2022/06/28

Alcoholics Anonymous - Wikipedia

Alcoholics Anonymous - Wikipedia

Alcoholics Anonymous

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Alcoholics Anonymous
The book cover of Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th edition. AA derives its name from the title of this book.
The book cover of Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th edition. AA derives its name from the title of this book.
NicknameAA
Formation1935; 87 years ago
Founded atAkron, Ohio
TypeMutual-help addiction recovery twelve-step program
HeadquartersNew York, New York
Membership (2020)
2,100,000
Key people
Bill Wilson, Bob Smith
Websiteaa.org

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program.[1][2][3] Following its Twelve Traditions, AA and autonomous AA groups are self-supporting through the strictly voluntary contributions from members only. The Traditions also establish AA as non-professional, non-denominational, and apolitical, with an avowed desire to stop drinking as its sole requirement for membership.[1][2][4] Though AA has not endorsed the disease model of alcoholism, to which its program is nonetheless sympathetic, its wider acceptance is partly due to many members independently promulgating it.[5] A recent scientific review shows that by many measures AA does as well or better than other clinical interventions or no treatment. In particular, AA produces better abstinence rates with lower medical costs.[6][7][8] As of 2020, having spread to diverse cultures, including geopolitical areas normally resistant to grassroots movements, AA has estimated its worldwide membership to be over two million with 75% of those in the U.S. and Canada.[9][10]

AA marks 1935 for its founding when Wall Street analyst and newly recovering alcoholic Bill Wilson (Bill W.), then reeling from a failed proxy fight, sought to stay sober by commiserating with detoxing surgeon Bob Smith (Dr. Bob). Wilson put to Smith that alcoholism was not a failure of will or morals, but a malady from which he had recovered as a member of the Christian revivalist Oxford Group.[11] After leaving the Oxford Group to form a fellowship of alcoholics only, Wilson and Smith, along with other early members, wrote Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism, from which AA acquired its name. Published in 1939 and commonly called "the Big Book", it contains AA's Twelve Step recovery program.[12] Later editions included the Twelve Traditions, first adopted in 1946 to formalize and unify the fellowship as a "benign anarchy".[12]

The Twelve Steps are presented as a suggested self-improvement program of initially admitting powerlessness over alcohol and acknowledging its damage, the listing of and striving to correct personal failings, the making of amends for past misdeeds, and, in order to stay recovered, the pursuit of continued spiritual development while helping other alcoholics towards sobriety through the Steps. The Steps also suggest the healing aid of an unspecified God—"as we understood Him"—but are accommodating to agnostic, atheist, and other non-theist members.[4]

The Twelve Traditions are guidelines for AA as a whole, as well as for how members and groups should interact within AA and advising on conduct as to how it might affect AA "as a whole". Besides making a self declaration of being an alcoholic the only requirement to join, the Traditions hold that dogma and hierarchies are to be avoided and that "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions"; without threat of retribution or means of enforcement, they urge members to remain anonymous in public media To keep out of public controversy, they declare that AA will have no opinions on outside issues or involvement with other causes, and that members or groups should not use AA to gain wealth, property or prestige. Within AA its groups are autonomous and self-supporting—declining outside contributions, but they are barred from lending the AA name or financial assistance or any kind of support to other entities or causes.[13][14][15]

With AA's permission, subsequent fellowships such as Narcotics Anonymous and Gamblers Anonymous have adapted the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions to their addiction recovery programs.[14]

History[edit]

Main article: History of Alcoholics Anonymous
Sobriety token or "chip", given for specified lengths of sobriety, on the back is the Serenity Prayer. Here green is for six months of sobriety; purple is for nine months.

AA sprang from the Oxford Group, a non-denominational, altruistic movement modeled after first-century Christianity.[16] Some members founded the group to help in maintaining sobriety. "Grouper" Ebby Thacher and former drinking buddy approached Wilson saying that he had "got religion", was sober, and that Wilson could do the same if he set aside objections and instead formed a personal idea of God, "another power" or "higher power".[17][18]

Feeling a "kinship of common suffering" and, though drunk, Wilson attended his first group gathering. Within days, Wilson admitted himself to the Charles B. Towns Hospital after drinking four beers on the way—the last alcohol he ever drank. Under the care of William Duncan Silkworth (an early benefactor of AA), Wilson's detox included the deliriant belladonna.[19] At the hospital, a despairing Wilson experienced a bright flash of light, which he felt to be God revealing himself.[20] Following his hospital discharge, Wilson joined the Oxford Group and recruited other alcoholics to the group. Wilson's early efforts to help others become sober were ineffective, prompting Silkworth to suggest that Wilson place less stress on religion and more on the science of treating alcoholism. Wilson's first success came during a business trip to Akron, Ohio, where he was introduced to Robert Smith, a surgeon and Oxford Group member who was unable to stay sober. After thirty days of working with Wilson, Smith drank his last drink on 10 June 1935, the date marked by AA for its anniversaries.[21]

The first female member, Florence Rankin, joined AA in March 1937,[22][23] and the first non-Protestant member, a Roman Catholic, joined in 1939.[24] The first Black AA group was established in 1945 in Washington, D.C. by Jim S., an African-American physician from Virginia.[25][26]

The Big Book, the Twelve Steps, and the Twelve Traditions[edit]

To share their method, Wilson and other members wrote the initially-titled book, Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism,[27] from which AA drew its name. Informally known as "The Big Book" (with its first 164 pages virtually unchanged since the 1939 edition), it suggests a twelve-step program in which members admit that they are powerless over alcohol and need help from a "higher power". They seek guidance and strength through prayer and meditation from God or a Higher Power of their own understanding; take a moral inventory with care to include resentments; list and become ready to remove character defects; list and make amends to those harmed; continue to take a moral inventory, pray, meditate, and try to help other alcoholics recover. The second half of the book, "Personal Stories" (subject to additions, removal, and retitling in subsequent editions), is made of AA members' redemptive autobiographical sketches.[28]

In 1941, interviews on American radio and favorable articles in US magazines, including a piece by Jack Alexander in The Saturday Evening Post, led to increased book sales and membership.[29] By 1946, as the growing fellowship quarreled over structure, purpose, and authority, as well as finances and publicity, Wilson began to form and promote what became known as AA's "Twelve Traditions," which are guidelines for an altruistic, unaffiliated, non-coercive, and non-hierarchical structure that limited AA's purpose to only helping alcoholics on a non-professional level while shunning publicity. Eventually, he gained formal adoption and inclusion of the Twelve Traditions in all future editions of the Big Book.[13] At the 1955 conference in St. Louis, Missouri, Wilson relinquished stewardship of AA to the General Service Conference,[30] as AA grew to millions of members internationally.[31]

Organization and finances[edit]

Main article: Twelve Traditions
A regional service center for Alcoholics Anonymous

AA says it is "not organized in the formal or political sense",[31] and Bill Wilson, borrowing the phrase from anarchist theorist Peter Kropotkin, called it a "benign anarchy".[32] In Ireland, Shane Butler said that AA "looks like it couldn't survive as there's no leadership or top-level telling local cumanns what to do, but it has worked and proved itself extremely robust". Butler explained that "AA's 'inverted pyramid' style of governance has helped it to avoid many of the pitfalls that political and religious institutions have encountered since it was established here in 1946."[33]

In 2018, AA counted 2,087,840 members and 120,300 AA groups worldwide.[31] The Twelve Traditions informally guide how individual AA groups function, and the Twelve Concepts for World Service guide how the organization is structured globally.[34]

A member who accepts a service position or an organizing role is a "trusted servant" with terms rotating and limited, typically lasting three months to two years and determined by group vote and the nature of the position. Each group is a self-governing entity with AA World Services acting only in an advisory capacity. AA is served entirely by alcoholics, except for seven "nonalcoholic friends of the fellowship" of the 21-member AA Board of Trustees.[31]

AA groups are self-supporting, relying on voluntary donations from members to cover expenses.[31] The AA General Service Office (GSO) limits contributions to US$3,000 a year.[35] Above the group level, AA may hire outside professionals for services that require specialized expertise or full-time responsibilities.[13]

Like individual groups, the GSO is self-supporting. AA receives proceeds from books and literature that constitute more than 50% of the income for its General Service Office.[36] In keeping with AA's Seventh Tradition, the Central Office is fully self-supporting through the sale of literature and related products, and the voluntary donations of AA members and groups. It does not accept donations from people or organizations outside of AA.

In keeping with AA's Eighth Tradition, the Central Office employs special workers who are compensated financially for their services, but their services do not include traditional "12th Step" work of working with alcoholics in need.[37] All 12th Step calls that come to the Central Office are handed to sober AA members who have volunteered to handle these calls. It also maintains service centers, which coordinate activities such as printing literature, responding to public inquiries, and organizing conferences. Other International General Service Offices (Australia, Costa Rica, Russia, etc.) are independent of AA World Services in New York.[38]

Program[edit]

See also: Twelve-step program § Twelve Steps

AA's program extends beyond abstaining from alcohol.[39] Its goal is to effect enough change in the alcoholic's thinking "to bring about recovery from alcoholism"[40] through "an entire psychic change," or spiritual awakening.[41] A spiritual awakening is meant to be achieved by taking the Twelve Steps,[42] and sobriety is furthered by volunteering for AA[43] and regular AA meeting attendance[44] or contact with AA members.[42] Members are encouraged to find an experienced fellow alcoholic, called a sponsor, to help them understand and follow the AA program. The sponsor should preferably have experience of all twelve of the steps, be the same sex as the sponsored person, and refrain from imposing personal views on the sponsored person.[43] Following the helper therapy principle, sponsors in AA may benefit from their relationship with their charges, as "helping behaviors" correlate with increased abstinence and lower probabilities of binge drinking.[45]

AA's program is an inheritor of Counter-Enlightenment philosophy. AA shares the view that acceptance of one's inherent limitations is critical to finding one's proper place among other humans and God. Such ideas are described as "Counter-Enlightenment" because they are contrary to the Enlightenment's ideal that humans have the capacity to make their lives and societies a heaven on Earth using their own power and reason.[39] After evaluating AA's literature and observing AA meetings for sixteen months, sociologists David R. Rudy and Arthur L. Greil found that for an AA member to remain sober a high level of commitment is necessary. This commitment is facilitated by a change in the member's worldview. To help members stay sober AA must, they argue, provide an all-encompassing worldview while creating and sustaining an atmosphere of transcendence in the organization. To be all-encompassing AA's ideology emphasizes tolerance rather than a narrow religious worldview that could make the organization unpalatable to potential members and thereby limit its effectiveness. AA's emphasis on the spiritual nature of its program, however, is necessary to institutionalize a feeling of transcendence. A tension results from the risk that the necessity of transcendence if taken too literally, would compromise AA's efforts to maintain a broad appeal. As this tension is an integral part of AA, Rudy and Greil argue that AA is best described as a quasi-religious organization.[46]

Meetings[edit]

AA meetings are "quasi-ritualized therapeutic sessions run by and for, alcoholics".[47] They are usually informal and often feature discussions with voluntary donations collected during meetings. (AA's 7th tradition encourages groups to be self-supporting, declining outside contributions).[13] Local AA directories list weekly meetings. Those listed as "closed" are available to those with a self-professed "desire to stop drinking," which cannot be challenged by another member on any grounds.[13] "Open" meetings are available to anyone (nonalcoholics can attend as observers).[48] At speaker meetings (also known as gratitude meetings)[citation needed], one or more members who typically come in from a neighboring town's meeting tell their stories. At Big Book meetings, the group in attendance will take turns reading a passage from the AA Big Book and then discuss how they relate to it after. At twelve-step meetings, the group will typically break out into subgroups depending on where they are in their program and start working on the twelve steps outlined in the program.[citation needed] In addition to those three most common types of meetings,[citation needed] there are also other kinds of discussion meetings that tend to allocate the most time for general discussion.[49]

Building for Spanish-speaking AA group in Westlake neighborhood, Los Angeles

AA meetings do not exclude other alcoholics, though some meetings cater to specific demographics such as gender, profession, age, sexual orientation,[50][51] or culture.[52][53] Meetings in the United States are held in a variety of languages including Armenian, English, Farsi, Finnish, French, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Spanish.[54][51] While AA has pamphlets that suggest meeting formats,[55][56] groups have the autonomy to hold and conduct meetings as they wish "except in matters affecting other groups or AA as a whole".[13] Different cultures affect ritual aspects of meetings, but around the world "many particularities of the AA meeting format can be observed at almost any AA gathering".[57]

Confidentiality[edit]

In the Fifth Step, AA members typically reveal their own past misconduct to their sponsors. US courts have not extended the status of privileged communication, such as physician-patient privilege or clergy–penitent privilege, to communications between an AA member and their sponsor.[58][59]

Spirituality[edit]

A study found an association between an increase in attendance at AA meetings with increased spirituality and a decrease in the frequency and intensity of alcohol use. The research also found that AA was effective at helping agnostics and atheists become sober. The authors concluded that though spirituality was an important mechanism of behavioral change for some alcoholics, it was not the only effective mechanism.[60] Since the mid-1970s, several 'agnostic' or 'no-prayer' AA groups have begun across the U.S., Canada, and other parts of the world, which hold meetings that adhere to a tradition allowing alcoholics to freely express their doubts or disbelief that spirituality will help their recovery, and these meetings forgo the use of opening or closing prayers.[61][62] There are online resources listing AA meetings for atheists and agnostics.[63]

Disease concept of alcoholism[edit]

Main article: Disease theory of alcoholism

More informally than not, AA's membership has helped popularize the disease concept of alcoholism which had appeared in the eighteenth century.[64] Though AA usually avoids the term disease, 1973 conference-approved literature said "we had the disease of alcoholism."[65] Regardless of official positions, since AA's inception, most members have believed alcoholism to be a disease.[66]

AA's Big Book calls alcoholism "an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer." Ernest Kurtz says this is "The closest the book Alcoholics Anonymous comes to a definition of alcoholism."[66] Somewhat divergently in his introduction to The Big Book, non-member and early benefactor William Silkworth said those unable to moderate their drinking suffer from an allergy. In presenting the doctor's postulate, AA said "The doctor's theory that we have an allergy to alcohol interests us. As laymen, our opinion as to its soundness may, of course, mean little. But as ex-problem drinkers, we can say that his explanation makes good sense. It explains many things for which we cannot otherwise account."[67] AA later acknowledged that "alcoholism is not a true allergy, the experts now inform us."[68] Wilson explained in 1960 why AA had refrained from using the term disease:

We AAs have never called alcoholism a disease because, technically speaking, it is not a disease entity. For example, there is no such thing as heart disease. Instead, there are many separate heart ailments or combinations of them. It is something like that with alcoholism. Therefore, we did not wish to get in wrong with the medical profession by pronouncing alcoholism a disease entity. Hence, we have always called it an illness or a malady—a far safer term for us to use.[69]

Since then medical and scientific communities have defined alcoholism as an "addictive disease" (aka Alcohol Use Disorder, Severe, Moderate, or Mild).[70] The ten criteria are: alcoholism is a Primary Illness not caused by other illnesses nor by personality or character defects; second, an addiction gene is part of its etiology; third, alcoholism has predictable symptoms; fourth, it is progressive, becoming more severe even after long periods of abstinence; fifth, it is chronic and incurable; sixth, alcoholic drinking or other drug use persists in spite of negative consequences and efforts to quit; seventh, brain chemistry and neural functions change so alcohol is perceived as necessary for survival; eighth, it produces physical dependence and life-threatening withdrawal; ninth, it is a terminal illness; tenth, alcoholism can be treated and can be kept in remission.[71]

Canadian and United States demographics[edit]

AA's New York General Service Office regularly surveys AA members in North America. Its 2014 survey of over 6,000 members in Canada and the United States concluded that, in North America, AA members who responded to the survey were 62% male and 38% female.[72] The survey found that 89% of AA members were white.[72]

Average member sobriety is slightly under 10 years with 36% sober more than ten years, 13% sober from five to ten years, 24% sober from one to five years, and 27% sober less than one year.[72] Before coming to AA, 63% of members received some type of treatment or counseling, such as medical, psychological, or spiritual. After coming to AA, 59% received outside treatment or counseling. Of those members, 84% said that outside help played an important part in their recovery.[72]

The same survey showed that AA received 32% of its membership from other members, another 32% from treatment facilities, 30% were self-motivated to attend AA, 12% of its membership from court-ordered attendance, and only 1% of AA members decided to join based on information obtained from the Internet. People taking the survey were allowed to select multiple answers for what motivated them to join AA.[72]

Relationship with institutions[edit]

Hospitals[edit]

Many AA meetings take place in treatment facilities. Carrying the message of AA into hospitals was how the co-founders of AA first remained sober. They discovered great value in working with alcoholics who are still suffering, and that even if the alcoholic they were working with did not stay sober, they did.[73][74][75] Bill Wilson wrote, "Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics".[76] Bill Wilson visited Towns Hospital in New York City in an attempt to help the alcoholics who were patients there in 1934. At St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, Smith worked with still more alcoholics. In 1939, a New York mental institution, Rockland State Hospital, was one of the first institutions to allow AA hospital groups. Service to corrections and treatment facilities used to be combined until the General Service Conference, in 1977, voted to dissolve its Institutions Committee and form two separate committees, one for treatment facilities, and one for correctional facilities.[77]

Prisons[edit]

In the United States and Canada, AA meetings are held in hundreds of correctional facilities. The AA General Service Office has published a workbook with detailed recommendations for methods of approaching correctional-facility officials with the intent of developing an in-prison AA program.[78] In addition, AA publishes a variety of pamphlets specifically for the incarcerated alcoholic.[79] Additionally, the AA General Service Office provides a pamphlet with guidelines for members working with incarcerated alcoholics.[80]

United States court rulings[edit]

See also: Rational Recovery § Court-mandated twelve-step program attendance

United States courts have ruled that inmates, parolees, and probationers cannot be ordered to attend AA. Though AA itself was not deemed a religion, it was ruled that it contained enough religious components (variously described in Griffin v. Coughlin below as, inter alia, "religion", "religious activity", "religious exercise") to make coerced attendance at AA meetings a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the constitution.[81][82] In 2007, the Ninth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals stated that a parolee who was ordered to attend AA had standing to sue his parole office.[83][84]

United States treatment industry[edit]

In 1939, High Watch Recovery Center in Kent, Connecticut, was founded by Bill Wilson and Marty Mann. Sister Francis who owned the farm tried to gift the spiritual retreat for alcoholics to Alcoholics Anonymous, however citing the sixth tradition Bill W. turned down the gift but agreed to have a separate non-profit board run the facility composed of AA members. Bill Wilson and Marty Mann served on the High Watch board of directors for many years. High Watch was the first and therefore the oldest 12-step-based treatment center in the world still operating today.

In 1949, the Hazelden treatment center was founded and staffed by AA members, and since then many alcoholic rehabilitation clinics have incorporated AA's precepts into their treatment programs.[85] 32% of AA's membership was introduced to it through a treatment facility.[72]

Effectiveness[edit]

There are several ways one can determine whether AA works and numerous ways of measuring if AA is successful, such as looking at abstinence, reduced drinking intensity, reduced alcohol-related consequences, alcohol addiction severity, and healthcare cost.[6]

The effectiveness of AA (compared to other methods and treatments) has been challenged throughout the years,[86] but recent high quality clinical meta-studies using randomized trials show that AA costs less and results in increased abstinence.[6][87]

Because of the anonymous and voluntary nature of Alcoholics Anonymous ("AA") meetings, it has been difficult to perform random trials with them; the research suggests that AA can help alcoholics make positive changes.[88][89][90]

Alcoholics Anonymous appears to be about as effective as other abstinence-based support groups.[91]

Cochrane 2020 review[edit]

The 2020 Cochrane review of Alcoholics Anonymous shows that AA results in more alcoholics being abstinent and for longer periods of time than some other treatments, but only as well in drinks-per-day and other measures.[6][92] When comparing Alcoholics Anonymous and/or Twelve Step Facilitation to other alcohol use disorder interventions, at the 12-month follow up, randomized controlled trials show a 42% abstinent rate for AA/TSF treatments, compared to 35% abstinent using non-AA interventions.[87][93] A TSF treatment is a "twelve-step facilitation" treatment: A treatment which encourages a patient to attend Alcoholics Anonymous.[94]

The study concludes that "Manualized AA/TSF interventions usually produced higher rates of continuous abstinence than the other established treatments investigated. Non-manualized AA/TSF performed as well as other established treatments [...] clinically-delivered TSF interventions designed to increase AA participation usually lead to better outcomes over the subsequent months to years in terms of producing higher rates of continuous abstinence."[6] Here, a "manualized" treatment is one where a standard procedure was used.[95]

While Nick Heather speculated that subjects receiving Alcoholics Anonymous-centered interventions who were not abstinent did worse than other subjects,[96] John Kelley and Alexandra Abry clarified that not only did the subjects undergoing AA-based interventions have a higher abstinent rate, those who did not achieve abstinence did not have worse drinking outcomes.[97]

Older studies[edit]

A 2006 study by Rudolf H. Moos and Bernice S. Moos saw a 67% success rate 16 years later for the 24.9% of alcoholics who ended up, on their own, undergoing a lot of AA treatment.[98][99] The study's results may be skewed by self-selection bias.[100][101]

Project MATCH was a 1990s 8-year, multi-site, $27-million investigation that studied which types of alcoholics respond best to which forms of treatment.[102]

Brandsma 1980 showed that Alcoholics Anonymous is more effective than no treatment whatsoever.[8]

Membership retention[edit]

In 2001–2002, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) conducted the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcoholism and Related Conditions (NESARC). Similarly structured to the NLAES, the survey conducted in-person interviews with 43,093 individuals. Respondents were asked if they had ever attended a twelve-step meeting for an alcohol problem in their lifetime (the question was not AA-specific). 1441 (3.4%) of respondents answered the question affirmatively. Answers were further broken down into three categories: disengaged, those who started attending at some point in the past but had ceased attending at some point in the past year (988); continued engagement, those who started attending at some point in the past and continued to attend during the past year (348); and newcomers, those who started attending during the past year (105).[103] In their discussion of the findings, Kaskautas et al. (2008) state that to study disengagement, only the disengaged and continued engagement should be utilized (pg. 270).[103]

The Sober Truth and The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous[edit]

American psychiatrist Lance Dodes, in The Sober Truth, says that research indicates that only five to eight percent of the people who go to one or more AA meetings achieve sobriety.[104] Gabrielle Glaser used Dodes' figures to state that AA has a low success rate in a 2015 article for The Atlantic.[105]

The 5–8% figure put forward by Dodes is controversial;[106] other doctors say that the book uses "three separate, questionable, calculations that arrive at the 5–8% figure."[107][108] Addiction specialists state that the book's conclusion that "[12-step] approaches are almost completely ineffective and even harmful in treating substance use disorders" is wrong.[109][110] One review called Dodes' reasoning against AA success a "pseudostatistical polemic."[111]

While Dodes has responded to some of the criticism in his blog,[112] Dodes has not, as of March 2020, read the 2020 Cochrane review showing AA efficacy, but opposes the idea that a social network is needed to overcome substance abuse.[113]

Criticism[edit]

See also: Twelve-step program

Sexual harassment ("thirteenth-stepping")[edit]

"Thirteenth-stepping" is a pejorative term for AA members approaching new members for dates. A study in the Journal of Addiction Nursing sampled 55 women in AA and found that 35% of these women had experienced a "pass" and 29% had felt seduced at least once in AA settings. This has also happened with new male members who received guidance from older female AA members pursuing sexual company. The authors suggest that both men and women must be prepared for this behavior or find male or female-only groups.[114] Women-only meetings are a very prevalent part of AA culture, and AA has become more welcoming for women.[115] AA's pamphlet on sponsorship suggests that men be sponsored by men and women be sponsored by women.[116]

Criticism of culture[edit]

See also: Alcoholism § Management

Stanton Peele argued that some AA groups apply the disease model to all problem drinkers, whether or not they are "full-blown" alcoholics.[117] Along with Nancy Shute, Peele has advocated that besides AA, other options should be readily available to those problem drinkers who can manage their drinking with the right treatment.[118] The Big Book says "moderate drinkers" and "a certain type of hard drinker" can stop or moderate their drinking. The Big Book suggests no program for these drinkers, but instead seeks to help drinkers without "power of choice in drink."[119]

In 1983, a review stated that the AA program's focus on admission of having a problem increases deviant stigma and strips members of their previous cultural identity, replacing it with the deviant identity.[120] A 1985 study based on observations of AA meetings warned of detrimental iatrogenic effects of twelve-step philosophy and concluded that AA uses many methods that are also used by cults.[121] A later review disagreed, stating that AA's program bore little resemblance to religious cult practices.[122] In 2014, Vaillant published a paper making the case that Alcoholics Anonymous is not a cult.[123]

Literature [edit]

Alcoholics Anonymous publishes several books, reports, pamphlets, and other media, including a periodical known as the AA Grapevine.[124] Two books are used primarily: Alcoholics Anonymous (the "Big Book") and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, the latter explaining AA's fundamental principles in depth. The full text of each of these two books is available on the AA website at no charge.

AA in media[edit]

Film and television[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Jump up to:a b AA Grapevine (15 May 2013), A.A. Preamble (PDF), AA General Service Office, retrieved 13 May 2017
  2. ^ Jump up to:a b Michael Gross (1 December 2010). "Alcoholics Anonymous: Still Sober After 75 Years". American Journal of Public Health. 100 (12): 2361–2363. doi:10.2105/ajph.2010.199349. PMC 2978172. PMID 21068418.
  3. ^ Mäkelä 1996, p. 3.
  4. ^ Jump up to:a b "Information on AA". aa.org. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  5. ^ https://www.williamwhitepapers.com/pr/Dr.%20Ernie%20Kurtz%20on%20AA%20%26%20the%20Disease%20Concept%2C%202002.pdf[bare URL PDF]
  6. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Kelly, John F.; Humphreys, Keith; Ferri, Marica (2020). "Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs for alcohol use disorder". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 3: CD012880. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD012880.pub2. PMC 7065341. PMID 32159228.
  7. ^ Kelly, John F.; Abry, Alexandra; Ferri, Marica; Humphreys, Keith (2020). "Alcoholics Anonymous and 12-Step Facilitation Treatments for Alcohol Use Disorder: A Distillation of a 2020 Cochrane Review for Clinicians and Policy Makers". Alcohol and Alcoholism. 55 (6): 641–651. doi:10.1093/alcalc/agaa050. PMC 8060988. PMID 32628263.
  8. ^ Jump up to:a b Brandsma, Jeffery M; Maultsby, Maxie C; Welsh, Richard J (1980). Outpatient Treatment of Alcoholism: a review and comparative study. Baltimore, MD: University Park Press. ISBN 978-0-8391-1393-5. OCLC 5219646. Brandsma 1980 is paywalled, but is summarized in the Wikipedia
  9. ^ Tonigan, Scott J; Connors, Gerard J; Miller, William R (December 2000). "Special Populations in Alcoholics Anonymous" (PDF). Alcohol Health and Research World. 22 (4): 281–285. PMC 6761892. PMID 15706756.
  10. ^ Alcoholics Anonymous (April 2016). "Estimates of A.A. Groups and Members As of December 31, 2020" (PDF). Retrieved 17 December 2016. cf. Alcoholics Anonymous (2001). Alcoholics Anonymous (PDF) (4th ed.). Alcoholics Anonymous World Services. p. xxiii. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  11. ^ John, Stevens. "Bill W. of Alcoholics Anonymous Dies". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  12. ^ Jump up to:a b AA, "Historical Data: The Birth of A.A. and Its Growth in the U.S./Canada", aa.org, retrieved 18 April 2019
  13. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f "The Twelve Traditions". The AA Grapevine. Alcoholics Anonymous. 6 (6). November 1949. ISSN 0362-2584. OCLC 50379271.
  14. ^ Jump up to:a b Chappel, JN; Dupont, RL (1999). "Twelve-Step and Mutual-Help Programs for Addictive Disorders". Psychiatric Clinics of North America. 22 (2): 425–46. doi:10.1016/S0193-953X(05)70085-X. PMID 10385942.
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  36. ^ "GSO 2007 Operating Results". Alcoholics Anonymous General Services Office. Archived from the original on 27 November 2008. Retrieved 12 December 2009. Gross Profit from Literature ≈8,6M (57%), Contributions ~$6.5M (43%)
  37. ^ "Frequently Asked Financial Questions". Fort Worth central office of Alcoholics Anonymous. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
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  40. ^ Bill W. 2002, p. Appendix II, p. 567.
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  42. ^ Jump up to:a b "This is AA" (PDF). Alcoholics Anonymous Work Services, Inc. 1984. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  43. ^ Jump up to:a b Questions & Answers on Sponsorship
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  51. ^ Jump up to:a b "Find a Meeting". Inter-Group Association of A.A. of New York. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  52. ^ "Native American Indian General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous (NAIGSO-AA)". Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  53. ^ Cf. A.A. for the Native North American (PDF), New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, 2009, retrieved 29 May 2017
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  95. ^ "manualized therapy". American Psychological Association.
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  97. ^ Kelly, John F.; Abry, Alexandra W. (2021). "Leave the Past Behind by Recognizing the Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of 12-Step Facilitation and Alcoholics Anonymous". Alcohol and Alcoholism. 56 (4): 380–382. doi:10.1093/alcalc/agab010. PMC 8243271. PMID 33616171. while more individuals in AA/TSF achieved continuous abstinence, those who were not completely abstinent did not drink more heavily, drink more frequently or experience more alcohol-related consequences
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  101. ^ Szalavitz, Maia (2016). Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction. the research that does show AA to be effective is overwhelmingly flawed by what is known as selection bias.
  102. ^ Keith Humphreys. "Here's proof that Alcoholics Anonymous is just as effective as professional psychotherapies". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2018. AA skeptics were confident that by putting AA up against the best professional psychotherapies in a highly rigorous study, Project MATCH would prove beyond doubt that the 12-steps were mumbo jumbo. The skeptics were humbled: Twelve-step facilitation was as effective as the best psychotherapies professionals had developed.
  103. ^ Jump up to:a b Kaskutas, Lee Ann; Ye, Yu; Greenfield, Thomas K.; Witbrodt, Jane; Bond, Jason (30 June 2008). Epidemiology or Alcoholics Anonymous Participation. Recent Developments in Alcoholism. Vol. 18. pp. 261–282. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-77725-2_15. ISBN 978-0-387-77724-5. PMID 19115774.
  104. ^ Lance Dodes, M.D.; Zachary Dodes (2014). The Sober Truth: Debunking the Bad Science Behind 12-Step Programs and the Rehab Industry. ISBN 978-0-8070-3315-9. University of California professor Herbert Fingarette cited two [...] statistics: at eighteen months, 25 percent of people still attended AA, and of those who did attend, 22 percent consistently maintained sobriety. [Reference: H. Fingarette, Heavy Drinking: The Myth of Alcoholism as a Disease (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988)] Taken together, these numbers show that about 5.5 percent of all those who started with AA became sober members.
  105. ^ Glaser, Gabrielle. "The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous". The Atlantic. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  106. ^ Singal, Jesse (17 March 2015). "Why Alcoholics Anonymous Works". The Cut. Retrieved 25 December 2017. [Lance Dodes] has estimated, as Glaser puts it, that "AA's actual success rate [is] somewhere between 5 and 8 percent," but this is a very controversial figure among addiction researchers.
  107. ^ Beresford, Thomas (2016), Alcoholics Anonymous and The Atlantic: A Call For Better Science, National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, archived from the original on 15 July 2019, retrieved 16 July 2019, [Herbert Fingarette used] two publications from the Rand Corporation [...] At 4-year follow-up the Rand group identified patients with at least one year abstinence who had been regular members of AA 18 months after the start of treatment: 42% of the regular AA members were abstinent, not the "calculated" 5.5% figure.
  108. ^ Emrick, Chad; Beresford, Thomas (2016). "Contemporary Negative Assessments of Alcoholics Anonymous: A Response". Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly. 34 (4): 463–471. doi:10.1080/07347324.2016.1217713. S2CID 151393200.
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  111. ^ Roth, Jeffrey D; Khantzian, Edward J (2015). "Book Review: The Sober Truth: Debunking the Bad Science behind 12-step Programs and the Rehab Industry". Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. 63: 197–202. doi:10.1177/0003065114565235. S2CID 145764030.
  112. ^ Dodes, Lance. "A Poor Critique".
  113. ^ Becker, Deborah. "AA Keeps People From Drinking Alcohol Longer Than Other Tools, Cochrane Review Finds". WBUR-FM. Dodes hadn't yet read the new Cochrane Review, but said in an interview that he is opposed to the fundamental idea of AA -- that fellowship and social connections are needed to deal with substance use disorders
  114. ^ Bogart, Cathy J.; Bogart, Cathy J. (2003). "'13th-Stepping:' Why Alcoholics Anonymous Is Not Always a Safe Place for Women". Journal of Addictions Nursing: A Journal for the Prevention and Management of Addictions. 14 (1): 43–47. doi:10.1080/10884600305373. ISSN 1548-7148. OCLC 34618968. S2CID 144935254.
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Being a Human: Adventures in 40,000 Years of Consciousness - Kindle edition by Foster, Charles. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Being a Human: Adventures in 40,000 Years of Consciousness - Kindle edition by Foster, Charles. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.




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Being a Human: Adventures in 40,000 Years of Consciousness Kindle Edition
by Charles Foster (Author) Format: Kindle Edition


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'A wonderful, wild, dazzling book. You will feel more human for having read it' Tom Whyman, Literary Review

'Foster's daringly imaginative exploration of alternative models of selfhood is an original and beneficial way of grappling with history ... precisely what we need to remind us that there are many alternatives to the "I, me, mine" mindset' Anna Katharina Schaffner, TLS

What kind of creature is a human? If we don't know what we are, how can we know how to act? Charles Foster sets out to understand what a human is, inhabiting the sensory worlds of humans at three pivotal moments in our history.

Foster begins his quest with his son in a Derbyshire wood, trying to find a way of experiencing the world that recognises the deep expanse of time when we understood ourselves as hunter-gatherers, and when modern consciousness was first ignited. From there he travels to the Neolithic, a way of being defined by fences, farms, sky gods and slaughterhouses, and finally to the Enlightenment, when we decided that the universe was a machine and we were soulless cogs within it.
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393 pages


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"Dazzling and eccentric . . . Foster is a beautiful writer and an engaging companion throughout this strange, occasionally maddening book. The argument―that we as a species have lost something in our move from wandering animism to settled civilisation―is a powerful one, amply supported by learned quotations and dense footnotes . . . A wonderfully fun if entirely bonkers read."
―The Guardian

"Being a Human, like Being a Beast, the (also extraordinary) book that preceded it, is both a learned treatise and a kind of visionary journalism; it reports back from the edges of our cramped consciousness . . . In search of who we are, pursuing his own brand of gonzo neurobiology, Foster flings himself physically into various inhospitable corners of the English countryside, depriving himself of everyday comforts that his perceptions may be cleansed. And so they are."
―The Atlantic

"Foster is a writer of extraordinary ability. His descriptions of nature dazzle . . . Being a Human [is] a lesson in what to watch for in nature. It’s a discourse on the sentience we may have had as early humans and that, over millennia, we’ve somehow roasted into a crisp. It’s funny. It’s moving. It’s mind-expanding. It’s a collection of thoughts to read again and again."
―Forbes

"A truly wonderful book . . . in the literal sense of the phrase. A book of wonders, so many of them to be seen living simultaneously in the present and the past, that you constantly find the now in the then and the then in the now."
―Lewis H. Lapham, The World in Time podcast (Lapham's Quarterly)

"A magpie book full of intriguing anthropological sketches . . . that fits neatly into the growing library of modern British natural history writing, alongside the best of Nan Shepherd, Robert Macfarlane, and Roger Deakin. A splendid assessment of the many ways there are to be a person, for good and ill."
―Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"A wondrous and moving examination . . . To get back in touch with the 'constant ecstatic contact' [with nature] he argues humans need, Charles Foster witnesses shimmering visions, eats roadkill, contemplates birdsong and language, and hypothesizes that consciousness exists beyond humans. Foster is a wonderful prose stylist, and knows how to build a case and support it with plentiful detail. This powerful account is a remarkable achievement."
―Publishers Weekly (starred)

"Being Human is a startling reset on our understanding of the journey of human thought. Approaching the question from a totally new perspective of lived experience, Charles Foster shows us how we came to be the people we are, with the values we exert in the world. Not only are the revelations startling, but the metaphoric power of Foster’s language is frequently astonishing. I wish I’d written this book."
―Carl Safina, author of Becoming Wild

"What a mad, brilliant, mind-expanding book. Being a Human offers a thrilling deep dive through our evolutionary past, and a witty and learned commentary on why we are the way we are―and what wisdom we've lost along the way. Foster is a true modern polymath who writes with wit, humor and heart."
―Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment

"Hugely moving, filled with intelligence, Being a Human scurries between centuries with us between its teeth. Charles Foster has invoked a living presence in these pages, a contract with the uncanny. To know a thing about the future we need to retrace our steps into our old mind. We could start here."
―Martin Shaw, author of Smoke Hole

"Charles Foster's writing is matchless. No one else could tackle the whole of human evolution, the history and implications of our 'inadequate mutations,' with such wit and elegance. Brace yourselves for a thrilling encounter with the other, with the marvelous, terrifying spectacle of the self."
―Helen Mort, author of Never Leave the Dog Behind

"Being a Human is a work of shaggy genius. Its subject is gargantuan in scale; its humor has a reckless panache; its argument is brilliantly original; and above all it is written with a matchless audacity of soul. It is one of the most important books I have ever read."
―Jay Griffiths, author of Why Rebel?

"A daredevil read. Once again, Charles Foster has journeyed to places most of us wouldn't dare and emerged with a book that is passionate and kind, deeply intelligent and uproariously funny."
―Helen Jukes, author of A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings

"A brilliant, inventive, and unsettling exploration of our glorious and broken nature, Foster's work shakes us out of dozy estrangement from our own humanity and welcomes us into the mysteries of belonging. Its richness demands careful reading."
―David George Haskell, author of The Forest Unseen

"This is the most wonderful book―deftly written, highly imaginative, and a delight to read―and its message is such that its importance simply cannot be overstated. It gives a devastatingly clear portrait of humanity as we have become, and of what we once had―and still could have―but instead are in the process of throwing away, perhaps forever."
―Iain McGilchrist, author of The Master and His Emissary

"Being a Human is one of the most original inquiries into the who, what, and why or human existence to appear in recent years. Charles Foster writes with inspiring brilliance, originality, and simplicity. I love this book. It should be widely read, for the benefit of all us humans."
―Larry Dossey, author of One Mind

"Fascinating . . . When you read the book, it'll make you think."
―The Circle of Insight podcast--This text refers to the hardcover edition.
About the Author
Charles Foster is the author of Being a Beast, which won the 2016 Ig Nobel Award for biology and was a finalist for the Baillie Gifford Prize. He teaches medical law and ethics at the University of Oxford and his writing has been published in National Geographic, the Guardian, Nautilus, Slate, the Journal of Medical Ethics and many other venues. He lives in Oxford, England. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Product details
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08P81723M
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Profile Books; Main edition (August 26, 2021)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 26, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 5819 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 393 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not EnabledBest Sellers Rank: #1,672,335 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)#4,829 in Anthropology (Kindle Store)
#5,991 in General Anthropology
#14,349 in Politics & Social Sciences (Kindle Store)Customer Reviews:
4.2 out of 5 stars 50 ratings







Charles Foster


I'm a writer based in Oxford, UK and a remote part of the souther Peloponnese. I'm a Fellow of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, and my academic research is concerned mainly with questions of identity, personhood and authenticity. Most of my books are presumptuous and more or less unsuccessful attempts to work out what we are doing on this extraordinary planet. Those attempts have generated books on anthropology, natural history, evolutionary biology, the physiology of spiritual experience, pilgrimage, archaeology, theology and ethics, as well as travel books.

I'm a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Linnean Society, and have particular passions for waves, foxes, mountains, deer, deserts and the Byzantine world.

I have a very long-suffering wife, Mary, and six wondrous, wild children: Lizzie, Sally, Tom, James, Rachel and Jonny

My website is www.charlesfoster.co.uk. It would be great if you could drop by there. If you'd like to email me to tell me how badly I've got things wrong in my books, I'm at tweedpipe@aol.com


Top reviews from the United States


W. Bonkosky
3.0 out of 5 stars Different tastesReviewed in the United States on September 28, 2021
Verified Purchase
Now, look...
We all see things differently, and like different things, and the huge number of different cars available in different colors illustrates that perfectly. So consider that when reading and considering my opinion of this book.
I don't much like it.
I expected - and wanted - to read and learn a lot about the evolution of consciousness among the tribes and groups of 30-4,000 years ago. Instead, the author writes extensively about HIS trying to connect with the daily life-style of those early people by trying to live the way they did. OK, I can understand some of that, but that seems to be the bulk of the book.
And consider this as well: I'm only about halfway thru the book, so maybe what I was hoping for is in the last half. But, with the pattern I'm seeing so far, it doesn't make that likely.

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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Worth readingReviewed in the United States on September 13, 2021
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Good book and very helpful information.

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G. W. Hallin
1.0 out of 5 stars Another Romanticist Anti-Science ScreedReviewed in the United States on December 17, 2021

Frustrating read if you believe in science and evolutionary psychology- Another Romanticist who desperately wants to believe in magic, is fervently anti-Enlightenment, trusts emotions over empiric fact, and makes the usual mistake of conflating science with industry but then actually (on page301) goes on to conflate science with 17th Century Christianity in its foolish belief system separating mankind from the rest of the natural world. Shocking.

Author says Richard Dawkins, who probably has done more to appreciate our place in the natural world than any other humans on the planet, is an "embarrassment." Enough said. Read this only if you if you want to continue living in a Romantic bubble, unaware of reality and therefore unable to do a thing about it.

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Joshua E.
5.0 out of 5 stars Both Fascinating and InspiringReviewed in the United States on October 26, 2021

Incredible read from an incredible author! Charles Foster has taken what seems virtually impossible: He has written a beautiful account of human history across tens of thousands of years ago. In fact, I will be reading his other book and am unsure as to why his books do not currently have more reviews. Do yourself a favor and read this book. You will be left both fascinated and inspired! Thank you to Metropolitan Books and NetGalley for furnishing this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Top reviews from other countries

C. M. E. Beckingham
5.0 out of 5 stars Another ambitious and fascinating five star read, from Charles Foster.Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 16, 2021
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This enthralling read and follow up to ‘Being a Beast,’ uses a different formula, (more Pirsig sans motorbike this time). Although it is just as erudite, intelligent and witty.

Creating a plausible, informative tract by distilling 40,000 years of human history into about 100,000 words sounds inconceivable. However, this is a journey through history without dates (no mention of 1066), ‘historical’ events (no battles or treaties) and famous people (no Leonardo or Henry VIII). It becomes possible by using ideas from disciplines such as archaeology, anthropology, economics, politics, sociology, geography and psychology to explain the evolution of human culture and perhaps, even the meaning of life (certainly the essence). In doing so, it reveals (or seeks to) why so many of us in the modern world struggle with anomie and alienation, as we seek to find some kind of meaning, for ourselves.

It’s up to the reader to take what they want from this book. Some, like Professor Black (who you will meet in later chapters), will balk at the idea that the ‘age of rationalism’ is a scourge and that modern religion and materialism are poor substitutes for the respect and empathy for nature we begun to lose at the end of the last Ice Age, when our species started to settle in one place and farm instead of wandering as hunter gatherers. However, my sympathies though are with Tom and X who understand the critical importance of our fragile relationships with nature.

This should be quite a depressing book. It is after all a description of decadence and the failure of human society. But it isn’t. It is both enlightening and a joy to read. And now… I’m going to read it again.
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Terry Simpson
5.0 out of 5 stars Strange fascinating readReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 22, 2021
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It seems impossible to imagine what consciousness might have been like in deep pre-history, but this is a very entertaining account of an attempt to do just that, and a strong critique of what we've lost in the modern world.

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Being a Human: Adventures in Forty Thousand Years of Consciousness

by
Charles Foster (Goodreads Author)
3.70 · Rating details · 171 ratings · 37 reviews
A radically immersive exploration of three pivotal moments in the evolution of human consciousness, asking what kinds of creatures humans were, are, and might yet be

How did humans come to be who we are? In his marvelous, eccentric, and widely lauded book Being a Beast, legal scholar, veterinary surgeon, and naturalist extraordinaire Charles Foster set out to understand the consciousness of animal species by living as a badger, otter, fox, deer, and swift. Now, he inhabits three crucial periods of human development to understand the consciousness of perhaps the strangest animal of all--the human being.

To experience the Upper Paleolithic era--a turning point when humans became behaviorally modern, painting caves and telling stories, Foster learns what it feels like to be a Cro-Magnon hunter-gatherer by living in makeshift shelters without amenities in the rural woods of England. He tests his five impoverished senses to forage for berries and roadkill and he undertakes shamanic journeys to explore the connection of wakeful dreaming to religion. For the Neolithic period, when humans stayed in one place and domesticated plants and animals, forever altering our connection to the natural world, he moves to a reconstructed Neolithic settlement. Finally, to explore the Enlightenment--the age of reason and the end of the soul--Foster inspects Oxford colleges, dissecting rooms, cafes, and art galleries. He finds his world and himself bizarre and disembodied, and he rues the atrophy of our senses, the cause for much of what ails us.

Drawing on psychology, neuroscience, natural history, agriculture, medical law and ethics, Being a Human is one man's audacious attempt to feel a connection with 45,000 years of human history. This glorious, fiercely imaginative journey from our origins to a possible future ultimately shows how we might best live on earth--and thrive. (less)


Hardcover, 400 pages
Published August 31st 2021 by Metropolitan Books (first published August 24th 

                                                                                Write a review
    
Sep 13, 2021Will Byrnes rated it it was amazing
Shelves: 2021-nonfiction-reader-challenge, psychology-and-the-brain, brain-candy, natural-history, nature, religion-and-sprituality, psychology, adventuring, books-of-the-year-2021, science

We think of wilderness as an absence of sound, movement and event. We rent our rural cottages ‘for a bit of peace and quiet.’ That shows how switched off we are. A country walk should be a deafening, threatening, frantic, exhausting cacophony.

If today’s shorn, burned, poisoned apology for wilderness should do that to us, just think what the real wild, if it still existed, would do. It’d be like taking an industrial cocktail of speed, heroin and LSD and dancing through a club that’s playing the Mozart Requiem to the beat of the Grateful Dead, expecting every moment to have your belly unzipped by a cave bear.--------------------------------------
All humans are Sheherazades: we die each morning if we don’t have a good story to tell, and the good ones are all old.Up for a bit of time travel? No, no, no, not in the sci-fi sense of physically transporting to another era. But in the mostly imaginary sense of picturing oneself in a prior age. Well, maybe more than just picturing, maybe picturing with the addition of some visceral experience. Charles Foster has written about what life is like for otters, badgers, foxes, deer and swifts, by living like them for a time. He wrote about those experiences in his book, Being a Beast. He wonders, here, how experiencing life as a Paleolithic and a Neolithic person can inform our current understanding of ourselves.
I thought that, if I knew where I came from, that might shed some light on what I am…It’s a prolonged thought experiment and non-thought experiment, set in woods, waves, moorlands, schools, abattoirs, wattle-and-daub huts, hospitals, rivers, cemeteries, caves, farms, kitchens, the bodies of crows, museums, breaches, laboratories, medieval dining halls, Basque eating houses, fox-hunts, temples, deserted Middle Eastern cities and shaman’s caravans.

Charles Foster - image from Oxford University

His journey begins with (and he spends the largest portion of the book on) the Upper Paleolithic (U-P) era, aka the Late Stone Age, from 50,000 to 12,000 years ago, when we became, behaviorally, modern humans. Foster is quite a fan of the period, seeing it as some sort of romantic heyday for humanity, one in which we were more fully attuned with the environments in which we lived, able to use our senses to their capacity, instead of getting by with the vastly circumscribed functionality we have today.

Interested in the birth of human consciousness, he puts himself, and his 12 yo son, Tom, not only into the mindset of late Paleolithic humans, but into their lives. He and Tom live wild in Derbyshire, doing their best to ignore the sounds of passing traffic, while living on roadkill (well, I guess they do not entirely ignore traffic) and the bounty of the woods. They deal with hunger, the need for shelter, and work on becoming attuned to their new old world.
We’re not making the wood into our image: projecting ourselves onto it. It’s making us. If we let it.In one stretch Foster fasts for eight days, which helps bring on a hallucinatory state (intentionally). Shamanism is a major cultural element in the U-P portrait he paints. It is clearly not his first trip. He recalls an out-of-body experience he had while in hospital, the sort where one is looking down from the ceiling at one’s physical body, seeing this as of a cloth with a broader capacity for human experience. He relates this also to the cave paintings of the era, seeing them, possibly, as the end-product of shamanic tripping. This section of the book transported me back to the 1960s and the probably apocryphal books of Carlos Castaneda.

Social grooming was important to ancestors of our species. But, with our enlarged brains able to handle, maybe, a community of 150 people, grooming became too cost-intensive.
To maintain a group that size strictly by grooming, we’d have to groom for about 43% percent of our time, which would be deadly. Something else had to make up for the shortfall, and other things have. We have developed a number of other endorphin-releasing, bond-forming strategies that don’t involve touching [social distancing?]. They are…laughter, wordless singing/dancing, language and ritual/religion/story.It sure gives the expression rubbed me the wrong way some added heft.

He has theories about religion, communication, and social organization that permeate this exploration. He posits, for example, that late Paleo man was able to communicate with a language unlike our own, a more full-body form of expression, maybe some long-lost form of charades. There is an ancient language, thought to have been used by Neanderthals, called HMMM, or holistic, manipulative, multi-modal, musical, and memetic communication. It is likely that some of this carried forward. And makes one wonder just how far back the roots go to contemporary languages that incorporate more rather than less musicality, more rather than less tonality, and more rather than less bodily support for spoken words.

He writes about a time when everything, not just people, were seen as having a soul, some inner self that exists separately, although living within a body, a tree, a hare, a blade of grass. This sort of worldview makes it a lot tougher to hunt for reasons that did not involve survival. And makes understandable rituals in many cultures in which forgiveness is begged when an animal is killed. This becomes much more of a thing when one feels in tune with one’s surroundings, an experience Foster reports as being quite real in his Derbyshire adventure. This tells him that Paleo man was better able to sense, to be aware of his surroundings than almost any modern human can.

Foster has a go at the Neolithic as well, trying to see what the shift from hunting-gathering to agriculture was like, and offers consideration of the longer-term impacts on humanity that emanated from that change. This is much less involved and involving, but does include some very interesting observations on how agriculture revolutionized the relationship people had with their environment.
…the first evidence of sedentary communities comes from around 11,000 years ago. We see the first evidence of domesticated plants and animals at about the same time. Yet, it is not for another 7,000 years that there are settled villages, relying on domesticated plants or fixed fields. For 7,000 years, that is, our own model of human life, which we like to assume would have been irresistibly attractive to the poor benighted caveman, was resisted or ignored, just as it is by more modern hunter-gatherers. Hunter-gatherers only become like us at the end of a whip. Our life is a last resort for the creatures that we really are.He notes that even when farming took root, many of those newly minted farmers continued living as hunter-gatherers for part of the year.

He finishes up with a glance at the contemporary. More of a screed really. He notes that phonetic writing severed the connection our languages have with the reality they seek to portray. Pre-phonetic languages tend to be more onomatopoeic, the sounds more closely reflecting the underlying reality. He sees our modern brains as functioning mostly as valves, channeling all available sensation through a narrow pipeline, while leaving behind an entire world of possible human experience that we are no longer equipped to handle. To that extent we all have super-powers, of potential awareness, anyway, that lie waiting for someone to open the right valve, presuming they have not been corroded into inutility by disuse. He tells of meeting a French woman in Thailand whose near-death experience left her passively able to disrupt electronic mechanisms. She could not, for example, use ATMs. They would always malfunction around her.

He takes a run at what is usually seen to indicate “modern” humanity.
I’ve come to wonder whether symbolism is all it’s cracked up to be, and in particular whether its use really is the great watershed separating us from everything else that had gone before.He argues that trackers, for example, can abstract from natural clues the stories behind them, and those existed long before so-called “modern man.”

He calls in outside authorities from time to time to fill in gaps. These extra bits always add fascinating pieces of information. For example,
Later I wrote in panic to biologist David Haskell, an expert on birdsong, begging him to reassure me that music is ‘chronologically and neurologically prior to language.’ It surely is, he replied. ‘It seems that preceding both is bodily motion: the sound-controlling centers of the brain are derived from the same parts of the embryo as the limb motor system, so all vocal expression grows from the roots that might be called dance or, less loftily, shuffling about.Foster is that most common of writers, a veterinarian and a lawyer. Wait, what? Sadly, there is no telling in here (it is present in his Wiki page, though) of how he managed to train for these seemingly unrelated careers. (I can certainly envision a scenario, though, in which we hear lawyer Foster proclaiming to the court, “My client could not possibly be guilty of this crime, your honor. The forensic evidence at the scene clearly shows that the act was committed by an American badger, while my client, as anyone can see, is a Eurasian badger.”) It certainly seems clear, though, from his diatribes against modernity, where his heart is. In the visceral, physical work of dealing with animals, which lends itself to the intellectual stimulation of a truer, and deeper connection with nature.
The first time (and one of the only times) I felt useful was shoveling cow shit in a Peak District farm when I was ten. It had a dignity that piano lessons, cub scouts, arithmetic and even amateur taxidermy did not. What I was detecting was that humans acquire their significance from relationship, that relationships with non-humans were vital and that clearing up someone’s dung is a good way of establishing relationships.In that case, I am far more useful in the world than I ever dreamed.

GRIPES
Foster can be off-putting, particularly to those us with no love of hunting, opening as he does with I first ate a live mammal on a Scottish hill. (Well, as least it wasn’t haggis.) I can well imagine many readers slamming the book shut at that point and moving on to something else. Will this be a paean to a manly killing impulse? Thankfully, not really, although there are some uncomfortable moments re the hunting of living creatures.

Sometimes he puts things out that are at the very least questionable, and at the worst, silly. Our intuition is older, wiser and more reliable than our underused, atrophied senses. Really? Based on what data? So, making decisions by feelz alone is the way to go? Maybe I should swap my accountant for an inveterate gambler?

He sometimes betrays an unconscious unkindness in the cloak of humor:
The last thing I ate was a hedgehog. That was nine days ago. From the taste of them, hedgehogs must start decomposing even when they’re alive and in their prime. This one’s still down there somewhere, and my burps smell like a maggot farm. I regret it’s death under the wheels of a cattle truck far more than its parents or children possibly do.I doubt it.

One stylistic element that permeates is seeing an imaginary Paleo man, X, and his son. Supposedly these might be Foster and Tom in an earlier era. It has some artistic appeal, but I did not think it added much overall.

All that said, the overall take here is that this is high-octane fuel for the brain, however valved-up ours may be. Foster raises many incredibly fascinating subjects from the origins of religion, language, our native capabilities to how global revolutions have molded us into the homo sap of the 21st century. This is a stunning wakeup call for any minds that might have drifted off into the intellectual somnolence of contemporary life. There are simply so many ideas bouncing off the walls in this book that one might fear that they could reach a critical mass and do some damage. It is worth the risk. If you care at all about understanding humanity, our place in the world, and how we got here, skipping Being a Human would be…well…inhuman. It is an absolute must-read.
We try to learn the liturgy: the way to do things properly; the way to avoid offending the fastidious, prescriptive and vengeful guardians of the place. Everything matters. We watch the rain fall on one leaf, trace the course of the water under a stone, and then we go back to the leaf and watch the next drop. We try to know the stamens with the visual resolution of a bumblebee and the snail slime with the nose of a bankvole and the leaf pennants on the tree masts with the cold eyes of kites.
Review posted – 9/17/21

Publication date – 8/31/21

This review has been cross-posted on my site, Coot’s Reviews. Stop by and say Hi!

I received an ARE of Being a Human from Metropolitan Books in return for a modern era review. Thanks, Maia.

=============================EXTRA STUFF

Links to the author’s personal, and Twitter pages

By my count this is Foster’s 39th book

Foster’s bio on Wiki
Charles Foster (born 1962) is an English writer, traveller, veterinarian, taxidermist, barrister and philosopher. He is known for his books and articles on Natural History, travel (particularly in Africa and the Middle East), theology, law and medical ethics. He is a Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford. He says of his own books: 'Ultimately they are all presumptuous and unsuccessful attempts to answer the questions 'who or what are we?', and 'what on earth are we doing here?'Interviews
-----The Guardian - Going underground: meet the man who lived as an animal - re Being a Beast by Simon Hattenston
-----New Books Network - Defined by Relationship by Howard Burton – audio - 1h 30m

Items of Interest from the author
-----Emergence Magazine - Against Nature Writing - on language as a barrier to understanding
-----Shortform - Charles Foster's Top Book Recommendations

Items of Interest
-----Wiki on Bear Grylls - a British adventurer – mentioned in Part 1 as an example of someone more interested in the technology of survival than the point of it (p 62 in my ARE)
-----Wiki on Yggdrasil - mentioned in Part 1 – humorously (p 85)
-----Wiki on the Upper Paleolithic
-----Dartmouth Department of Music – a review of a book positing that Neanderthals used musicality in their communications Review Feature - The Singing Neanderthals:
the Origins of Music, Language, Mind and Body by Steven Mithen - Foster addresses this in this discussion of the origins of human language
-----Wiki on Carlos Castaneda
-----Discover Magazine - Paleomythic: How People Really Lived During the Stone Age By Marlene Zuk Like it says – an interesting read (less)
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Nov 04, 2021Veronica Watson rated it liked it
I wrote a long review and accidentally deleted it. So an effort not to have to write the whole thing over again I will be a bit more to the point. I had two issues with this book. One, although subjectivity is to be expected in any assessment of History the extent of subjectivity in this book, really romanticizing the lives of upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers, is too starry eyed for my taste. Evolution is responsive and adaptable, it is not teological. There is no best human possible, no true human, garden of Eden lost innocence. These are remnants of a reactionary, quasi religious attitudes. Civilizations and society have their own cycles which do not follow collective intentions from point A to point B.

I can certainly agree that several of the adaptations civilization took on as a result of the agricultural and industrial revolutions have been detrimental in the Modern Mind, it's only from a viewpoint of hindsight. We have the benefit of standing on our modern sensibility outside as a spectator while we evaluate the left turns we took as a species. We cannot judge from within their experiences. In some ways, we can lament the worst of our modern lives without contrasting heavily with an idealized beautiful past, one free from brutalizing elements, short lives, and tenuous existence... can we not? Calibrate.

Secondly, it just wasn't very original. When you read a lot of nonfiction you start to hear the same scholarship referenced again and again. He draws heavily from Yuval Noah Harari's Homo Sapiens, Iain Gilchrist, David Abram and other writers. And although he synthesizes this into a very personal journal of his experiences of trying to inhabit the minds of hunter gatherers through the Enlightenment, all his premises are unthoughtful or rehashed. I'm not trying to be unfairly critical, it's not god awful bad, but I just have heard it before. His prose had it moments but most of it was dull. I almost marked this did-not-finish as I found it boring but since it was not a long read I decided to plow through. Now, this can only be my opinion, philosophy and specific taste. After all, it's completely what you're bringing to the book you're reading, is it relevant to you or not? Many might enjoy this book depending on what you are looking for. (less)
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Aug 31, 2021Kristine rated it liked it
Being a Human by Charles Foster is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in early August.

Foster takes a deep, near-poetic intellectual tone (with a twinge of wit) when describing early humankind through the ages and the concepts of hunting, cave art, migration. shamanic rituals and prophecy, intercommunication, and higher thought through written language. It has the potential to be really great if it didn't ponder or hypothesize as much. Maybe this means I'd like Being a Beast more? (less)
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Nov 12, 2021Luke Beane rated it it was ok
This book was extremely frustrating.

I suppose I was under the impression that I'd be getting something very different out of it having found it in the science section. Expectations aside, the author managed to attempt a fresh look at the human conscious experience through the various stages in our history from hunter-gatherers to the modern industrial world.

It seemed to me like an novel idea and approach were there, I just felt constantly conflicted while reading. The prose was kind of fun, smooth, entertaining and unique. And yet it was also wandering, feeling often aimless in it's meandering between pedantic rants, spiritual, waxing poetic ideologies, and long bouts about their father-son camping trips. As a matter of fact, a lot of this book seems to me to be about them going camping and then drawing enormous, overzealous conclusions. I would find myself starring paragraphs feeling enthralled by the simplicity and beauty of certain re-conceptions of human history and thought just to be angered by misrepresented science on the next page. I went back and forth between enjoying the book, to wanting to throw it across the room.

What really bothered me was that the author was attempting this anti-progress perspective to attack our conceptions of the use of rationality, science, and language while at the same time deploying scientific endeavors and about as many big words as he could muster to make the argument. It was as if he was against language as a tool for knowledge while simultaneously enjoying the deployment of his linguistic skills and literary references in this flaunting academic onanism. Couldn't you speak more plainly if your desire is to convey the simple elegance of nature and of the people that were more in tune with it rather than act upset about the very thing you yourself are perpetrating?

Yes, I know that the author was aware of his own inundation in the very world he argued against. I just wanted there to be more balance and honesty rather than what felt like self-annihilating, cover up, romanticized rambling around what was essentially a series of camping trips and hikes. The title itself was laced with this pretension and the introduction or whatever it is clearly states this incredibly difficult and interesting objective in a well-written and concise way. It's a great sales pitch that just didn't quite come through for me.


Like I said, I'm at least partially with you here though, Charles. Dogma doesn't belong in science or history and much of what you say is quite appealing. I really enjoyed that cringey portion about the dinner with the professor. Very courageous. However, there are many points that I must disagree with at this moment, especially with regard to your conception of some pure beginning, of some imagined moment in human history of complete harmony with nature and purity of spirit. This idea itself in the child of the Christian narrative of the fall of man. So re-vamping this story as man's fall from nature is non-unique and extremely contestable.

Here's my distilled take away:

This book has decent snippets that are good to think about. It's a novel way to conceptualize human history and consciousness through experiential and philosophical lens. It is also a book that is mostly about going camping. Clear in objective and then vague throughout the execution.

This book is something to read and discuss, approached with a grain of salt. I would give it two and half stars if I could because it belongs right at the intersection of good and bad.





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Sep 10, 2021Paul rated it it was amazing
Absolutely stunning. Read this book. Quit your job. Go outside.
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Sep 01, 2021Annie rated it it was amazing
Shelves: netgalley
Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Being a Human is a meandering nearly stream-of-consciousness look at human development over the last forty thousand (or so) years and examining three ages of human-ness along the way. Released 31st Aug 2021 by Macmillan on their Metropolitan imprint, it's 400 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately; it makes it so easy to find information with the search function.

This is an eccentric book; beautifully written and oddly moving in a lot of places. The prose is a lot more prose-like than most nonfiction books I've encountered and I enjoyed the cadence of the author's voice very much. I can imagine that he would be outside the usual standard-operating-fare as a lecturer, and I envy his students. He manages to traverse the metaphorical Strait of Messina without straying into "aw, shucks" self deprecation or pedagogical pomposity, no mean feat.

The book covers a massive amount of time (obviously) and is arranged more or less chronologically: Upper Paleolithic (in four parts), Neolithic (ditto), and the current age looking toward the future. I found myself continually distracted during the reading by the enlightening and copious annotations and notes. After the first bit, I decided to ignore the notes and links and just read the information, making notes of the bits I really wanted to delve into more deeply later. That seemed to really help with continuity and flow and reading enjoyment.

As stated, the book is copiously annotated and the chapter notes provide a wealth of further reading for readers wishing to deep dive in the material. The bibliography is massive (though, as the author says, impossibly abbreviated since a real bibliography would include everything ever written by or about human beings).

I enjoyed this read immensely. I would heartily recommend it for lovers of science philosophy, anthropology, but maybe not so much for readers looking for "just the facts, Ma'am". This has been one of my better nonfiction reads for 2021.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. (less)
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Aug 21, 2021B. rated it liked it
I won an ARC of this one in a Goodreads Giveaway. There are a lot of stream of consciousness ramblings on the part of the author, which isn't something that I typically associate with non-fiction. I was hoping for a more academic take on the exploration of consciousness when I entered the giveaway for this one, and I have to admit that the lack of a scholarly tone to the book was a real bummer. There's still some fascinating information in here, but it's not the book for me. It comes off as though it's being written in a blog-like format, and that's not something I have an interest in keeping on my shelves. (less)
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May 25, 2021James Orton rated it it was amazing
This is an incredibly special book. Beautifully descriptive nature writing exploring the origins of consciousness via three periods in our evolution. Part memoir, philosophy and anthropology, this is ideal for anybody that enjoyed ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ and ‘The Songlines’. A wonderful piece of writing that will leave you exhilarated and excited for the where the next 40,000 years will take us.
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Jun 10, 2022Toby Newton rated it it was amazing
Really a wonderful book. This was what I imagined Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance would be but so absolutely wasn't - a truly impassioned, sometimes blisteringly insightful, always interesting, occasionally angry, often poetic, orgy of beingness. Where Zen is plodding and shrill and alienating, Being a Human is lithe and teasing and resonant.

Knowledgeable, courageous, ludic (if not lunatic), compelling, and with a beautiful turn of phrase. I put this amongst the ranks of my fifty Top Ten books.

Thank you, very much, Mr Foster. (less)
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Mar 28, 2022Amy rated it it was amazing
Foster's radically experiential and immersive methods of investigation into the minds of paleolithic and neolithic humans become the foundation of an argument for ecstatic mysticism.

If we go into the woods ad the rivers and the hills and the sees with all this, the wild will feel appreciated. It will know we're trying, and will start to come out and introduce itself. And since you are part of the wild, you should brace yourself for an encounter with yourself." p. 328 (less)
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Sep 24, 2021Mayda (My Book Cafe Life) rated it really liked it
“We are people who needs stories, as we need air…”

Being Human by Charles Foster was an interesting read. The book is philosophical and poetic. It discusses mankind’s relationship with mother nature as we journey through history without specific dates. Exploring the consciousness via three periods of our evolution, Paleolithic, Neolithic and Enlightenment. It also includes subjects about the origins of religion and language.

Full Review over at https://mybookcafelife.com

**I received this book in exchange for an honest review** (less)
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Amazon.com: Jung: A Complete Introduction (Teach Yourself): 9781473601765: Goss, Phil: Books

Amazon.com: Jung: A Complete Introduction (Teach Yourself): 9781473601765: Goss, Phil: Books


https://www.scribd.com/document/360366526/Jung-A-Complete-Introduction




Jung: A Complete Introduction (Teach Yourself) Paperback – November 24, 2015
by Phil Goss (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars 17 ratings
Part of: Teach Yourself (38 books)

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Jung: A Complete Introduction is designed to give you everything you need to succeed, all in one place. It covers the key areas that students are expected to be confident in, outlining the basics in clear, jargon-free English and providing added-value features like summaries of key books, and even lists of questions you might be asked in your seminar or exam.

The book uses a structure that mirrors the way Jung is taught on many university and counselling courses. Chapters include individuation and the archetypal power of the unconscious, Jung's early life, Jung's early career and key influences, Freud and Jung, the self and ego, the dark side, anima and animus, archetypes, typology, Jungian analysis, working with dreams, active imagination, developmental approaches, application of Jungian analysis to mental health needs, and Jung's legacy in culture, spirituality and therapy.

'A lucid and refreshingly innovative introduction to the complex thought of C.G. Jung' Paul Bishop, William Jacks Chair of Modern Languages, University of Glasgow

'A gold mine of knowledge in this eminently readable book that transcends the constraints of a set formula' Ann Casement, Licensed Psychoanalyst and Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute

'Of the many introductions to Jung's work, I find this one not only the most comprehensive but, importantly, very readable for the non-Jungian... It succinctly maps the remarkable contribution of Jung's distinctive approach to a wide number of subjects, principally psychology, psychotherapy, philosophy and the human condition' Steve Mitchell, Dramatherapist / Director Pathfinder Studio; former Course Director of Dramatherapy, Roehampton Institute, London

Jung employs the 'Breakthrough Method' to help you advance quickly at any subject, whether you're studing for an exam or just for your own interst. The Breakthrough Method is designed to overcome typical problems you'll face as learn new concepts and skills.

- Problem: "I find it difficult to remember what I've read."; Solution: this book includes end-of-chapter summaries and questions to test your understanding.
- Problem: "Lots of introductory books turn out to cover totally different topics than my course."; Solution: this book is written by a university lecturer who understands what students are expected to know.
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Print length

256 pages



Editorial Reviews

About the Author
Dr Phil Goss is a Jungian analyst (member of the Association of Jungian Analysts, London, and of the International Association of Analytical Psychology) and a UKCP-registered psychotherapist. 

He is course leader for the masters programmes in Counselling and Psychotherapy at the University of Central Lancashire. Phil's publications include Men, Women and Relationships, A post-Jungian Approach: Gender Electrics and Magic Beans (Routledge, 2010), journal papers and chapters on a range of themes in edited collections.


Product details
ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1473601762
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Teach Yourself; 1st edition (November 24, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
4.4 out of 5 stars 17 ratings

Phil Goss


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Top review from the United States


Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsReviewed in the United States on October 24, 2016
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Great book if you are interesting in Jung.


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osmonde
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant structureReviewed in the United Kingdom on August 25, 2020
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Exactly what I was looking for. Brilliantly structured, to help the reader understand the concepts in a systematic way

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Lorraine S.
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent basic introductionReviewed in Canada on March 7, 2016
Verified Purchase

A very clear, concise introduction to Jung's thinking. Key concepts are explained in clear language, and there is also a very helpful explanation of the differences between Jung's and Freud's thinking. The self-tests at the end of each chapter are also very useful. Overall, a good, solid introduction to Jung, both for those who are new to him, and for those who need a refresher.

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Pete Abrams
3.0 out of 5 stars Three StarsReviewed in the United Kingdom on February 21, 2018
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I bought this for someone else so am not in a position to comment
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VC Gan
Jul 16, 2017VC Gan rated it really liked it
This book is the perfect overview to the life and work of Jung. Basic concepts and context are very clearly explained, but with more detail than typically found in most introductory level books on Jung. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who wants a good overview of Jung's theories, or as a starting point for anyone who wants to study Jungian psychology in more depth. (less)
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Jen
Aug 09, 2019Jen rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: psychology
I liked this book by far more than the other books I picked up about Jung and his work.
It was easy to understand and provided interesting details about Jung's personal life and how it inspired Jung's theoretical ideas.
This is a wonderful overview of some of the main themes as they relate to Jung's life and work and the book goes a step further into modern day to explain how Jung's ideas were further developed since his passing. It raises questions about Jung's controversial ideas around gender and sex. Each chapter has a short(about 10 questions) multiple answers quiz to help you review what you've learned or perhaps didn't so you can go back and re-read the section in the chapter. (less)
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Sean Paul Irwin
Oct 09, 2020Sean Paul Irwin rated it liked it  ·  review of another edition
I read this as an introduction to Jung. I enjoyed it, and now I think I'm informed on some of Jung's work, terms and theories to start reading his work. (less)

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Jung: A Journey of Transformation : Crowley, Vivianne

Jung: A Journey of Transformation : Crowley, Vivianne: Amazon.com.au: Books





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Jung: A Journey of Transformation Hardcover – 1 March 2000
by Vivianne Crowley (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars 3 ratings


160 pages
       Customer Reviews:
4.1 out of 5 stars 3 ratings

Vivianne Crowley


I am a psychologist, lecturer, and international teacher of spiritual paths. My passion is the intersection of psyche and spirit. I aim to share this passion with readers and those whom I teach. Nature, goddess spirituality, meditation, ritual, art, music and Jungian psychology are my principal sources of inspiration. I remind myself each day that life is short. Let's live every moment to the full.



Jennifer Jennings
3.0 out of 5 stars However I was sad to see this was simply a slight biography filled ...Reviewed in the United States on 21 March 2016
Verified Purchase

I am a fan of Carl Jung and I find a lot of his ideas resonate within me, so when I saw this book I had to have it. I thought it was going to be a book shining light on his ideas and was to help gain understanding of myself. 

However I was sad to see this was simply a slight biography filled with little tests to discover what personality type you are, if you are an introvert or extrovert that reminded me of something you take in a magazine or on the Internet. 

I really don't feel like I "discovered" anything, especially about myself except I really didn't like this book.

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