Rating: 
Summary: "We are not saints"
Review: "Bill W." I feel is a very good book about Bill Wilson and even though I did not like reading it the first time, I read it again with an open mind. It helped me understand the man and why he was able to become co-founder of AA and write the Big Book "Alcoholics Anonymous." If he did not have problems, he would not have been able to do this, and in reading "Bill W.", it has helped me understand what we all go through in life. Be as honest as possible today, do the next right thing and remember "We are not saints."
Rating:
Summary: "We are not saints"
Review: "Bill W." I feel is a very good book about Bill Wilson and even though I did not like reading it the first time, I read it again with an open mind. It helped me understand the man and why he was able to become co-founder of AA and write the Big Book "Alcoholics Anonymous." If he did not have problems, he would not have been able to do this, and in reading "Bill W.", it has helped me understand what we all go through in life. Be as honest as possible today, do the next right thing and remember "We are not saints."
Rating:
Summary: Bill W.
Review: A well written and enlightening biography. It was helpful to learn of Bill W.'s struggle and real character. It gives validation and hope to those of us who are struggling with many of the same issues.
Rating: 
Summary: Makes A Good Doorstop
Review: Bill W. was my second cousin. Our grandfathers were brothers. Both of these men raised their grandchildren. Uncle Fayette raised Bill and his sister and my grandfather raised my half brother and sisters after their mother died. These children played together in the little town of East Dorset, Vermont. However none of the Griffiths had much use for Bill W. after he became a man. He was the black sheep of the family. I never met him for this reason. East Dorset is now a shrine to Bill W. My grandparents' graves are covered with AA medals. This is another book praising him as he should be praised. He overcame a serious addiction. My son has just overcome a serious addiction but he feels the hundreds of AA meetings he attended only made him worse. He feels that they no longer follow the precepts of Bill W. and have become nothing but a religious cult. I tend to agree.
Rating:
Summary: message from his cousin
Review: Bill W. was my second cousin. Our grandfathers were brothers. Both of these men raised their grandchildren. Uncle Fayette raised Bill and his sister and my grandfather raised my half brother and sisters after their mother died. These children played together in the little town of East Dorset, Vermont. However none of the Griffiths had much use for Bill W. after he became a man. He was the black sheep of the family. I never met him for this reason. East Dorset is now a shrine to Bill W. My grandparents' graves are covered with AA medals. This is another book praising him as he should be praised. He overcame a serious addiction. My son has just overcome a serious addiction but he feels the hundreds of AA meetings he attended only made him worse. He feels that they no longer follow the precepts of Bill W. and have become nothing but a religious cult. I tend to agree.
Rating:
Summary: Jumbled and Pointless
Review: Can't follow author's writing style or points he is making. Other Bill W bios, Pass It On or Thomsen's Bill W have same info and read better.
Rating: 
Summary: All the lowdown on Bill
Review: Fascinating book, though I felt just a bit naughty reading all the "hot gossip" that Hartigan dispenses. He obviously knows all the insiders, though, and I suppose it's important to have all this stuff written down while the old-timers are still around who remembers AA's earliest days.There are some peculiar errors: on p 61, Hartigan describes Bill's entering Towns Hospital on his sobriety date, Nov. 11, 1934. But on p. 55, he describes the ill-fated golf trip to Staten Island (which happened several weeks or months before Bill got sober) as also taking place on Nov. 11, 1934: clearly not just a typo, since the point of this story is that it took place on Armistice Day. Something is wrong here, and I'm still trying to figure it out! It's unfortunate that this book has the same title as Robert Thomsen's much more comprehensive (and better, in my view) bio of Bill W., and might be confused with it.
Rating:
Summary: All the lowdown on Bill
Review: Fascinating book, though I felt just a bit naughty reading all the "hot gossip" that Hartigan dispenses. He obviously knows all the insiders, though, and I suppose it's important to have all this stuff written down while the old-timers are still around who remembers AA's earliest days. There are some peculiar errors: on p 61, Hartigan describes Bill's entering Towns Hospital on his sobriety date, Nov. 11, 1934. But on p. 55, he describes the ill-fated golf trip to Staten Island (which happened several weeks or months before Bill got sober) as also taking place on Nov. 11, 1934: clearly not just a typo, since the point of this story is that it took place on Armistice Day. Something is wrong here, and I'm still trying to figure it out! It's unfortunate that this book has the same title as Robert Thomsen's much more comprehensive (and better, in my view) bio of Bill W., and might be confused with it.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Finally we have the definitive biography of a man to whom countless millions owe their lives. Not only alcoholics, but the wives, children, and other family members of alcoholics should read this excellent narrative of the life of Bill Wilson, co-founder of the Alcoholics Anonymous program. Hartigan's incisive style, and the book's compact but continually fascinating treatment of Wilson's personal struggle which finally brought forth the fruit of the original and most successful 12 Step recovery program, is easy to read, well documented, at times painfully truthful, yet faithful to the reality of who this great man was. Long overdue, this book fills the void which unfortunately was left by the previous effort of Robert Thompson. Unlike the previous volume, Hartigan's volume is thoroughly documented with a valuable bibliography and a full index. Every alcoholic on the planet should read this text and realize that the co-founder was just as human as they and suffered through the disease and the recovery just as they do. Well-done, Mr. Hartigan.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Finally we have the definitive biography of a man to whom countless millions owe their lives. Not only alcoholics, but the wives, children, and other family members of alcoholics should read this excellent narrative of the life of Bill Wilson, co-founder of the Alcoholics Anonymous program. Hartigan's incisive style, and the book's compact but continually fascinating treatment of Wilson's personal struggle which finally brought forth the fruit of the original and most successful 12 Step recovery program, is easy to read, well documented, at times painfully truthful, yet faithful to the reality of who this great man was. Long overdue, this book fills the void which unfortunately was left by the previous effort of Robert Thompson. Unlike the previous volume, Hartigan's volume is thoroughly documented with a valuable bibliography and a full index. Every alcoholic on the planet should read this text and realize that the co-founder was just as human as they and suffered through the disease and the recovery just as they do. Well-done, Mr. Hartigan.
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