The Varieties Of AA Literature

There was a period in my life when the Big Book was the only thing I read--over and over again. I was a little wary of the book at first. Young when I joined AA, I was overly interested in being modern and cool. In the first paragraph of one of the stories, the author noted, "My father was a railroad man and a Civil War veteran." That stopped me. A Civil War veteran? What kind of an old-fashioned outfit was I getting into? The story section has since been updated, and I appreciate AA's willingness to revise its literature--not its basic message--to appeal to new generations of alcoholics.