of its 75 year existence Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) has been a society unto itself. If you were a sociologist, anthropologist or counselor you might spend considerable time in open meetings observing what happens. Otherwise, the only folks who know a lot about the workings of these meetings are the members themselves. This book attempts to open the door to closed meetings just a crack while preserving the anonymity of the members. Its purpose is to let the public at large get a taste of what happens in the meetings. The methodology is to let the reader hear the exact words of the members as filtered through one set of attentive, loving ears. When the author started attending A.A. in 1985, he instinctively took notes. He is a lawyer, among other things; that was the way he could best absorb the lessons. Over the years the pile of notes grew until at the 21st anniversary of the author's sobriety, he was challenged by the statement: "Oh good, now your sobriety it old enough to drink." The notes were collected, catalogued and categorized into subjects frequently discussed at A.A. meetings. Over 300 members of A.A. and Al Anon are quoted as they were heard across a 25 year span of time. Over 20 essays by the author are interspersed among the quotes. It also inevitably chronicles the spiritual development of the author through the parts of the book that tell his story. One reviewer stated "it is inspiring and documents the evolution of a soul. Clear, coherent in a holistic way. Full of between-the-lines love, joyful and heartbreaking, but for goodness' sake it is TOTALLY real!" Members of Alcoholics Anonymous who read the first edition agreed that it was, in fact, true to life. Readers of the first edition, who were not members of A.A., stated that they enjoyed reading it, but invariably also said that others in their line of work or place in life should read it as well. Educators, clergy, addiction counselors, businessmen, lawyers, psychologists, parents, partners and spouses of recovering people and full time Moms all had the same reaction. They had a better appreciation of the healing nature of the meetings for recovering alcoholics. For the biochemists or other nerds among us, the author (also a biochemist) presents the Twelve Steps as a flow diagram that shows how doing the steps relates to changes that occur within the recovering person. It shows how a person progresses from Drunk to Undrunk to Sober and how they continue to make Spiritual Progress through the Steps. It also shows how the Steps lead to freedom from alcohol, then self (ego), then others and finally how the recovering person gains freedom to be the best they can be. Reading Inside these Rooms will let you know more about and make you feel better about the life of the recovering persons who attend the meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous. It may make you more comfortable about attending A.A. meetings if you "have a desire to stop drinking."