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April 1989

The Book Carries the Message

The "chip of a book. . .launched on the world tide of alcoholism" has been carried around the world, bringing AA's message of recovery to once-hopeless drunks. In the process, it has become a best-seller. The five-millionth copy was presented to Bill W.'s nonalcoholic secretary Ruth Hock (who typed the original manuscript) at AA's 50th Anniversary International Convention in Montreal in 1985. The chart at the right reflects sales of the English Big Book (including the paperback version published in November 1985), but not the 15 published foreign-language translations.

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