The second printing is available now. It was released in 1996 and the previous one (that I read) was released in 1988. I first saw and read this in 1990, when I was 34 years old. It was at the nadir of my hill of self-discovery (but I did not know that).
The major theme of this book is: codependency and it's effects. Hey, wait a minute! Neither my father nor my mother were alcoholics (although my stepfather was). I do not think that this applies to me! I recently obtained some more copies to distribute, and even to review it for this essay, it still affects me emotionally, even today!
A string of firsts for me. OK here it is:
I started giving this book to people. I gave it to my mother, and told her to figure out herself with it, her family, not our family. She returned thanks. I gave it to my friends. I told each of them: Don't tell me how it affected you, unless you want to! Actually, I was embarassed myself by how it affected me, and I was unsure to tell people about this.
I gave it to my uncle. When I next saw him 3 years later, he raved and had tremendous praise for it. He said he loaned it to some people and he had to track it down to get it back. They did not want to give it back. I was amazed.
And finally, it was the first time I had a name for the thing that made, and makes me, bad: perfectionism. I consider this a very strong word. I have even inflicted it on some other people. It has synonyms in others words that I did, and still, use to describe myself like: judgemental, standards-based, blame-seeking. Of course, this book and other experiences have helped me ameliorate this, but I view this phenomenon as dangerous.
You can get this from Amazon
Last Update: 15Jan98