Book reviews

A Review by Vera Tarman, MD

Posted on September 13, 2023, tagged as Addiction Recovery, Alcoholics Anonymous, Heroic Journey, Twelve Steps

Michael Cowl Gordon, a specialist in addiction medicine with extensive personal experience in recovery, offers a captivating book that combines clinical insight with the power of the 12-step program. Through a collection of individual stories, Gordon beautifully demonstrates how individuals struggling with addiction can embark on a transformative journey of recovery. By utilizing the metaphor of the hero’s journey, he convincingly explains why the 12-step program holds the key to overcoming addiction. This book is not only beneficial for clinicians seeking to understand the potential of the program but also provides a vivid portrayal of the strength and nuance within Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) for those in recovery. Gordon skillfully interweaves literature, clinical expertise, and spirituality, creating an engaging read that offers profound insights into addiction and recovery from both the clinician and patient perspectives. As an addiction physician in recovery myself, I highly recommend this book ‘The Twelve Step Pathway: A Heroic Journey of Recovery’ for its unwavering integrity, expansive literary scope, profound philosophical insights, and invaluable practical tips. Reading this book was like to going to a fabulous conference of excellent speakers. The stories were more than interesting and Gordon’s own grasp of AA and of the larger world of recovery was very telling. Finally, this book is a call to the power of abstinence in the world of addiction medicine, where harm reduction dominates. Gordon portrays the potency of thriving, rather than just surviving addiction.