The Glumlot Letters

by M. Stanley

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Author: M. Stanley

Publisher: Capizon Publishing

Paperback:
ISBN 10: 0965967239
ISBN 13: 978-0965967235

With delightful humor, this work covers the serious matter of recovery from alcoholism. In letters to a fellow devil, Glumlot writes about his attempts in tempting a human away from A.A., sobriety, and recovery. By describing what the other side is planning, this book offers a practical application of AA's Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, and a revitalizing approach to universal spiritual principles that are the basis for a relationship with a Higher Power.

Review

In a wickedly delicious parody of C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters, Stanley M. turns his sights on the Twelve Steps and the recovery process. The Glumlot Letters are correspondence between two devils, Twigmold and Glumlot, and the subject is tempting a human away from AA, sobriety and recovery. Twigmold's "patient" has begun drinking to excess and he's delighted. Glumlot warns him, however, not to take heart too soon, to examine the quality of the blackouts. If the blackout "blocks the light of the Enemy," and suspends rational judgment, it is a triumph for the Lowerarchy and an excellent opportunity for Twigmold to make his appearance and make his patient feel "abandoned and utterly hopeless." The patient, however, turns to AA and is poised on the threshold of Step Four, to Twigmold's dismay. Don't worry, says Glumlot. Convince him that he can do it by himself and that it has to be an exactly perfect "scorching and clueless" inventory. Whatever the author aims at, he hits a bullseye, and he doesn't miss a misunderstanding about the Steps or a place where we can trip over human egoisms and fall on our recovering faces. If we've had a stumbling recovery, probably this book will show us where our problems lie. (Audrey DeLaMarte, writer and columnist)

From the Publisher

A common topic of conversation in Alcoholics Anonymous and other Twelve-Step meetings is "the committee inside your head." The book, The Glumlot Letters, written by a long-time A.A. member, uses a delightful, satirical sense of humor to personify that incessant internal mental dialogue familiar to all of us - not just those in recovery. The main character, a devil named Glumlot, writes to one of his peers, suggesting different ways of tempting a human away from sobriety, recovery and spiritual values. This book, inspired by C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters, functions on three simultaneous levels: a) While many books about recovery tend to be academic in style, this is an entertaining and well-written story with character development and plot twists. b) In its roundabout way, it is also an instruction manual about meetings, sponsorship and the Twelve Step program outlined in A.A.'s basic text book. c) At its core, it a book for anyone who has struggled with the "Who is God?" question. By describing what the "other side" is planning for us, it offers a reasonable approach to the universal spiritual principles that can be the basis for forming a relationship with a Higher Power.

From the Author

One day, I asked myself, "What if I had a designated devil, as in C.S. Lewis' great book, "The Screwtape Letters"? -- a temptor whose sole (soul) objective was to interfere with my sobriety, spirituality and serenity?" I've stayed sober for many years by following the 12 Steps as outlined in AA's Big Book and keeping up my attendance at meeting. Yet there is always that little voice saying, "Oh, you can skip tonight's meeting..." So I began looking at my AA experience from the "other side" and added a twist of humor to the view. In examining the Steps, the slogans, the meetings, the literature and the spiritual principles from this new perspective --by defining what these things are NOT-- I found a deeper understanding of what they ARE. As is said in AA, if you want an alcoholic to do something, tell him NOT to. Perhaps by defining how one tempter attempts to mess with sobriety, this book offers how one might counter the negative thinking that creates problems in searching for or maintaining sobriety. As Glumot explains, "Our aim is to have the patient spend as little time as possible the present because that is precisely where the Enemy (God) is. The Enemy has stated He is concerned with what the humans do. That is because their actions are always in the present - where He is. We are more concerned with what our patients think. Because thinking takes them into the past... or off into the future. Take your patient out of the "now" and you move him away from the Enemy. Heaven may be infinite, but Hell is eternal!"

About the Author

During the day, Stanley M.(Los Angeles, CA) an AA member since 1983, is disguised as a mild-mannered financial executive; at night he will be at an AA meeting or playing jazz guitar!

From Letter Seventeen: "Some humans, especially non-drinkers, give us all the credit for getting our patients drunk. It is not like that at all. We suggest the first drink, but only the disease can hold the door open long enough for the idea to get in. No human in his right mind, who had an allergy such as this, would ever drink again, but the illness somehow erases the memory or circumvents normal logic. We can knock on the door. It is the alcoholic who must answer. He must come alone if he is going to drink and once again set the cycle in motion. In some cases, the Enemy [God] is at the gate with him. So you try again some other time. We can 'Keep coming back,' too!"

The Glumlot Letters

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The Glumlot Letters