Ernest Kurtz, The Collected Ernie Kurtz

The Collected Ernie Kurtz

Ernest Kurtz

Ernest Kurtz, The Collected Ernie Kurtz, June 2008, ISBN 978-0-595-52099-2, xiv + 232 pp., $19.95 U.S.

This is an exact reprint of the first edition of The Collected Ernie Kurtz, which was published in 1999 by The Bishop of Books, Charles Bishop, Jr., 46 Eureka Ave., Wheeling, WV 26003, in a limited edition of 1,000 copies.

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Ernest Kurtz has been the outstanding thinker of the A.A. tradition's second generation, the one who played a constant leadership role in pushing the movement towards the highest professional standards of history writing and supplied some of its most influential interpretive concepts. His ideas are vitally important for anyone who wishes to understand A.A. history during the period following Bill Wilson's death in 1971.

As a Ph.D. student at Harvard University in the 1970's, he was the first researcher to be granted full access to the archives of Alcoholics Anonymous. The book that resulted, Not-God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous (1979), is still the classic work on early A.A. history. His book on the spiritual life -- Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham, The Spirituality of Imperfection: Modern Wisdom from Classic Stories (1992) -- is equally well known, and has also been an enduring best seller through the years since it appeared. His work on Shame & Guilt (orig. pub. 1981, rev. ed. 2007) has given a whole new depth to the discussion of those two vital recovery issues.

This present book, containing twelve key articles written by Kurtz between 1982 and 1996, gives us an additional volume from his hand, displaying the impressive range and breadth of his thought on alcoholism, addiction, and spirituality.

Here under one cover is Kurtz at his best

"Readers of Not-God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous and The Spirituality of Imperfection and those of us who have been captivated by the lectures of Ernest Kurtz have long awaited this volume. Here under one cover is Kurtz at his best: historian, gadfly, teacher, interpreter, and master storyteller. Breathtaking in the depth of insight they contain, these are the most definitive essays every written on Twelve Step Recovery and Spirituality. This is MUST reading for any student of Alcoholics Anonymous and the evolution of spirituality in America. This book will touch your mind and your heart."

William L. White, author of Slaying the Dragon: The
History of Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America

Ernest Kurtz

Table of Contents

Foreword by Thomas F. McGovern, Ed.D., Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavior Science, School of Medicine, Texas Tech University

Research on Alcoholics Anonymous: The Historical Context

Alcoholics Anonymous: A Phenomenon in American Religious History

Bill W. Takes LSD

"Spiritual Rather Than Religious": The Contribution of Alcoholics Anonymous

The Spirituality of William James: A Lesson from Alcoholics Anonymous

Shame in the Nineties

Commentary on "Lay Treatment"

Models of Alcoholism Used in Treatment: Contrasting A.A. and Other Models with Which it is Often Confused

Spirituality and Recovery: the Historical Journey

Whatever Happened to Twelve-Step Programs?

Why A.A. Works: The Intellectual Significance of Alcoholics Anonymous

Here's to Spuds MacKenzie!

Ernest Kurtz, The Collected Ernie Kurtz, Here's to Spuds MacKenzie

Spuds MacKenzie, the bull terrier used in advertising
Bud Light beer in the late 1980's. He died of kidney failure on
May 31, 1993 in North Riverside, Illinois at the age of 10.