Episode 35 begins the cover-to-cover reading of the 2nd edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, originally published in 1955. It’s comprised of a preface, 2 forwards, the Doctor’s Opinion, 11 chapters in the main text, 37 Personal Stories, and 6 appendices at the end of the book. In an effort to present a flawless audio version of the 2nd edition, these episodes will reflect all of the changes that were made to the first 164 pages, which, incidentally, remained untouched in the 3rd and 4th editions. Though most revisions were minor, a word here, a sentence there, none of them affected the context of the AA program of recovery presented in the 2nd edition. As for the 37 Personal Stories, 30 of them were new stories added to the 2nd edition. Over 110,000 words of new material.  If you’ve never read the 2nd edition, the stories, or case histories as they were often called, will be brand new to you.

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.