What is the "basic text" of Alcoholics Anonymous. A response

R. . . .

Thank you for the update. I continue to see the importance of being aware of the "Big Myth;" i.e., that the Foreword (of which there are actually four in the fourth edition), "The Doctor's Opinion," the "first 164 pages," and "Appendix II: Spiritual Experience" are "the basic text" of Alcoholics Anonymous Society. The "Big Myth" is contradicted by:

1. A number of the basic meanings of the word "text" in a good dictionary (e.g.: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/text); i.e., the word "text" usually means a book or a manuscript--i.e., the whole thing, not just a portion.

2. The words on the front cover of the dust jacket of the hard back version of the fourth edition of the Big Book (2001)--the first thing that many people would see when they look at a new copy of the current edition of the hard back edition of the Big Book with its original dust jacket on it; i.e.:

Alcoholics Anonymous

This is the Fourth Edition of the Big Book, the Basic Text for Alcoholics Anonymous [highlighting added]

(Again, the whole book is "the basic text.")

3. The second paragraph of the first page of the Preface in the fourth edition (p. xi) states in part:

. . . this book has become the basic text for our Society . . . [highlighting added]

 

Food for thought for those who want to know.

Dick B.'s son, Ken
www.DickB.com