What an extraordinary fellow Howard Marks is. His autobiography takes him from his South Wales childhood and Oxford University education through his life dealing marijuana and the enormous mythology that accrued around what the tabloids called "the English Toff Drugs King of the World". This book is called Mr Nice after one of the many aliases Marks's life as a merchant of pot obliged him to assume, but it describes him perfectly too: the epitome of British niceness, the nicest international criminal you could hope to meet. It's not hard to see why this has become a cult book--Marks is a brilliant version of a mate down the pub, telling you the gobsmacking stories of his many adventured life. The writing is direct and the narrative will detain you as comprehensively as Marks himself was detained for seven years at Terre Haut Penitentiary, Indiana. He was released the same day as Mike Tyson. "I had," he observes mildly, "been continuously in prison for the last six-and-a-half years for transporting beneficial herbs from one place to another, while he had done three years for rape." Truly there is no justice; but there are eye-popping adventures, hilarious touches and a thorough-going wisdom in this excellent book. --Adam Roberts

Buy This Book! , 05 Dec 2008
I have read this book three times, and I love it. I can't put it down. The subtle humour in it is superb, the story is told very well by his ghost writer (a few minor copy edit mistakes but what the hell) whoever he was.

To anyone familiar with the international offshore banking world as it was before the "war on terror" [sic], you guys will laugh your socks off at the happenings in Hong Kong. Anyone who knows of Patrick Lane and the "Offshore Banking Report" of yore, will be shocked to find the relationship between Howard and him outlined. I suspect some of the knowledge in Dr W G Hill's works came from Patrick, learned from dealings on behalf of Howard Marks.

If international (celebrity interspersed) travel, spending obscene amounts of money, outwitting the authorities, crime stories and the general musings of a jovial Oxford educated cove float your boat, then read this book. If you have some previous understanding of the world it is set in - you will love it even more.

Tall tales from a dubious role model, 20 Jul 2008
Howard Marks has produced an implausible and glamorised account of the sordid world of drug-dealing and smuggling. By attempting to present this disgusting trade as humorous, he encourages gullible young people to admire those who engage in it. He portrays himself as an idealist distributing 'beneficial herbs'. It is more likely, in reality, that he exploited the weaknesses of others from selfish mercenary motives. An unrealistic and potentially harmful book.

El Fantastico!!!, 01 Apr 2008
I recently stumbled upon this autobiography and was immediately drawn to it having previously heard of Howard Marks' exploits from friends and i must say what a fantastic read.

The story basically follows Marks' involvement with hashish and weed and his eventual involvement with global smuggling through the 70's and 80's. The authors ability to depict the wonderful characters that he meets and deals with, included my personal favourite, ex-IRA Jim McCann, means that I found this book impossible to put down. Whilst this book obviously is attractive to the liberal minded amongst us, this book can be thoroughly enjoyed by anyone as Marks' comes across as a thoroughly likeable oxford "chap" who simply lives out a glamarous life that many of us would certainly follow if had the chance. At no point do you genuinely feel that Marks is a mastermind criminal and all i can say is good on you son for pulling one over on the power that be. Fantastic!

Love it!, 26 Feb 2008
He's a devil but i don't know after reading his real story, i like his humanity!

Extraordinary, controversial character., 22 Jan 2008
From the start this book grabs your attention.Howard Marks tells a fascinating tale about his life starting from when he went to university in oxford to becoming an international dope smuggler.
He comes across as a nice friendly human being, so you don't put him in the same category as an evil crack peddler for example.His intelligence and memory for detail is outstanding but not boring.You have to have a good memory yourself for names and places to keep up with whats going on and hang on to the fast moving narrative.Highly recommended...weather you smoke or not.

Buy This Book! , 05 Dec 2008
I have read this book three times, and I love it. I can't put it down. The subtle humour in it is superb, the story is told very well by his ghost writer (a few minor copy edit mistakes but what the hell) whoever he was.

To anyone familiar with the international offshore banking world as it was before the "war on terror" [sic], you guys will laugh your socks off at the happenings in Hong Kong. Anyone who knows of Patrick Lane and the "Offshore Banking Report" of yore, will be shocked to find the relationship between Howard and him outlined. I suspect some of the knowledge in Dr W G Hill's works came from Patrick, learned from dealings on behalf of Howard Marks.

If international (celebrity interspersed) travel, spending obscene amounts of money, outwitting the authorities, crime stories and the general musings of a jovial Oxford educated cove float your boat, then read this book. If you have some previous understanding of the world it is set in - you will love it even more.

Tall tales from a dubious role model, 20 Jul 2008
Howard Marks has produced an implausible and glamorised account of the sordid world of drug-dealing and smuggling. By attempting to present this disgusting trade as humorous, he encourages gullible young people to admire those who engage in it. He portrays himself as an idealist distributing 'beneficial herbs'. It is more likely, in reality, that he exploited the weaknesses of others from selfish mercenary motives. An unrealistic and potentially harmful book.

El Fantastico!!!, 01 Apr 2008
I recently stumbled upon this autobiography and was immediately drawn to it having previously heard of Howard Marks' exploits from friends and i must say what a fantastic read.

The story basically follows Marks' involvement with hashish and weed and his eventual involvement with global smuggling through the 70's and 80's. The authors ability to depict the wonderful characters that he meets and deals with, included my personal favourite, ex-IRA Jim McCann, means that I found this book impossible to put down. Whilst this book obviously is attractive to the liberal minded amongst us, this book can be thoroughly enjoyed by anyone as Marks' comes across as a thoroughly likeable oxford "chap" who simply lives out a glamarous life that many of us would certainly follow if had the chance. At no point do you genuinely feel that Marks is a mastermind criminal and all i can say is good on you son for pulling one over on the power that be. Fantastic!

Love it!, 26 Feb 2008
He's a devil but i don't know after reading his real story, i like his humanity!

Extraordinary, controversial character., 22 Jan 2008
From the start this book grabs your attention.Howard Marks tells a fascinating tale about his life starting from when he went to university in oxford to becoming an international dope smuggler.
He comes across as a nice friendly human being, so you don't put him in the same category as an evil crack peddler for example.His intelligence and memory for detail is outstanding but not boring.You have to have a good memory yourself for names and places to keep up with whats going on and hang on to the fast moving narrative.Highly recommended...weather you smoke or not.

Down and dirty with what most of us like doing, 23 Sep 2008
The come-on title fronts a detailed account of HIV infection investigations in the field - chiefly among sex-workers and drug-users in Jakarta - and a passionate plea for the large sums now made available for AIDS prevention to be decoupled from self-serving political ideologies such as the US's `abstinence' conditions of aid. Listen to the people on the ground, is the message: see how they behave, target money and expertise to produce demonstrable reductions in transmission rates.

Pisani's re-training in epidemiology is grafted on to a tabloid hack's instinct for the jugular and the visceral metaphor (most women don't like the female condom "because it looks like a supermarket shopping bag stuck up your p***y, with handles hanging out the bottom"), allied to a lucid brain for figures from her Far East financial correspondent days. "When people ask me what I do for a living, I say, `Sex and drugs,'" she starts, disarmingly. The hands-on focus on her own work in Indonesia - the book's most readable, and affecting, sections - doesn't stop her comparing other countries' varying situations ("For the same amount of sleeping around, you now have a greater risk of getting infected if you use a condom every single time you have sex in Swaziland than you do if you never use a condom at all in China"), or from taking a global perspective: "When bishops, presidents and the media poke holes in condoms, they become ineffective."

The Wisdom of Whores has a rushed, provisional feel to it - which actually gives a sense of the speed at which responses to AIDS have developed over the past 20-odd years, and are still developing. Though she has tough words for a lot of decision-makers, she gives honour where it is due, to the talented, dedicated researchers and to some government bodies such as Britain's own DfID. There is wisdom and humour in this book, and essential information, too: the section `Back to Basics' ("Forgive me for getting graphic, but as you probably know sex can be a sticky business.") should be compulsory reading for all secondary-age children.



This is wisdom indeed, 20 Jun 2008
This really is a page-turner, a compulsive read, which is an extraordinary feat for a book about the AIDS epidemic (and I speak as an 'insider' who is punch drunk with writing and reading about this topic). Pisani shoots from the hip, always, which is challenging and stimulating, but she always pins her arguments down with good quality and compelling data. Even when I was happy to find myself saying mentally, "Yes but..." (because it's nice not to feel you are being led by the nose by a good talker!) I found the author answering my queries, settling my doubts, a little further on in the text. I think it's a great book, and an important one -- it forces us to confront our failures in preventing the spread of HIV, so often because of squeamishness, prejudice or lack of courage to acknowledge who is really at risk and why, and unpreparedness to spend the huge dollops of money where it is most needed.

Genuinely enjoy getting the facts straight, 19 Jun 2008
I am seldom found without at least one book close at hand, and end up trying to give books away in order to keep my shelves from collapsing. But I'm not ready to give this one away, I intend to read it again in a while. What I might do, however, is to order a few extra copies and have them delivered to people I know. Why just this one? Because it is one of those books that you come across once in a while, that works on more than one level. It is a book that keeps me turning the pages, with the energy that comes from a genuinely engaging story. Then there is the authors solid knowledge of the topic, and her ability to present it in an accessible way. This is a writer who knows her tools: she knows how to structure a presentation and how to juggle angles to keep it interesting, all in a style that gets the message across clearly and simply, with a strong personality and sense of humour. But the main reason why I want to gently blackmail my friends into reading it by buying it for them, is the information it contains and the message that it spells out. It is an important book. It untangles the facts about HIV and HIV prevention from the myths, which is good. It also shows clearly how ideological/religious/political/economical agendas often play a bigger role than science, which is depressing ... but essential to know. Getting the facts straight, about the infection and about the HIV/AIDS industry, is vital. And in my mind, Elizabeth Pisani is exactly who you should turn to for those facts

Superb! An excelent book for the layman or scholar, 03 Jun 2008

Dr. Pisani is a rarity in that she is a scientist who can write! She is a former journalist turned epidemiologist (aka "epi")working in AIDs research amd prevention. Her book will interest not just those readers concerned with AIDs, but anyone who wants to understand the effect politicians, bureaucrats and competing NGOs(Non-government orgaizaions) have on public health. Often only scientists and academics can grasp the process and explanation of scientific research. Dr. Pisani explains it so clearly that the general reader will understand as well. However, she hasn't "dumbed down' the research process or data analysis. Through out this excellent book she shows a deep respect for the intelligence of her reader. No matter what opinion someone has regarding AIDs and its victims, this book will help improve understanding of the disease, its transmissions, the risks of being infected, and how its spread could be slowed or even stopped. The title may be shocking, but sometimes it take a shock to get many of us to pay attention. Buy this book! Once you start reading you will likely want to continue until you reach the final page!

Witty, no nonsense read, 02 Jun 2008
This makes a subject - HIV prevention and its politics - which is sensitive, both politically and socially, accessible and dare I say, funny. The author communicates complex ideas and statistics with the same refreshing lack of stuffiness she brings to describing sexual networks and practices. If you are considering field work in epidemiology, medicine or any life science, this is a must read as it will show you the potential traps and pitfalls theory, without local knowledge will lead you towards.

Buy This Book! , 05 Dec 2008
I have read this book three times, and I love it. I can't put it down. The subtle humour in it is superb, the story is told very well by his ghost writer (a few minor copy edit mistakes but what the hell) whoever he was.

To anyone familiar with the international offshore banking world as it was before the "war on terror" [sic], you guys will laugh your socks off at the happenings in Hong Kong. Anyone who knows of Patrick Lane and the "Offshore Banking Report" of yore, will be shocked to find the relationship between Howard and him outlined. I suspect some of the knowledge in Dr W G Hill's works came from Patrick, learned from dealings on behalf of Howard Marks.

If international (celebrity interspersed) travel, spending obscene amounts of money, outwitting the authorities, crime stories and the general musings of a jovial Oxford educated cove float your boat, then read this book. If you have some previous understanding of the world it is set in - you will love it even more.

Tall tales from a dubious role model, 20 Jul 2008
Howard Marks has produced an implausible and glamorised account of the sordid world of drug-dealing and smuggling. By attempting to present this disgusting trade as humorous, he encourages gullible young people to admire those who engage in it. He portrays himself as an idealist distributing 'beneficial herbs'. It is more likely, in reality, that he exploited the weaknesses of others from selfish mercenary motives. An unrealistic and potentially harmful book.

El Fantastico!!!, 01 Apr 2008
I recently stumbled upon this autobiography and was immediately drawn to it having previously heard of Howard Marks' exploits from friends and i must say what a fantastic read.

The story basically follows Marks' involvement with hashish and weed and his eventual involvement with global smuggling through the 70's and 80's. The authors ability to depict the wonderful characters that he meets and deals with, included my personal favourite, ex-IRA Jim McCann, means that I found this book impossible to put down. Whilst this book obviously is attractive to the liberal minded amongst us, this book can be thoroughly enjoyed by anyone as Marks' comes across as a thoroughly likeable oxford "chap" who simply lives out a glamarous life that many of us would certainly follow if had the chance. At no point do you genuinely feel that Marks is a mastermind criminal and all i can say is good on you son for pulling one over on the power that be. Fantastic!

Love it!, 26 Feb 2008
He's a devil but i don't know after reading his real story, i like his humanity!

Extraordinary, controversial character., 22 Jan 2008
From the start this book grabs your attention.Howard Marks tells a fascinating tale about his life starting from when he went to university in oxford to becoming an international dope smuggler.
He comes across as a nice friendly human being, so you don't put him in the same category as an evil crack peddler for example.His intelligence and memory for detail is outstanding but not boring.You have to have a good memory yourself for names and places to keep up with whats going on and hang on to the fast moving narrative.Highly recommended...weather you smoke or not.

Down and dirty with what most of us like doing, 23 Sep 2008
The come-on title fronts a detailed account of HIV infection investigations in the field - chiefly among sex-workers and drug-users in Jakarta - and a passionate plea for the large sums now made available for AIDS prevention to be decoupled from self-serving political ideologies such as the US's `abstinence' conditions of aid. Listen to the people on the ground, is the message: see how they behave, target money and expertise to produce demonstrable reductions in transmission rates.

Pisani's re-training in epidemiology is grafted on to a tabloid hack's instinct for the jugular and the visceral metaphor (most women don't like the female condom "because it looks like a supermarket shopping bag stuck up your p***y, with handles hanging out the bottom"), allied to a lucid brain for figures from her Far East financial correspondent days. "When people ask me what I do for a living, I say, `Sex and drugs,'" she starts, disarmingly. The hands-on focus on her own work in Indonesia - the book's most readable, and affecting, sections - doesn't stop her comparing other countries' varying situations ("For the same amount of sleeping around, you now have a greater risk of getting infected if you use a condom every single time you have sex in Swaziland than you do if you never use a condom at all in China"), or from taking a global perspective: "When bishops, presidents and the media poke holes in condoms, they become ineffective."

The Wisdom of Whores has a rushed, provisional feel to it - which actually gives a sense of the speed at which responses to AIDS have developed over the past 20-odd years, and are still developing. Though she has tough words for a lot of decision-makers, she gives honour where it is due, to the talented, dedicated researchers and to some government bodies such as Britain's own DfID. There is wisdom and humour in this book, and essential information, too: the section `Back to Basics' ("Forgive me for getting graphic, but as you probably know sex can be a sticky business.") should be compulsory reading for all secondary-age children.



This is wisdom indeed, 20 Jun 2008
This really is a page-turner, a compulsive read, which is an extraordinary feat for a book about the AIDS epidemic (and I speak as an 'insider' who is punch drunk with writing and reading about this topic). Pisani shoots from the hip, always, which is challenging and stimulating, but she always pins her arguments down with good quality and compelling data. Even when I was happy to find myself saying mentally, "Yes but..." (because it's nice not to feel you are being led by the nose by a good talker!) I found the author answering my queries, settling my doubts, a little further on in the text. I think it's a great book, and an important one -- it forces us to confront our failures in preventing the spread of HIV, so often because of squeamishness, prejudice or lack of courage to acknowledge who is really at risk and why, and unpreparedness to spend the huge dollops of money where it is most needed.

Genuinely enjoy getting the facts straight, 19 Jun 2008
I am seldom found without at least one book close at hand, and end up trying to give books away in order to keep my shelves from collapsing. But I'm not ready to give this one away, I intend to read it again in a while. What I might do, however, is to order a few extra copies and have them delivered to people I know. Why just this one? Because it is one of those books that you come across once in a while, that works on more than one level. It is a book that keeps me turning the pages, with the energy that comes from a genuinely engaging story. Then there is the authors solid knowledge of the topic, and her ability to present it in an accessible way. This is a writer who knows her tools: she knows how to structure a presentation and how to juggle angles to keep it interesting, all in a style that gets the message across clearly and simply, with a strong personality and sense of humour. But the main reason why I want to gently blackmail my friends into reading it by buying it for them, is the information it contains and the message that it spells out. It is an important book. It untangles the facts about HIV and HIV prevention from the myths, which is good. It also shows clearly how ideological/religious/political/economical agendas often play a bigger role than science, which is depressing ... but essential to know. Getting the facts straight, about the infection and about the HIV/AIDS industry, is vital. And in my mind, Elizabeth Pisani is exactly who you should turn to for those facts

Superb! An excelent book for the layman or scholar, 03 Jun 2008

Dr. Pisani is a rarity in that she is a scientist who can write! She is a former journalist turned epidemiologist (aka "epi")working in AIDs research amd prevention. Her book will interest not just those readers concerned with AIDs, but anyone who wants to understand the effect politicians, bureaucrats and competing NGOs(Non-government orgaizaions) have on public health. Often only scientists and academics can grasp the process and explanation of scientific research. Dr. Pisani explains it so clearly that the general reader will understand as well. However, she hasn't "dumbed down' the research process or data analysis. Through out this excellent book she shows a deep respect for the intelligence of her reader. No matter what opinion someone has regarding AIDs and its victims, this book will help improve understanding of the disease, its transmissions, the risks of being infected, and how its spread could be slowed or even stopped. The title may be shocking, but sometimes it take a shock to get many of us to pay attention. Buy this book! Once you start reading you will likely want to continue until you reach the final page!

Witty, no nonsense read, 02 Jun 2008
This makes a subject - HIV prevention and its politics - which is sensitive, both politically and socially, accessible and dare I say, funny. The author communicates complex ideas and statistics with the same refreshing lack of stuffiness she brings to describing sexual networks and practices. If you are considering field work in epidemiology, medicine or any life science, this is a must read as it will show you the potential traps and pitfalls theory, without local knowledge will lead you towards.

A good book, with great problems, 31 Dec 2008
The good: The writing is fast, original, and entertaining. Marya Hornbacher is a great storyteller.

The bad: Despite the blurb, this book glamorises eating disorders. It makes it all seem easy. Marya boasts about losing weight at the drop of a hat (if this were really the case, she'd have gotten thin much faster than she did). She portrays herself as irresistable to men (despite admitting to looking awful because of her anorexia; so I gather the men she slept with must have been a poor lot). She credits herself with too much wit (while in reality her mind must have been utterly dull for most of the time).

I think she's a talented writer, but self-absorbed, hypocritical, and frankly dishonest.

Absolutely brilliant book!, 10 Aug 2008
Wasted
Firstly, let me just say that I don't "do" reviews - in fact this is my first one.

I couldn't put this book down. It moved me, made me laugh, surprised and shocked me. But at the same time I sensed that Marya was not writing with to create sensationalism. She was simply saying how it was. In fact in her prologue she goes on to say how difficult this book was to write but felt that if she could save just one person from going through what she went through then it would be worth it. It wasn't a cathartic journey she was under taking, it wasn't any type of therapy - as she says she pays experts a lot of money for that.

Although I am not anorexic or bulimic I could see how very easily it would have been to go down that road. I have always had a weight problem - well in my eyes anyway, when people said I didn't, to me, that was just people being nice.

Having said that when you read about her childhood she didn't stand much of a chance with regards to her self image. She doesn't say that she had a particularly bad childhood and she loves her Mum and step dad to bits. But I loved the way that she didn't lay it all at there door as so many seem to do these days instead of taking ownership. Sure, the way you're brought up can and will affect the person you become but that doesn't mean you have to drag the same baggage around with you until the day you die.

The very sad part of this, and I am not ashamed to say, that it moved me to tears, is the fact that due to the punishment she put her body through via bingeing, starvation, laxatives and other forms of self-harm she will never live to a ripe old age - in short she has hastened her own funeral.

This book is not just for those of us with eating or weight disorders but anyone that loves a good human interest story, even though there is no happy ending (at least not in the normal sense) it gives us all a greater understanding of the human psyche.

This woman (I forget sometimes she is only 22 at the time of writing) is a real writer with a story to tell a supposed to just someone with a story to tell. I would love to read anything this woman wrote.

Overall I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

A dangerous game, 01 Aug 2008
A graphic account and manual of how to be anorexic or bulmic. This book by Hornbacher is disturbing, not least because of the almost smug way she communicates her story and what one cannot help but think the knowledge that she has been to the dark side and survived. One of the positives is that she does not advocate the there-there approach to anorexia. I have always believed that anorexics know exactly what they are doing in the grip of the illness, but the type of 'fever' the condition demands makes it impossible to pull back and change direction. In many ways this comes across in Hornbacher's work. This book is not suitable for teenages or adolescent women, in fact it is probably not suitable for women under 25.

A Gripping Real Life Tale, 23 Jul 2008
A stunningly written book by Marya Hornbacher about her struggle with eating disorders throughout her life.
At the age of 23 Marya reflects on her life and the turmoil that anorexia and bulimia put her in. She has clearly done a lot of in-depth research into eating disorders and this helps to add another edge to her account. It is an intellectually written, throughly enjoyable book that gives an insight into having an eating disorder, the thoughts and feelings that accompany them and the journey that she went on.
I would recommend this book to anyone that has ever or is suffering from a eating disorder, and family and friends of them.

Outstanding, 26 Apr 2008
The first book i've ever read on anorexia and bullimia and quite possibly the best I'm going to ever read.
Not sentimental, but brilliant, sharp, open, honest, tragic and heart rendering. A story told to educate, rip apart the glamour of eating disorders.
I couldn't put this book down, and while I agree with some of the reviewers that this book could be perseived as a trigger, I think it needs to be read, and i'm sure the author needed to write it.
The author shows anorexia and bullimia in all it's horrors and the iron grip which it has on her to this day. To show us and help us understand that each day is a new day, but that we will always carry the scars of our past with us into the future.

Buy This Book! , 05 Dec 2008
I have read this book three times, and I love it. I can't put it down. The subtle humour in it is superb, the story is told very well by his ghost writer (a few minor copy edit mistakes but what the hell) whoever he was.

To anyone familiar with the international offshore banking world as it was before the "war on terror" [sic], you guys will laugh your socks off at the happenings in Hong Kong. Anyone who knows of Patrick Lane and the "Offshore Banking Report" of yore, will be shocked to find the relationship between Howard and him outlined. I suspect some of the knowledge in Dr W G Hill's works came from Patrick, learned from dealings on behalf of Howard Marks.

If international (celebrity interspersed) travel, spending obscene amounts of money, outwitting the authorities, crime stories and the general musings of a jovial Oxford educated cove float your boat, then read this book. If you have some previous understanding of the world it is set in - you will love it even more.

Tall tales from a dubious role model, 20 Jul 2008
Howard Marks has produced an implausible and glamorised account of the sordid world of drug-dealing and smuggling. By attempting to present this disgusting trade as humorous, he encourages gullible young people to admire those who engage in it. He portrays himself as an idealist distributing 'beneficial herbs'. It is more likely, in reality, that he exploited the weaknesses of others from selfish mercenary motives. An unrealistic and potentially harmful book.

El Fantastico!!!, 01 Apr 2008
I recently stumbled upon this autobiography and was immediately drawn to it having previously heard of Howard Marks' exploits from friends and i must say what a fantastic read.

The story basically follows Marks' involvement with hashish and weed and his eventual involvement with global smuggling through the 70's and 80's. The authors ability to depict the wonderful characters that he meets and deals with, included my personal favourite, ex-IRA Jim McCann, means that I found this book impossible to put down. Whilst this book obviously is attractive to the liberal minded amongst us, this book can be thoroughly enjoyed by anyone as Marks' comes across as a thoroughly likeable oxford "chap" who simply lives out a glamarous life that many of us would certainly follow if had the chance. At no point do you genuinely feel that Marks is a mastermind criminal and all i can say is good on you son for pulling one over on the power that be. Fantastic!

Love it!, 26 Feb 2008
He's a devil but i don't know after reading his real story, i like his humanity!

Extraordinary, controversial character., 22 Jan 2008
From the start this book grabs your attention.Howard Marks tells a fascinating tale about his life starting from when he went to university in oxford to becoming an international dope smuggler.
He comes across as a nice friendly human being, so you don't put him in the same category as an evil crack peddler for example.His intelligence and memory for detail is outstanding but not boring.You have to have a good memory yourself for names and places to keep up with whats going on and hang on to the fast moving narrative.Highly recommended...weather you smoke or not.

Down and dirty with what most of us like doing, 23 Sep 2008
The come-on title fronts a detailed account of HIV infection investigations in the field - chiefly among sex-workers and drug-users in Jakarta - and a passionate plea for the large sums now made available for AIDS prevention to be decoupled from self-serving political ideologies such as the US's `abstinence' conditions of aid. Listen to the people on the ground, is the message: see how they behave, target money and expertise to produce demonstrable reductions in transmission rates.

Pisani's re-training in epidemiology is grafted on to a tabloid hack's instinct for the jugular and the visceral metaphor (most women don't like the female condom "because it looks like a supermarket shopping bag stuck up your p***y, with handles hanging out the bottom"), allied to a lucid brain for figures from her Far East financial correspondent days. "When people ask me what I do for a living, I say, `Sex and drugs,'" she starts, disarmingly. The hands-on focus on her own work in Indonesia - the book's most readable, and affecting, sections - doesn't stop her comparing other countries' varying situations ("For the same amount of sleeping around, you now have a greater risk of getting infected if you use a condom every single time you have sex in Swaziland than you do if you never use a condom at all in China"), or from taking a global perspective: "When bishops, presidents and the media poke holes in condoms, they become ineffective."

The Wisdom of Whores has a rushed, provisional feel to it - which actually gives a sense of the speed at which responses to AIDS have developed over the past 20-odd years, and are still developing. Though she has tough words for a lot of decision-makers, she gives honour where it is due, to the talented, dedicated researchers and to some government bodies such as Britain's own DfID. There is wisdom and humour in this book, and essential information, too: the section `Back to Basics' ("Forgive me for getting graphic, but as you probably know sex can be a sticky business.") should be compulsory reading for all secondary-age children.



This is wisdom indeed, 20 Jun 2008
This really is a page-turner, a compulsive read, which is an extraordinary feat for a book about the AIDS epidemic (and I speak as an 'insider' who is punch drunk with writing and reading about this topic). Pisani shoots from the hip, always, which is challenging and stimulating, but she always pins her arguments down with good quality and compelling data. Even when I was happy to find myself saying mentally, "Yes but..." (because it's nice not to feel you are being led by the nose by a good talker!) I found the author answering my queries, settling my doubts, a little further on in the text. I think it's a great book, and an important one -- it forces us to confront our failures in preventing the spread of HIV, so often because of squeamishness, prejudice or lack of courage to acknowledge who is really at risk and why, and unpreparedness to spend the huge dollops of money where it is most needed.

Genuinely enjoy getting the facts straight, 19 Jun 2008
I am seldom found without at least one book close at hand, and end up trying to give books away in order to keep my shelves from collapsing. But I'm not ready to give this one away, I intend to read it again in a while. What I might do, however, is to order a few extra copies and have them delivered to people I know. Why just this one? Because it is one of those books that you come across once in a while, that works on more than one level. It is a book that keeps me turning the pages, with the energy that comes from a genuinely engaging story. Then there is the authors solid knowledge of the topic, and her ability to present it in an accessible way. This is a writer who knows her tools: she knows how to structure a presentation and how to juggle angles to keep it interesting, all in a style that gets the message across clearly and simply, with a strong personality and sense of humour. But the main reason why I want to gently blackmail my friends into reading it by buying it for them, is the information it contains and the message that it spells out. It is an important book. It untangles the facts about HIV and HIV prevention from the myths, which is good. It also shows clearly how ideological/religious/political/economical agendas often play a bigger role than science, which is depressing ... but essential to know. Getting the facts straight, about the infection and about the HIV/AIDS industry, is vital. And in my mind, Elizabeth Pisani is exactly who you should turn to for those facts

Superb! An excelent book for the layman or scholar, 03 Jun 2008

Dr. Pisani is a rarity in that she is a scientist who can write! She is a former journalist turned epidemiologist (aka "epi")working in AIDs research amd prevention. Her book will interest not just those readers concerned with AIDs, but anyone who wants to understand the effect politicians, bureaucrats and competing NGOs(Non-government orgaizaions) have on public health. Often only scientists and academics can grasp the process and explanation of scientific research. Dr. Pisani explains it so clearly that the general reader will understand as well. However, she hasn't "dumbed down' the research process or data analysis. Through out this excellent book she shows a deep respect for the intelligence of her reader. No matter what opinion someone has regarding AIDs and its victims, this book will help improve understanding of the disease, its transmissions, the risks of being infected, and how its spread could be slowed or even stopped. The title may be shocking, but sometimes it take a shock to get many of us to pay attention. Buy this book! Once you start reading you will likely want to continue until you reach the final page!

Witty, no nonsense read, 02 Jun 2008
This makes a subject - HIV prevention and its politics - which is sensitive, both politically and socially, accessible and dare I say, funny. The author communicates complex ideas and statistics with the same refreshing lack of stuffiness she brings to describing sexual networks and practices. If you are considering field work in epidemiology, medicine or any life science, this is a must read as it will show you the potential traps and pitfalls theory, without local knowledge will lead you towards.

A good book, with great problems, 31 Dec 2008
The good: The writing is fast, original, and entertaining. Marya Hornbacher is a great storyteller.

The bad: Despite the blurb, this book glamorises eating disorders. It makes it all seem easy. Marya boasts about losing weight at the drop of a hat (if this were really the case, she'd have gotten thin much faster than she did). She portrays herself as irresistable to men (despite admitting to looking awful because of her anorexia; so I gather the men she slept with must have been a poor lot). She credits herself with too much wit (while in reality her mind must have been utterly dull for most of the time).

I think she's a talented writer, but self-absorbed, hypocritical, and frankly dishonest.

Absolutely brilliant book!, 10 Aug 2008
Wasted
Firstly, let me just say that I don't "do" reviews - in fact this is my first one.

I couldn't put this book down. It moved me, made me laugh, surprised and shocked me. But at the same time I sensed that Marya was not writing with to create sensationalism. She was simply saying how it was. In fact in her prologue she goes on to say how difficult this book was to write but felt that if she could save just one person from going through what she went through then it would be worth it. It wasn't a cathartic journey she was under taking, it wasn't any type of therapy - as she says she pays experts a lot of money for that.

Although I am not anorexic or bulimic I could see how very easily it would have been to go down that road. I have always had a weight problem - well in my eyes anyway, when people said I didn't, to me, that was just people being nice.

Having said that when you read about her childhood she didn't stand much of a chance with regards to her self image. She doesn't say that she had a particularly bad childhood and she loves her Mum and step dad to bits. But I loved the way that she didn't lay it all at there door as so many seem to do these days instead of taking ownership. Sure, the way you're brought up can and will affect the person you become but that doesn't mean you have to drag the same baggage around with you until the day you die.

The very sad part of this, and I am not ashamed to say, that it moved me to tears, is the fact that due to the punishment she put her body through via bingeing, starvation, laxatives and other forms of self-harm she will never live to a ripe old age - in short she has hastened her own funeral.

This book is not just for those of us with eating or weight disorders but anyone that loves a good human interest story, even though there is no happy ending (at least not in the normal sense) it gives us all a greater understanding of the human psyche.

This woman (I forget sometimes she is only 22 at the time of writing) is a real writer with a story to tell a supposed to just someone with a story to tell. I would love to read anything this woman wrote.

Overall I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

A dangerous game, 01 Aug 2008
A graphic account and manual of how to be anorexic or bulmic. This book by Hornbacher is disturbing, not least because of the almost smug way she communicates her story and what one cannot help but think the knowledge that she has been to the dark side and survived. One of the positives is that she does not advocate the there-there approach to anorexia. I have always believed that anorexics know exactly what they are doing in the grip of the illness, but the type of 'fever' the condition demands makes it impossible to pull back and change direction. In many ways this comes across in Hornbacher's work. This book is not suitable for teenages or adolescent women, in fact it is probably not suitable for women under 25.

A Gripping Real Life Tale, 23 Jul 2008
A stunningly written book by Marya Hornbacher about her struggle with eating disorders throughout her life.
At the age of 23 Marya reflects on her life and the turmoil that anorexia and bulimia put her in. She has clearly done a lot of in-depth research into eating disorders and this helps to add another edge to her account. It is an intellectually written, throughly enjoyable book that gives an insight into having an eating disorder, the thoughts and feelings that accompany them and the journey that she went on.
I would recommend this book to anyone that has ever or is suffering from a eating disorder, and family and friends of them.

Outstanding, 26 Apr 2008
The first book i've ever read on anorexia and bullimia and quite possibly the best I'm going to ever read.
Not sentimental, but brilliant, sharp, open, honest, tragic and heart rendering. A story told to educate, rip apart the glamour of eating disorders.
I couldn't put this book down, and while I agree with some of the reviewers that this book could be perseived as a trigger, I think it needs to be read, and i'm sure the author needed to write it.
The author shows anorexia and bullimia in all it's horrors and the iron grip which it has on her to this day. To show us and help us understand that each day is a new day, but that we will always carry the scars of our past with us into the future.


Proven method for dealing with alcohol problems, 20 Sep 2008
This book has been around since 1939 and it's still the best way of recovering from alcoholism. It's written by alcoholics for alcoholics and has helped more than a million people to recover.

Inspired, 22 Aug 2008
This book, written by a handful of alcoholics who found a way to recover, seems to me to be divinely inspired. I tried every other way I could find to stop drinking. Some of them worked for a while. But just avoiding drink left me feeling so miserable that in the end I always started drinking again. This book is different. It's not just about abstaining from drink. It has shown me a completely different way to live and be happy. If you have a drink problem, buy it, read it, get to meetings, get a sponsor. Save your life.

a spades a spade...a cults a cult...., 12 Jun 2008
while i have no doubt that the individuals who run meetings have a good heart the history of aa & its 'teachings' give pause for thought...


bill wilson (co-founder of aa) is not a guru. he was a narcissistic, womaniser who was also physically & emotionally abusive to his children & wife. he had such an ego that he insisted on writing the chapter 'to wives' in the 'big book' which is written as if by a wife by himself!! he sponged off his own wife for most of his life while bedding newcomers to aa meetings (apparently tolerated by his disciples as he couldn't help it & still at least he was off the demon drink...??) he also took lsd years in to his 'sobriety'. he was definitley a 'do as i say not as i do' kind of a man. if that wasn't enough he was an admirer & follower of frank buchman (oxford group/mra)....who was himself an admirer of facism & its most ugly face - nazism & hitler. to buchman himmler who had furniture made from the bones of concentration victims...was 'just a lad'.

as another reviewer says keep an open mind. take what you need from it to get by & hopefully to help get sober but don't get sucked in by it all.

read the orange papers. they make for very interesting reading...& are very thorough!

orange@orange-papers.org *
* AA and Recovery Cult Debunking *
* http://www.Orange-Papers.org/ *
** The A.A. Plan: "Search out another alcoholic and
** try again. You are sure to find someone desperate
** enough to accept with eagerness what you offer."
** (The Big Book, page 96.)




Historic and pivotal, 20 Nov 2007
It is impossible to overestimate the importance of this book in addressing the age-old problems of alcoholism and other addictions. Prior to its publication in the late 1930s, the vast majority of alcoholics and addicts simply died from the direct or indirect consequences of their condition. Their decline and destruction commonly caused untold suffering to all those who were close to them.

Since that time, increasing numbers of people have been recovering from these disorders and leading happy, purposeful, productive and successful lives. Nowadays, in the anonymous fellowships throughout the world, there are literally millions of people whose restoration to life and sanity is directly attributable to the Twelve Step programme first articulated by the authors of this 'Big Book'.

It is true that, since the early days of the pioneers of recovery, we have learned a great deal more about the nature of addiction. They predicted that this would happen. It is also true that we no longer share all of the cultural assumptions of the original authors. Nevertheless, no more effective way of dealing with addictive disorders has yet been found.

This seminal book is essential reading, not only for people who suffer from any kind of addiction, but also for all professionals who work with them.

Every person who is in recovery is a walking miracle and owes an incalculable debt of gratitude to the authors of this book. I speak as one of those who, from personal experience, knows this to be true.

Best read with a very open mind (but not so wide open that your brain falls out)., 31 Jul 2007
AA as a group of people does tremendously good work helping alcoholics (including myself) get through the first few months after they've decided to put down the bottle, and I have never met such kind and helpful folk as I did during my time in the fellowship. I strongly recommend anyone who has a problem with drinking to approach them and go to meetings. However, this book, and what it leads the recovering alcoholic to believe as gospel truth, is raving madness. It is not just ill-researched: it isn't researched at all, and far from being non-religious it is fudamental Christian indoctrination of the worst kind. By all means go to the AA for help if you want to stop drinking, but don't swallow this codswallop whole or you'll just end up replacing one intrusive addiction with another. AA IS a cult and this is it's Bible, it can take over your life if you let it, and it isn't the only way to stop. It is also very badly written (but we can't go changing Bill's words, now can we?)

Buy This Book! , 05 Dec 2008
I have read this book three times, and I love it. I can't put it down. The subtle humour in it is superb, the story is told very well by his ghost writer (a few minor copy edit mistakes but what the hell) whoever he was.

To anyone familiar with the international offshore banking world as it was before the "war on terror" [sic], you guys will laugh your socks off at the happenings in Hong Kong. Anyone who knows of Patrick Lane and the "Offshore Banking Report" of yore, will be shocked to find the relationship between Howard and him outlined. I suspect some of the knowledge in Dr W G Hill's works came from Patrick, learned from dealings on behalf of Howard Marks.

If international (celebrity interspersed) travel, spending obscene amounts of money, outwitting the authorities, crime stories and the general musings of a jovial Oxford educated cove float your boat, then read this book. If you have some previous understanding of the world it is set in - you will love it even more.

Tall tales from a dubious role model, 20 Jul 2008
Howard Marks has produced an implausible and glamorised account of the sordid world of drug-dealing and smuggling. By attempting to present this disgusting trade as humorous, he encourages gullible young people to admire those who engage in it. He portrays himself as an idealist distributing 'beneficial herbs'. It is more likely, in reality, that he exploited the weaknesses of others from selfish mercenary motives. An unrealistic and potentially harmful book.

El Fantastico!!!, 01 Apr 2008
I recently stumbled upon this autobiography and was immediately drawn to it having previously heard of Howard Marks' exploits from friends and i must say what a fantastic read.

The story basically follows Marks' involvement with hashish and weed and his eventual involvement with global smuggling through the 70's and 80's. The authors ability to depict the wonderful characters that he meets and deals with, included my personal favourite, ex-IRA Jim McCann, means that I found this book impossible to put down. Whilst this book obviously is attractive to the liberal minded amongst us, this book can be thoroughly enjoyed by anyone as Marks' comes across as a thoroughly likeable oxford "chap" who simply lives out a glamarous life that many of us would certainly follow if had the chance. At no point do you genuinely feel that Marks is a mastermind criminal and all i can say is good on you son for pulling one over on the power that be. Fantastic!

Love it!, 26 Feb 2008
He's a devil but i don't know after reading his real story, i like his humanity!

Extraordinary, controversial character., 22 Jan 2008
From the start this book grabs your attention.Howard Marks tells a fascinating tale about his life starting from when he went to university in oxford to becoming an international dope smuggler.
He comes across as a nice friendly human being, so you don't put him in the same category as an evil crack peddler for example.His intelligence and memory for detail is outstanding but not boring.You have to have a good memory yourself for names and places to keep up with whats going on and hang on to the fast moving narrative.Highly recommended...weather you smoke or not.

Down and dirty with what most of us like doing, 23 Sep 2008
The come-on title fronts a detailed account of HIV infection investigations in the field - chiefly among sex-workers and drug-users in Jakarta - and a passionate plea for the large sums now made available for AIDS prevention to be decoupled from self-serving political ideologies such as the US's `abstinence' conditions of aid. Listen to the people on the ground, is the message: see how they behave, target money and expertise to produce demonstrable reductions in transmission rates.

Pisani's re-training in epidemiology is grafted on to a tabloid hack's instinct for the jugular and the visceral metaphor (most women don't like the female condom "because it looks like a supermarket shopping bag stuck up your p***y, with handles hanging out the bottom"), allied to a lucid brain for figures from her Far East financial correspondent days. "When people ask me what I do for a living, I say, `Sex and drugs,'" she starts, disarmingly. The hands-on focus on her own work in Indonesia - the book's most readable, and affecting, sections - doesn't stop her comparing other countries' varying situations ("For the same amount of sleeping around, you now have a greater risk of getting infected if you use a condom every single time you have sex in Swaziland than you do if you never use a condom at all in China"), or from taking a global perspective: "When bishops, presidents and the media poke holes in condoms, they become ineffective."

The Wisdom of Whores has a rushed, provisional feel to it - which actually gives a sense of the speed at which responses to AIDS have developed over the past 20-odd years, and are still developing. Though she has tough words for a lot of decision-makers, she gives honour where it is due, to the talented, dedicated researchers and to some government bodies such as Britain's own DfID. There is wisdom and humour in this book, and essential information, too: the section `Back to Basics' ("Forgive me for getting graphic, but as you probably know sex can be a sticky business.") should be compulsory reading for all secondary-age children.



This is wisdom indeed, 20 Jun 2008
This really is a page-turner, a compulsive read, which is an extraordinary feat for a book about the AIDS epidemic (and I speak as an 'insider' who is punch drunk with writing and reading about this topic). Pisani shoots from the hip, always, which is challenging and stimulating, but she always pins her arguments down with good quality and compelling data. Even when I was happy to find myself saying mentally, "Yes but..." (because it's nice not to feel you are being led by the nose by a good talker!) I found the author answering my queries, settling my doubts, a little further on in the text. I think it's a great book, and an important one -- it forces us to confront our failures in preventing the spread of HIV, so often because of squeamishness, prejudice or lack of courage to acknowledge who is really at risk and why, and unpreparedness to spend the huge dollops of money where it is most needed.

Genuinely enjoy getting the facts straight, 19 Jun 2008
I am seldom found without at least one book close at hand, and end up trying to give books away in order to keep my shelves from collapsing. But I'm not ready to give this one away, I intend to read it again in a while. What I might do, however, is to order a few extra copies and have them delivered to people I know. Why just this one? Because it is one of those books that you come across once in a while, that works on more than one level. It is a book that keeps me turning the pages, with the energy that comes from a genuinely engaging story. Then there is the authors solid knowledge of the topic, and her ability to present it in an accessible way. This is a writer who knows her tools: she knows how to structure a presentation and how to juggle angles to keep it interesting, all in a style that gets the message across clearly and simply, with a strong personality and sense of humour. But the main reason why I want to gently blackmail my friends into reading it by buying it for them, is the information it contains and the message that it spells out. It is an important book. It untangles the facts about HIV and HIV prevention from the myths, which is good. It also shows clearly how ideological/religious/political/economical agendas often play a bigger role than science, which is depressing ... but essential to know. Getting the facts straight, about the infection and about the HIV/AIDS industry, is vital. And in my mind, Elizabeth Pisani is exactly who you should turn to for those facts

Superb! An excelent book for the layman or scholar, 03 Jun 2008

Dr. Pisani is a rarity in that she is a scientist who can write! She is a former journalist turned epidemiologist (aka "epi")working in AIDs research amd prevention. Her book will interest not just those readers concerned with AIDs, but anyone who wants to understand the effect politicians, bureaucrats and competing NGOs(Non-government orgaizaions) have on public health. Often only scientists and academics can grasp the process and explanation of scientific research. Dr. Pisani explains it so clearly that the general reader will understand as well. However, she hasn't "dumbed down' the research process or data analysis. Through out this excellent book she shows a deep respect for the intelligence of her reader. No matter what opinion someone has regarding AIDs and its victims, this book will help improve understanding of the disease, its transmissions, the risks of being infected, and how its spread could be slowed or even stopped. The title may be shocking, but sometimes it take a shock to get many of us to pay attention. Buy this book! Once you start reading you will likely want to continue until you reach the final page!

Witty, no nonsense read, 02 Jun 2008
This makes a subject - HIV prevention and its politics - which is sensitive, both politically and socially, accessible and dare I say, funny. The author communicates complex ideas and statistics with the same refreshing lack of stuffiness she brings to describing sexual networks and practices. If you are considering field work in epidemiology, medicine or any life science, this is a must read as it will show you the potential traps and pitfalls theory, without local knowledge will lead you towards.

A good book, with great problems, 31 Dec 2008
The good: The writing is fast, original, and entertaining. Marya Hornbacher is a great storyteller.

The bad: Despite the blurb, this book glamorises eating disorders. It makes it all seem easy. Marya boasts about losing weight at the drop of a hat (if this were really the case, she'd have gotten thin much faster than she did). She portrays herself as irresistable to men (despite admitting to looking awful because of her anorexia; so I gather the men she slept with must have been a poor lot). She credits herself with too much wit (while in reality her mind must have been utterly dull for most of the time).

I think she's a talented writer, but self-absorbed, hypocritical, and frankly dishonest.

Absolutely brilliant book!, 10 Aug 2008
Wasted
Firstly, let me just say that I don't "do" reviews - in fact this is my first one.

I couldn't put this book down. It moved me, made me laugh, surprised and shocked me. But at the same time I sensed that Marya was not writing with to create sensationalism. She was simply saying how it was. In fact in her prologue she goes on to say how difficult this book was to write but felt that if she could save just one person from going through what she went through then it would be worth it. It wasn't a cathartic journey she was under taking, it wasn't any type of therapy - as she says she pays experts a lot of money for that.

Although I am not anorexic or bulimic I could see how very easily it would have been to go down that road. I have always had a weight problem - well in my eyes anyway, when people said I didn't, to me, that was just people being nice.

Having said that when you read about her childhood she didn't stand much of a chance with regards to her self image. She doesn't say that she had a particularly bad childhood and she loves her Mum and step dad to bits. But I loved the way that she didn't lay it all at there door as so many seem to do these days instead of taking ownership. Sure, the way you're brought up can and will affect the person you become but that doesn't mean you have to drag the same baggage around with you until the day you die.

The very sad part of this, and I am not ashamed to say, that it moved me to tears, is the fact that due to the punishment she put her body through via bingeing, starvation, laxatives and other forms of self-harm she will never live to a ripe old age - in short she has hastened her own funeral.

This book is not just for those of us with eating or weight disorders but anyone that loves a good human interest story, even though there is no happy ending (at least not in the normal sense) it gives us all a greater understanding of the human psyche.

This woman (I forget sometimes she is only 22 at the time of writing) is a real writer with a story to tell a supposed to just someone with a story to tell. I would love to read anything this woman wrote.

Overall I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

A dangerous game, 01 Aug 2008
A graphic account and manual of how to be anorexic or bulmic. This book by Hornbacher is disturbing, not least because of the almost smug way she communicates her story and what one cannot help but think the knowledge that she has been to the dark side and survived. One of the positives is that she does not advocate the there-there approach to anorexia. I have always believed that anorexics know exactly what they are doing in the grip of the illness, but the type of 'fever' the condition demands makes it impossible to pull back and change direction. In many ways this comes across in Hornbacher's work. This book is not suitable for teenages or adolescent women, in fact it is probably not suitable for women under 25.

A Gripping Real Life Tale, 23 Jul 2008
A stunningly written book by Marya Hornbacher about her struggle with eating disorders throughout her life.
At the age of 23 Marya reflects on her life and the turmoil that anorexia and bulimia put her in. She has clearly done a lot of in-depth research into eating disorders and this helps to add another edge to her account. It is an intellectually written, throughly enjoyable book that gives an insight into having an eating disorder, the thoughts and feelings that accompany them and the journey that she went on.
I would recommend this book to anyone that has ever or is suffering from a eating disorder, and family and friends of them.

Outstanding, 26 Apr 2008
The first book i've ever read on anorexia and bullimia and quite possibly the best I'm going to ever read.
Not sentimental, but brilliant, sharp, open, honest, tragic and heart rendering. A story told to educate, rip apart the glamour of eating disorders.
I couldn't put this book down, and while I agree with some of the reviewers that this book could be perseived as a trigger, I think it needs to be read, and i'm sure the author needed to write it.
The author shows anorexia and bullimia in all it's horrors and the iron grip which it has on her to this day. To show us and help us understand that each day is a new day, but that we will always carry the scars of our past with us into the future.


Proven method for dealing with alcohol problems, 20 Sep 2008
This book has been around since 1939 and it's still the best way of recovering from alcoholism. It's written by alcoholics for alcoholics and has helped more than a million people to recover.

Inspired, 22 Aug 2008
This book, written by a handful of alcoholics who found a way to recover, seems to me to be divinely inspired. I tried every other way I could find to stop drinking. Some of them worked for a while. But just avoiding drink left me feeling so miserable that in the end I always started drinking again. This book is different. It's not just about abstaining from drink. It has shown me a completely different way to live and be happy. If you have a drink problem, buy it, read it, get to meetings, get a sponsor. Save your life.

a spades a spade...a cults a cult...., 12 Jun 2008
while i have no doubt that the individuals who run meetings have a good heart the history of aa & its 'teachings' give pause for thought...


bill wilson (co-founder of aa) is not a guru. he was a narcissistic, womaniser who was also physically & emotionally abusive to his children & wife. he had such an ego that he insisted on writing the chapter 'to wives' in the 'big book' which is written as if by a wife by himself!! he sponged off his own wife for most of his life while bedding newcomers to aa meetings (apparently tolerated by his disciples as he couldn't help it & still at least he was off the demon drink...??) he also took lsd years in to his 'sobriety'. he was definitley a 'do as i say not as i do' kind of a man. if that wasn't enough he was an admirer & follower of frank buchman (oxford group/mra)....who was himself an admirer of facism & its most ugly face - nazism & hitler. to buchman himmler who had furniture made from the bones of concentration victims...was 'just a lad'.

as another reviewer says keep an open mind. take what you need from it to get by & hopefully to help get sober but don't get sucked in by it all.

read the orange papers. they make for very interesting reading...& are very thorough!

orange@orange-papers.org *
* AA and Recovery Cult Debunking *
* http://www.Orange-Papers.org/ *
** The A.A. Plan: "Search out another alcoholic and
** try again. You are sure to find someone desperate
** enough to accept with eagerness what you offer."
** (The Big Book, page 96.)




Historic and pivotal, 20 Nov 2007
It is impossible to overestimate the importance of this book in addressing the age-old problems of alcoholism and other addictions. Prior to its publication in the late 1930s, the vast majority of alcoholics and addicts simply died from the direct or indirect consequences of their condition. Their decline and destruction commonly caused untold suffering to all those who were close to them.

Since that time, increasing numbers of people have been recovering from these disorders and leading happy, purposeful, productive and successful lives. Nowadays, in the anonymous fellowships throughout the world, there are literally millions of people whose restoration to life and sanity is directly attributable to the Twelve Step programme first articulated by the authors of this 'Big Book'.

It is true that, since the early days of the pioneers of recovery, we have learned a great deal more about the nature of addiction. They predicted that this would happen. It is also true that we no longer share all of the cultural assumptions of the original authors. Nevertheless, no more effective way of dealing with addictive disorders has yet been found.

This seminal book is essential reading, not only for people who suffer from any kind of addiction, but also for all professionals who work with them.

Every person who is in recovery is a walking miracle and owes an incalculable debt of gratitude to the authors of this book. I speak as one of those who, from personal experience, knows this to be true.

Best read with a very open mind (but not so wide open that your brain falls out)., 31 Jul 2007
AA as a group of people does tremendously good work helping alcoholics (including myself) get through the first few months after they've decided to put down the bottle, and I have never met such kind and helpful folk as I did during my time in the fellowship. I strongly recommend anyone who has a problem with drinking to approach them and go to meetings. However, this book, and what it leads the recovering alcoholic to believe as gospel truth, is raving madness. It is not just ill-researched: it isn't researched at all, and far from being non-religious it is fudamental Christian indoctrination of the worst kind. By all means go to the AA for help if you want to stop drinking, but don't swallow this codswallop whole or you'll just end up replacing one intrusive addiction with another. AA IS a cult and this is it's Bible, it can take over your life if you let it, and it isn't the only way to stop. It is also very badly written (but we can't go changing Bill's words, now can we?)

Compelling stuff, 08 Oct 2002
Terence McKenna .. now sadly dead... was an engaging but oddball apologist for the use of psychotropic drugs, and this book sets out in detail his basic theories.

It is written in breathless style, peppered with fascinating titbits of information about society and its attitudes to drug use. Even sugar comes under the microscope.

As an anarchic but well intentioned intellect, McKenna has few equals. If there is a tragedy about his life, it is that with all his awesome powers of deduction, he failed to gain much of a wider perspective, just about ascribing everything that's human down to the beneficent influence of magic mushrooms.It's a theory. But, as they said of King James 1, this is the work of one of the wisest fools in Christendom.

And, of course, a must-read.

Compelling stuff, 08 Oct 2002
Terence McKenna .. now sadly dead... was an engaging but oddball apologist for the use of psychotropic drugs, and this book sets out in detail his basic theories.

It is written in breathless style, peppered with fascinating titbits of information about society and its attitudes to drug use. Even sugar comes under the microscope.

As an anarchic but well intentioned intellect, McKenna has few equals. If there is a tragedy about his life, it is that with all his awesome powers of deduction, he failed to gain much of a wider perspective, just about ascribing everything that's human down to the beneficent influence of magic mushrooms.It's a theory. But, as they said of King James 1, this is the work of one of the wisest fools in Christendom.

And, of course, a must-read.

A political Nutmeg of a book, 20 Sep 1999
This book does take a very pro-drug taking stance. But it delivers a message to the drug takers, drug abusers and traffickers, that has probably been overlooked by them all. Intoxicating Plants and Drugs are for the enhancement of your skills as a conscious creature. The enjoyment from them should come from the satisfaction of what you as this entity can achieve.

Unfortunately this message seems to have fallen upon deaf ears in the populous of the world.

An eloquent exploration of the origin of human consciousness, 13 Aug 1999
This book takes the reader from the first faltering footsteps of humanity to the advanced states of consciousness involved with the ingestion of entheogenic plants and fungi in a clear and eloquent fashion. McKenna argues Wasson's theory on Soma in a believable and educated way. Easy to read and a great workout for the mind. Should be in every school, library and bookcase.

Buy This Book! , 05 Dec 2008
I have read this book three times, and I love it. I can't put it down. The subtle humour in it is superb, the story is told very well by his ghost writer (a few minor copy edit mistakes but what the hell) whoever he was.

To anyone familiar with the international offshore banking world as it was before the "war on terror" [sic], you guys will laugh your socks off at the happenings in Hong Kong. Anyone who knows of Patrick Lane and the "Offshore Banking Report" of yore, will be shocked to find the relationship between Howard and him outlined. I suspect some of the knowledge in Dr W G Hill's works came from Patrick, learned from dealings on behalf of Howard Marks.

If international (celebrity interspersed) travel, spending obscene amounts of money, outwitting the authorities, crime stories and the general musings of a jovial Oxford educated cove float your boat, then read this book. If you have some previous understanding of the world it is set in - you will love it even more.

Tall tales from a dubious role model, 20 Jul 2008
Howard Marks has produced an implausible and glamorised account of the sordid world of drug-dealing and smuggling. By attempting to present this disgusting trade as humorous, he encourages gullible young people to admire those who engage in it. He portrays himself as an idealist distributing 'beneficial herbs'. It is more likely, in reality, that he exploited the weaknesses of others from selfish mercenary motives. An unrealistic and potentially harmful book.

El Fantastico!!!, 01 Apr 2008
I recently stumbled upon this autobiography and was immediately drawn to it having previously heard of Howard Marks' exploits from friends and i must say what a fantastic read.

The story basically follows Marks' involvement with hashish and weed and his eventual involvement with global smuggling through the 70's and 80's. The authors ability to depict the wonderful characters that he meets and deals with, included my personal favourite, ex-IRA Jim McCann, means that I found this book impossible to put down. Whilst this book obviously is attractive to the liberal minded amongst us, this book can be thoroughly enjoyed by anyone as Marks' comes across as a thoroughly likeable oxford "chap" who simply lives out a glamarous life that many of us would certainly follow if had the chance. At no point do you genuinely feel that Marks is a mastermind criminal and all i can say is good on you son for pulling one over on the power that be. Fantastic!

Love it!, 26 Feb 2008
He's a devil but i don't know after reading his real story, i like his humanity!

Extraordinary, controversial character., 22 Jan 2008
From the start this book grabs your attention.Howard Marks tells a fascinating tale about his life starting from when he went to university in oxford to becoming an international dope smuggler.
He comes across as a nice friendly human being, so you don't put him in the same category as an evil crack peddler for example.His intelligence and memory for detail is outstanding but not boring.You have to have a good memory yourself for names and places to keep up with whats going on and hang on to the fast moving narrative.Highly recommended...weather you smoke or not.

Down and dirty with what most of us like doing, 23 Sep 2008
The come-on title fronts a detailed account of HIV infection investigations in the field - chiefly among sex-workers and drug-users in Jakarta - and a passionate plea for the large sums now made available for AIDS prevention to be decoupled from self-serving political ideologies such as the US's `abstinence' conditions of aid. Listen to the people on the ground, is the message: see how they behave, target money and expertise to produce demonstrable reductions in transmission rates.

Pisani's re-training in epidemiology is grafted on to a tabloid hack's instinct for the jugular and the visceral metaphor (most women don't like the female condom "because it looks like a supermarket shopping bag stuck up your p***y, with handles hanging out the bottom"), allied to a lucid brain for figures from her Far East financial correspondent days. "When people ask me what I do for a living, I say, `Sex and drugs,'" she starts, disarmingly. The hands-on focus on her own work in Indonesia - the book's most readable, and affecting, sections - doesn't stop her comparing other countries' varying situations ("For the same amount of sleeping around, you now have a greater risk of getting infected if you use a condom every single time you have sex in Swaziland than you do if you never use a condom at all in China"), or from taking a global perspective: "When bishops, presidents and the media poke holes in condoms, they become ineffective."

The Wisdom of Whores has a rushed, provisional feel to it - which actually gives a sense of the speed at which responses to AIDS have developed over the past 20-odd years, and are still developing. Though she has tough words for a lot of decision-makers, she gives honour where it is due, to the talented, dedicated researchers and to some government bodies such as Britain's own DfID. There is wisdom and humour in this book, and essential information, too: the section `Back to Basics' ("Forgive me for getting graphic, but as you probably know sex can be a sticky business.") should be compulsory reading for all secondary-age children.



This is wisdom indeed, 20 Jun 2008
This really is a page-turner, a compulsive read, which is an extraordinary feat for a book about the AIDS epidemic (and I speak as an 'insider' who is punch drunk with writing and reading about this topic). Pisani shoots from the hip, always, which is challenging and stimulating, but she always pins her arguments down with good quality and compelling data. Even when I was happy to find myself saying mentally, "Yes but..." (because it's nice not to feel you are being led by the nose by a good talker!) I found the author answering my queries, settling my doubts, a little further on in the text. I think it's a great book, and an important one -- it forces us to confront our failures in preventing the spread of HIV, so often because of squeamishness, prejudice or lack of courage to acknowledge who is really at risk and why, and unpreparedness to spend the huge dollops of money where it is most needed.

Genuinely enjoy getting the facts straight, 19 Jun 2008
I am seldom found without at least one book close at hand, and end up trying to give books away in order to keep my shelves from collapsing. But I'm not ready to give this one away, I intend to read it again in a while. What I might do, however, is to order a few extra copies and have them delivered to people I know. Why just this one? Because it is one of those books that you come across once in a while, that works on more than one level. It is a book that keeps me turning the pages, with the energy that comes from a genuinely engaging story. Then there is the authors solid knowledge of the topic, and her ability to present it in an accessible way. This is a writer who knows her tools: she knows how to structure a presentation and how to juggle angles to keep it interesting, all in a style that gets the message across clearly and simply, with a strong personality and sense of humour. But the main reason why I want to gently blackmail my friends into reading it by buying it for them, is the information it contains and the message that it spells out. It is an important book. It untangles the facts about HIV and HIV prevention from the myths, which is good. It also shows clearly how ideological/religious/political/economical agendas often play a bigger role than science, which is depressing ... but essential to know. Getting the facts straight, about the infection and about the HIV/AIDS industry, is vital. And in my mind, Elizabeth Pisani is exactly who you should turn to for those facts

Superb! An excelent book for the layman or scholar, 03 Jun 2008

Dr. Pisani is a rarity in that she is a scientist who can write! She is a former journalist turned epidemiologist (aka "epi")working in AIDs research amd prevention. Her book will interest not just those readers concerned with AIDs, but anyone who wants to understand the effect politicians, bureaucrats and competing NGOs(Non-government orgaizaions) have on public health. Often only scientists and academics can grasp the process and explanation of scientific research. Dr. Pisani explains it so clearly that the general reader will understand as well. However, she hasn't "dumbed down' the research process or data analysis. Through out this excellent book she shows a deep respect for the intelligence of her reader. No matter what opinion someone has regarding AIDs and its victims, this book will help improve understanding of the disease, its transmissions, the risks of being infected, and how its spread could be slowed or even stopped. The title may be shocking, but sometimes it take a shock to get many of us to pay attention. Buy this book! Once you start reading you will likely want to continue until you reach the final page!

Witty, no nonsense read, 02 Jun 2008
This makes a subject - HIV prevention and its politics - which is sensitive, both politically and socially, accessible and dare I say, funny. The author communicates complex ideas and statistics with the same refreshing lack of stuffiness she brings to describing sexual networks and practices. If you are considering field work in epidemiology, medicine or any life science, this is a must read as it will show you the potential traps and pitfalls theory, without local knowledge will lead you towards.

A good book, with great problems, 31 Dec 2008
The good: The writing is fast, original, and entertaining. Marya Hornbacher is a great storyteller.

The bad: Despite the blurb, this book glamorises eating disorders. It makes it all seem easy. Marya boasts about losing weight at the drop of a hat (if this were really the case, she'd have gotten thin much faster than she did). She portrays herself as irresistable to men (despite admitting to looking awful because of her anorexia; so I gather the men she slept with must have been a poor lot). She credits herself with too much wit (while in reality her mind must have been utterly dull for most of the time).

I think she's a talented writer, but self-absorbed, hypocritical, and frankly dishonest.

Absolutely brilliant book!, 10 Aug 2008
Wasted
Firstly, let me just say that I don't "do" reviews - in fact this is my first one.

I couldn't put this book down. It moved me, made me laugh, surprised and shocked me. But at the same time I sensed that Marya was not writing with to create sensationalism. She was simply saying how it was. In fact in her prologue she goes on to say how difficult this book was to write but felt that if she could save just one person from going through what she went through then it would be worth it. It wasn't a cathartic journey she was under taking, it wasn't any type of therapy - as she says she pays experts a lot of money for that.

Although I am not anorexic or bulimic I could see how very easily it would have been to go down that road. I have always had a weight problem - well in my eyes anyway, when people said I didn't, to me, that was just people being nice.

Having said that when you read about her childhood she didn't stand much of a chance with regards to her self image. She doesn't say that she had a particularly bad childhood and she loves her Mum and step dad to bits. But I loved the way that she didn't lay it all at there door as so many seem to do these days instead of taking ownership. Sure, the way you're brought up can and will affect the person you become but that doesn't mean you have to drag the same baggage around with you until the day you die.

The very sad part of this, and I am not ashamed to say, that it moved me to tears, is the fact that due to the punishment she put her body through via bingeing, starvation, laxatives and other forms of self-harm she will never live to a ripe old age - in short she has hastened her own funeral.

This book is not just for those of us with eating or weight disorders but anyone that loves a good human interest story, even though there is no happy ending (at least not in the normal sense) it gives us all a greater understanding of the human psyche.

This woman (I forget sometimes she is only 22 at the time of writing) is a real writer with a story to tell a supposed to just someone with a story to tell. I would love to read anything this woman wrote.

Overall I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

A dangerous game, 01 Aug 2008
A graphic account and manual of how to be anorexic or bulmic. This book by Hornbacher is disturbing, not least because of the almost smug way she communicates her story and what one cannot help but think the knowledge that she has been to the dark side and survived. One of the positives is that she does not advocate the there-there approach to anorexia. I have always believed that anorexics know exactly what they are doing in the grip of the illness, but the type of 'fever' the condition demands makes it impossible to pull back and change direction. In many ways this comes across in Hornbacher's work. This book is not suitable for teenages or adolescent women, in fact it is probably not suitable for women under 25.

A Gripping Real Life Tale, 23 Jul 2008
A stunningly written book by Marya Hornbacher about her struggle with eating disorders throughout her life.
At the age of 23 Marya reflects on her life and the turmoil that anorexia and bulimia put her in. She has clearly done a lot of in-depth research into eating disorders and this helps to add another edge to her account. It is an intellectually written, throughly enjoyable book that gives an insight into having an eating disorder, the thoughts and feelings that accompany them and the journey that she went on.
I would recommend this book to anyone that has ever or is suffering from a eating disorder, and family and friends of them.

Outstanding, 26 Apr 2008
The first book i've ever read on anorexia and bullimia and quite possibly the best I'm going to ever read.
Not sentimental, but brilliant, sharp, open, honest, tragic and heart rendering. A story told to educate, rip apart the glamour of eating disorders.
I couldn't put this book down, and while I agree with some of the reviewers that this book could be perseived as a trigger, I think it needs to be read, and i'm sure the author needed to write it.
The author shows anorexia and bullimia in all it's horrors and the iron grip which it has on her to this day. To show us and help us understand that each day is a new day, but that we will always carry the scars of our past with us into the future.


Proven method for dealing with alcohol problems, 20 Sep 2008
This book has been around since 1939 and it's still the best way of recovering from alcoholism. It's written by alcoholics for alcoholics and has helped more than a million people to recover.

Inspired, 22 Aug 2008
This book, written by a handful of alcoholics who found a way to recover, seems to me to be divinely inspired. I tried every other way I could find to stop drinking. Some of them worked for a while. But just avoiding drink left me feeling so miserable that in the end I always started drinking again. This book is different. It's not just about abstaining from drink. It has shown me a completely different way to live and be happy. If you have a drink problem, buy it, read it, get to meetings, get a sponsor. Save your life.

a spades a spade...a cults a cult...., 12 Jun 2008
while i have no doubt that the individuals who run meetings have a good heart the history of aa & its 'teachings' give pause for thought...


bill wilson (co-founder of aa) is not a guru. he was a narcissistic, womaniser who was also physically & emotionally abusive to his children & wife. he had such an ego that he insisted on writing the chapter 'to wives' in the 'big book' which is written as if by a wife by himself!! he sponged off his own wife for most of his life while bedding newcomers to aa meetings (apparently tolerated by his disciples as he couldn't help it & still at least he was off the demon drink...??) he also took lsd years in to his 'sobriety'. he was definitley a 'do as i say not as i do' kind of a man. if that wasn't enough he was an admirer & follower of frank buchman (oxford group/mra)....who was himself an admirer of facism & its most ugly face - nazism & hitler. to buchman himmler who had furniture made from the bones of concentration victims...was 'just a lad'.

as another reviewer says keep an open mind. take what you need from it to get by & hopefully to help get sober but don't get sucked in by it all.

read the orange papers. they make for very interesting reading...& are very thorough!

orange@orange-papers.org *
* AA and Recovery Cult Debunking *
* http://www.Orange-Papers.org/ *
** The A.A. Plan: "Search out another alcoholic and
** try again. You are sure to find someone desperate
** enough to accept with eagerness what you offer."
** (The Big Book, page 96.)




Historic and pivotal, 20 Nov 2007
It is impossible to overestimate the importance of this book in addressing the age-old problems of alcoholism and other addictions. Prior to its publication in the late 1930s, the vast majority of alcoholics and addicts simply died from the direct or indirect consequences of their condition. Their decline and destruction commonly caused untold suffering to all those who were close to them.

Since that time, increasing numbers of people have been recovering from these disorders and leading happy, purposeful, productive and successful lives. Nowadays, in the anonymous fellowships throughout the world, there are literally millions of people whose restoration to life and sanity is directly attributable to the Twelve Step programme first articulated by the authors of this 'Big Book'.

It is true that, since the early days of the pioneers of recovery, we have learned a great deal more about the nature of addiction. They predicted that this would happen. It is also true that we no longer share all of the cultural assumptions of the original authors. Nevertheless, no more effective way of dealing with addictive disorders has yet been found.

This seminal book is essential reading, not only for people who suffer from any kind of addiction, but also for all professionals who work with them.

Every person who is in recovery is a walking miracle and owes an incalculable debt of gratitude to the authors of this book. I speak as one of those who, from personal experience, knows this to be true.

Best read with a very open mind (but not so wide open that your brain falls out)., 31 Jul 2007
AA as a group of people does tremendously good work helping alcoholics (including myself) get through the first few months after they've decided to put down the bottle, and I have never met such kind and helpful folk as I did during my time in the fellowship. I strongly recommend anyone who has a problem with drinking to approach them and go to meetings. However, this book, and what it leads the recovering alcoholic to believe as gospel truth, is raving madness. It is not just ill-researched: it isn't researched at all, and far from being non-religious it is fudamental Christian indoctrination of the worst kind. By all means go to the AA for help if you want to stop drinking, but don't swallow this codswallop whole or you'll just end up replacing one intrusive addiction with another. AA IS a cult and this is it's Bible, it can take over your life if you let it, and it isn't the only way to stop. It is also very badly written (but we can't go changing Bill's words, now can we?)

Compelling stuff, 08 Oct 2002
Terence McKenna .. now sadly dead... was an engaging but oddball apologist for the use of psychotropic drugs, and this book sets out in detail his basic theories.

It is written in breathless style, peppered with fascinating titbits of information about society and its attitudes to drug use. Even sugar comes under the microscope.

As an anarchic but well intentioned intellect, McKenna has few equals. If there is a tragedy about his life, it is that with all his awesome powers of deduction, he failed to gain much of a wider perspective, just about ascribing everything that's human down to the beneficent influence of magic mushrooms.It's a theory. But, as they said of King James 1, this is the work of one of the wisest fools in Christendom.

And, of course, a must-read.

Compelling stuff, 08 Oct 2002
Terence McKenna .. now sadly dead... was an engaging but oddball apologist for the use of psychotropic drugs, and this book sets out in detail his basic theories.

It is written in breathless style, peppered with fascinating titbits of information about society and its attitudes to drug use. Even sugar comes under the microscope.

As an anarchic but well intentioned intellect, McKenna has few equals. If there is a tragedy about his life, it is that with all his awesome powers of deduction, he failed to gain much of a wider perspective, just about ascribing everything that's human down to the beneficent influence of magic mushrooms.It's a theory. But, as they said of King James 1, this is the work of one of the wisest fools in Christendom.

And, of course, a must-read.

A political Nutmeg of a book, 20 Sep 1999
This book does take a very pro-drug taking stance. But it delivers a message to the drug takers, drug abusers and traffickers, that has probably been overlooked by them all. Intoxicating Plants and Drugs are for the enhancement of your skills as a conscious creature. The enjoyment from them should come from the satisfaction of what you as this entity can achieve.

Unfortunately this message seems to have fallen upon deaf ears in the populous of the world.

An eloquent exploration of the origin of human consciousness, 13 Aug 1999
This book takes the reader from the first faltering footsteps of humanity to the advanced states of consciousness involved with the ingestion of entheogenic plants and fungi in a clear and eloquent fashion. McKenna argues Wasson's theory on Soma in a believable and educated way. Easy to read and a great workout for the mind. Should be in every school, library and bookcase.

This 'edition' is not AA approved., 20 Mar 2008
Amazon has an unhelpful habit of transferring reviews between different editions. This review, therefore, refers ONLY to the "First Edition" published by Editorial Benei Noaj.

Please note that it is NOT a First Edition of the AA 'Big Book'. It is not even a facsimile of the First Edition. It merely reproduces the text of the first edition in order to make money for 'Editorial Benei Noaj' (Editorial WHO???). All other genuine editions of the Big Book (properly called 'Alcoholics Anonymous') are worthy of at least five stars.

Do not buy 'versions' by other publishers. Buy the 4th edition approved by AA World Services. It contains all the material in the first edition, together with some conference approved updates.

Avoid the fakes.

The solution to your insoluble drinking problem...., 20 Jan 2006
I read this book on a daily basis as part of my sustained recovery from alcholism. If you think you have a problem with drink then I suggest you read the chapter title The Doctors Opinion, this will give you clarification of your condition.

With this book, a Sponsor (you can get one of these at an AA meeting) and a open mind you can have life far better than anything you have known before. You need never drink again.

THE BIG BOOK- A manual for living.........., 06 Nov 2003
Whenever I first enter Alcoholics Annoymous it was suggested that I get a copy of the Big Book, as it would help me to recover and learn who I am, and have yet to become.

At first I was very contemptious. How could a book save my live!!! Well I believe that today I am living proof of that statement.

Within the big book not only did I find answers to my problems, but I aslo found the solutions and the way I could apply them practically to my life and receive the benefits.

At first I was too literal with the language used, but that soon changed and I also used a dictionary to help me understand my new language.

The first 164 pages are the same reguardless of what edition you read or buy, as they have remaind the same since the first printing in 1939. The personal stories at the back are the only difference, as these have been chosen to represent the current members to help everyone get identification on how the practical 12 step recovery programme can give life a new meaning and hope.

All I ask of anyone who is going to read this book is that they don't judge anyone or anything in the first reading as it will take time and application to full appreciate this masterpiece.

I wish each reader old and new a wonderful journey.

This book and its programnme has saved my life!, 02 Nov 2000
I am an alcoholic and after trying many treatments and therapies over a number of years I had all but given up hope of ever having a productive and alcohol free life. I then discovered A.A. and its 12 step programme. My life has changed beyond recognition and I now am happy and with a high level of self worth and a belief in a power greater than myself. This book encapsulates the entire theory and practice of the twelve step programme and is worth its weight in gold, although I do believe that the reader will be deprived of the full bnenefit of its teachings if they do not simultaneously attend A.A. meetings. An absolute must read for anyone with an alcohol problem. Mark J.