Sober for Good: New Solutions for Drinking Problems -- Advice from Those Who Have Succeeded

As a long term sober member of AA, I approached this book skeptically thinking is would be just another in the 'bashing' series. But it's not. Fletcher does a very competent job surveying the various means of achieving sobriety. This book is a valauble tool for someone who is struggling with their drinking. It shows that there are a range of options for the person and that they have an opportunity to find which approach works for them. It is also a strength of SOBER FOR GOOD that Fletcher shows how many people with long-term sobriety have migrated thru various programs thru different phases of their recovery. This would be a good book for one who has been sober for a while, but is feeling the need to expand beyond the limits of what their current program has to offer. The one drawback in the book is the use of jargon in too many places. For example, use of the term 'master' to describe a person who has achieved sobriety smacks of the guru feeling of many other self-improvement books. A good editor would have made Fletcher find other terminology. All in all, well worth the $12. I went ahead and bought 5 copies for use with my AA sponsees to let them know that if they don't feel comfortable with the work of the program, then it doesn't mean they're doomed to an early grave.

I wrote the review below in 2002. Since then I have passed it on as a loan or sold it for what I paid for it maybe 20 times. I've told dozens of women about it. It is still indispensible. I've studied many texts and read many popular books, but Fletcher's book still stands head and shoulders above the rest! Sober for Good is a book filled with hope. It offers perspectives rarely seen in alcohol-related materials, and I sincerely hope that it gets wide distribution. I'm a certified moderator (volunteer small group leader) for Women for Sobriety groups, and this book is a driving force in the sobriety of nearly all of the women I meet. Not everyone benefits from AA, and it's incredibly validating to see that other people similar to ourselves have gotten sober (and stayed sober!) using other methods. The book is put together in a way that allows the reader to go to the parts that relate most to her/his situation, which is particularly important for people still grappling with addiction or newly sober. You go, Anne. You have a big fan club in San Francisco!

Sober for Good – Anne FletcherI 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 OptionsA 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

It takes guts to go up against an existing paradigm, but that's just what Anne Fletcher has done in SOBER FOR GOOD. Surprisingly, that isn't what Ms. Fletcher set out to do. Her simple goal was to find out just how folks beat the alcoholism goon.Her results, after numerous interviews and nearly three years of research and writing, was that recovery is a highly individualized path. This is welcome news for those who are struggling with alcohol but who also don't feel that the established ways, such as AA, aren't right for them.All in all, this is an empowering book, destined to be a lifesaver for many, heresy for some, and a major step forward in how we perceive and treat one of humankind's most destructive addictions.