Cool Water

Alexander's (A Man's Book of the Spirit) graceful, invitingly personal memoir and guide expands on AA's dictum to turn one's will and life over to ""God as we understood him."" Describing how insights from Zen Buddhism illuminated his recovery from alcoholism, Alexander, who leads workshops in ""Ordinary Recovery,"" suggests that people can find a higher power in the magic and immediacy of the present moment. He borrows the great Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki's claim that the mindfulness and even the enlightenment that comes with Buddhist practice is ""nothing special"": ""Recovery is ordinary. What is recovered is the ordinary world we left behind. What we realize, drug free, is the transcendent wonder of the very ordinary."" Alexander cautions alcoholics to avoid the isolating effects of self-blame and the trap of ""thinking of yourself as `always recovering, never recovered.' "" Calling alcoholism his dark twin, ""close dwelling, co-arising at every moment, conceived with me, born with me, and with me still,"" Alexander describes how this troublesome inborn trait led him to mindfulness practice and the discovery of his true humanity. As unpretentious and profound as a drink of cool water, Alexander's book shows readers that simple awareness itself has the magical power to heal. (Sept.)