Incredible little book that I discovered when I first got sober. Practical suggestion for daily living without a drink. This book was exactly what I needed when I began my life transformation. Highly recommended for anyone that desires to live a day at atime without a drink.

This book has great, practical suggestions on dealing with situations and feelings that are troublesome for alcoholics. It does not "preach" or talk down to the reader. Every AA meeting should make this book available!
k.

...right after "Alcoholics Anonymous" aka "The Big Book". First, as a recovering alcoholic myself, I must comment on some of the previous statements here that border on reckless endangerment:
"unfortunately--reinforces the stereotype of vulnerabilty (sic) and fragility inherent in recovery".
Maybe it's a "stereotype" (?) because it's TRUE. We are fragile. We are vulnerable. Just like anyone else would feel if they were dying. Especially in the first days, sometimes hours, of "living sober". That's why newcomers to A.A. are encouraged to attend "90 in 90"- ninety meetings in the ninety days- when the craving is likely to be the strongest. Why try to stop drinking on your own (which almost never works) when there's free, caring, help and support readily available? I hope I don't sound condescending or anything; it took me a LONG time to figure out what was practically staring me in the face. And it didn't have to be that way.
"nor is sobriety so rigidly intolerant that mouthwash should be avoided like the plague" - "intolerant"?! - A.A. is the most tolerant group of people I know of; this has nothing to do with "intolerance", it's about precaution/necessity, given the physiology inherent in all alcoholics. ETOH (alcohol) is to be avoided COMPLETELY, even in seemingly harmless amounts. Our bodies just don't process it like normal people's do. And I'm honest enough to admit- not proudly- that I once drank an entire bottle of Scope- that's the kind of power alcohol can have over a desperate, and yes, insane, drunk in the throes of withdrawal. (Tom's of Maine & Tea Tree Therapy make alcohol-free mouthwash- there are a couple of others I can't remember offhand- they're not hard to find.) Has anyone ever witnessed someone with the shakes drinking vanilla extract to get the alcohol in it? Well, I have, and it ain't pretty.
Lastly is my favorite: "sobriety entails fundamental strength of character". That is so patently false it's almost laughable. What's NOT funny about it is that we're talking about a DISEASE here. It has absolutely nothing to do with any sort of weakness. Do cancer sufferers die because they're not "strong enough"?!? Hardly.
Here's one of A.A.'s many sayings: K.I.S.S.
K.= Keep
I.= It
S.= Simple
S.= Stupid (or Silly, or - my favorite - Sweetheart)
It's not a difficult program if one just follows the suggestions, or at least most of them. OK, at least some of them. Nobody I know of has ever failed at this by being "too dumb" to get it. But I do know of many people who've failed by being "too smart".
I highly recommended this book to any alcoholic, or "alcoholic-in-training". (And has been said already- there's good stuff in here for "normies" too!)
And to the alcoholic reading this who is still suffering- I understand your predicament all too well. All you need for A.A. "membership" is the desire to stop drinking. That's it. Period. The phone number for A.A. is listed in every directory in the country, and nearly every directory in the world. The phone can be your best friend right this minute- instead of the bottle- (which is your current best friend; one whose ultimate goal is to kill you.)

I rejected much of the AA model, but I still found this short book to be extremely helpful in my early days of recovery. Just a lot of practical common sense ideas to help keep you sober for another day.

Distributed by AA World Services, LIVING SOBER is a thin volume of common sense advice intended for recovering alcholics and alcoholics seeking sobriety. Most of its suggestions are rhetorical exercises of practicality, and although its content is well-intentioned this booklet is surprisingly vacuous in matters of cognizant significance when addressing the inherent problems of recovery and sobriety.

The book states the obvious in its advice on a plethora of topics, such as calling one's sponsor instead of taking a drink, yet it also--unfortunately--reinforces the stereotype of vulnerabilty and fragility inherent in recovery, a stereotype that often perpetuates failure, and one I adamantly oppose as I witness to various groups. One does not, for instance, have to be told how to politely turn down a drink at a social gathering, nor is sobriety so rigidly intolerant that mouthwash should be avoided like the plague. The fact of the matter is sobriety entails fundamental strength of character, yet many of the simplistic suggestions found in this booklet ring hollow, almost demeaning in their shallow approach to people who are anything but one-dimensional.

As LIVING SOBER states, readers are free to accept suggestions they agree with and leave behind the rest, yet if concrete, elementary guide steps to daily sobriety are sought, this booklet offers only superficial practicality. As always, a more comprehensive approach to living sober can be readily found in the book "Alcoholics Anonymous," also referred to as the "Big Book."
--D. Mikels