The 25th, 26th, & 27th stories from the Personal Stories section of the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous published in 1939. These stories were printed only in first edition of the Big Book. Of special note, “An Alcoholic’s Wife” is the only story in the first edition written by the non-alcoholic spouse of a man who got sober through the help of AA. This story, along with the chapters “To Wives” and The Family Afterward” may have helped cultivate the later establishment of Al-Anon. Also, the author of “An Artist’s Concept” prefaced his story with a quote attributed to the 19th century British philosopher Herbert Spencer about contempt prior to investigation. It’s interesting that, although this story never made it past the first edition of the Big Book, the Spencer quote became a permanent part of the second Appendix, entitled “Spiritual Experience”, that appears in the 2nd, 3rd, & 4th editions of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Howard L, sober since January 1988, presents an inspired reading of this story and encourages listeners to revisit earlier podcast episodes that feature the main chapters of the Big Book. Enjoy listening on our website, BigBookPodcast.com, or download and subscribe to the podcast for free at Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And, if you have a minute, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.