Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #201468 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Customer Reviews

This book has the ring of truth.
Sober for Good - Anne Fletcher

I was sent a complimentary copy of Sober for Good, and opened it much as one might open a piece of junk mail - casual, uninterested, getting a fix on the waste bin for rapid disposal. Shortly afterwards I was reading avidly.

This book displays the immense variety of ways that people really stop drinking destructively, from the traditional methods of Alcoholics Anonymous to a personal decision, taken and held to. Anne Fletcher calls people who have tackled an alcohol problem and now live comfortably "the Masters", and I'm one of them, in her terms. The book was created from first person accounts of people who have successfully resolved alcohol problems, using a wide variety of methods, and the author pulls these personal stories together to offer a balanced and very helpful overview of the varied ways that people use to stay sober for good.

The Chapter titles give an excellent précis of the contents.

1 A New Look At How People Really Solve Drinking Problems 2 There's Not Just One Way: How The Masters Got Sober - And Stay Sober 3 It's Not How Much You Drink: How The Masters Faced Up To Their Alcohol Problems 4 You Don't Have To "Hit Bottom": How The Masters Reached The Turning Point 5 It's Not Necessarily One Day At A Time: How The Masters Made A Commitment To Sobriety 6 Be Our Own Expert: How Seven Masters Found Their Way With Seven Different Approaches 7 You Can Help: The Masters' Advice To Family And Friends 8 One Drink Does Not A Drunk Make: How The Masters Determined Whether They Could Ever Drink Again 9 It's Not Enough Just To Stop Drinking: How The Masters Deal With Life's Ups And Downs Without Alcohol 10 Recall The Past, Live In The Present: How The Masters Stay Motivated 11 With Or Without A Higher Power: How The Master Handle Spirituality 12 There's Nothing Missing: How The Masters Find Joy Without Alcohol Appendix A: A Consumer Guide To Recovery Options

A lot of the book deals with familiar and comfortable ideas about alcohol and recovery, but there is also a great deal that I found new and thought provoking. I attended AA for many years, reaching a position of contented sobriety, but decided last year that I should move on. I chose SMART Recovery® as an alternative, and have found it suits me very well. Sober for Good showed me that this type of progression is not unusual, and that it is but one of many options. Others organisations offering help include Secular Organisations for Sobriety (SOS), Women for Sobriety (WfS), Rational Recovery (RR). Several stories came from people who used professional services such as brief intervention, formal treatment or individual counselling. Other Masters used what Anne Fletcher calls "eclectic methods" which I interpret to mean a bit of this and a bit of that, reading, acupuncture, yoga, family and friends' support - but if it works, it works. I know personally someone who did it on her own and that option doesn't show up in this book at all! There really are many routes to recovery from alcohol, and all of them work for someone.

One of the reasons I liked this book so much is that it combines careful work with kindness. The spirit of the author shines through without being obtrusively personal. It is plain that Anne Fletcher has worked very hard to understand the people whose stories she has gathered and deployed. The result offers a wealth of insights and information that will help anyone who seeks personal recovery or wishes to help other to recover..

angelina -england
i realised through reading the first few pages of this book that no matter how much the author tried to explain she was simply 'trying to find other ways of recovering from being an alcoholic',i am in no doubt it is anti alcoholic anoymous book. Ok she has people in her book that used AA to stay sober but she constantly questions this and quickly moves onto those who havent used AA, and is alot more interested in their theories. If alcoholics were in a position to 'heal themselves' and stop drinking without the likes of AA then there would not be AA!
this was meant to be a self help book for me and my partner but i found it to be quite off putting for the alcoholic reading it, as she gives 'choices' eg total abstinence, controlled drinking etc.. and that is really not how i want to get the message across to the person whom i love who has an alcohol problem. i felt this book would almost throw an alcoholic back into 'denial or control'.The author i can tell is not religious and she constantly doubts the AA's creditblity.Anyone who is an alcoholic 'obviously' has to STOP drinking and to do this he/she needs help and support where ever the can get it eg AA but most of all they are themselves the only one who can succeed with strength from their inner being.i dont think as this author comes across that you 'need' to believe in god to attend AA. If you can look beyond this ladys own personal opinions of god and the AA there are some good tips, but these 'tips' will almost certainly be tried and tested in any alcoholics mind during the stages of denial and after. i learned nothing new, maybe reccommend this book for anyone who has a 'religious aphobia' or are concerned 'AA is some kind of 'cult' WHICH IT IS NOT.Or maybe those who have not yet hit rock bottom and want to 'save' themselves before they do.