The Road Back: A Report on Alcoholics Anonymous by Joseph Kessel
The Road Back: A Report on Alcoholics Anonymous by Joseph Kessel
This book is a First American Edition from 1962 and published by Albert A. Knopf, Inc. This book was translated from French to English. The book was originally published in French in 1960.
This book is in very good condition. There shows very little wear to the cover and there is no writing or markings inside the book. The original dust jacket has some minor edge wear.
Please view all of the photos for the conditions.
About the book:
Each alcoholic inhabits his own demonic universe, separated from family, friends, the rest of the world, by an almost impenetrable barrier. The efforts of doctors and psychiatrists have failed to produce any certain cure for this "disease." The deeply personal nature of its origins and effects seems to place the ultimate responsibility for recovery on the alcoholic himself. Yet he is, today, not without help in his struggle against the fatal enslavement of drink....Alcoholics Anonymous, a society composed solely of men and women who have shared his experiences, who have known and understand the horrors and degradation of alcoholism, offers new hope for his recovery and rehabilitation.
Joseph Kessel, the noted French novelist and journalist, has written a fascinating and highly informative account of Alcoholics Anonymous. During an extended stay in this country, he spent much of his time watching this unique organization in action. He ventured into Manhattan's Bowery to observe the nightmarish effects of alcoholism. He visited A.A. meetings among the prisoners at Sing Sing and among the dwellers on Park Avenue. He observed A.A. officials at their posts and talked with Bill W. himself, the co-founder of the organization, which in little over twenty-five years has grown to include some 250,000 members in the United States alone and which has affiliated groups in more than eighty nations.
As a reporter, Kessel's primary concern was to look and to listen-and to record, with fidelity and clarity, his observations. The result is this illuminating portrait of a large and devoted group of people, waging a dramatic war against one of the most terrifying enemies of our society.