CHAPTER 01 · PAGES 1–16
Bill’s Story
One person’s experience of drinking, desperation and the beginnings of recovery.
Read. Pause. Talk.
Read this chapter in your own Big Book or through AA’s official online edition. Notice what feels familiar, what challenges you, and what you would like to ask someone at the meeting.
Open the official Big BookChoose “Bill’s Story” in AA’s chapter list. This page is a reading guide, not the full chapter.
Bring your questions
You don’t have to agree with or understand every sentence straight away. Reading together gives us a chance to listen and learn from lived experience.