Acknowledgments

Many people have been invaluable to me in the writing of this book. I am deeply grateful to all of you.

To my Mom and Dad, thank you for making me who I am. My addictions are my own; my best behaviors come from you. You have shaped every positive quality I have. To my brother Daniel, thank you for never letting me rest, for all of your positive reinforcement along the way, and for your wonderful feedback. No one did more than you to help me get this book completed on time. I owe you lots of sushi. To my sister Deborah, thank you for your wisdom and insights when I ventured into your world. Your expertise and ideas have been invaluable. To Scott, thank you for your creativity and enthusiasm and for supporting all of my whacky ideas when this book was still far off on the horizon. To Liliane and Claude, thank you for your endless patience helping with my kids and giving me the time I needed to write.

To Berrett-Koehler, thank you for being the most welcoming, supportive, author-friendly, exciting publisher an author could hope to find. To my editor Johanna Vondeling and my project leader Tiffany Lee, thank you both for believing in me, shepherding me through the process, and providing invaluable insights and support all along the way. It has been an incredible pleasure working with you both. Thank you also to all of the rest of the B-K organization. You made the entire process more enjoyable and stress-free than I ever imagined it could be. To my readers Amelia Borrego, Sharon Jordan-Evans, Andrea Markowitz, Sharon Melnick, and David Shapiro, thank you for your time and your honesty.

To Mike Jaffe, thank you for helping me think through the hardest chapters and always seeing the brightest possibilities. To Karlin Sloan, thank you for writing your book and encouraging and inspiring me to write mine. To Tammy Winnie, thank you for your respect. You helped me build the confidence I needed to see this project through. To Lindsey Pollack, thank you for your guidance in the process of writing a book. This book would never have found a publisher without you.

To Daniel Herrmann, thank you for sharing your struggle with alcoholism and your life-changing experiences with Alcoholics Anonymous. To all the people who have shared with me their encounters with change, thank you for your time and your stories, most notably Ethan Schutz, Emily Golden, Alan Graham, Derek Hanson, and Derrin Hill.

Above all, to my wife Beatrice and my daughters Sophie and Ella, thank you for your laughter and your spirit. Your unwavering support has lifted me up and inspired me through every draft of this book and through everything I do in life.