Joe and Charlie, When the Big Book Feels Impossible

Somebody in a meeting said "listen to Joe and Charlie," and now you are home with a book that feels like a wall. You opened it and the words slid off. Or you are ashamed you cannot follow them yet. You are not late. Plenty of people needed that book explained by someone who had already been through it.

Joe and Charlie is that explanation. It is not another official book sitting next to Alcoholics Anonymous. It is a study two members gave, first to a home group, then on tapes that traveled, then in weekend workshops other members still host.

Who they were, and how the tapes started

The workshop site The Big Book Comes Alive says the study began in the early 1970s with Joe McQuany and Charlie Parmley. They met in 1973, when Joe introduced Charlie as the A.A. speaker at an Al-Anon convention. What hooked them was the idea that the Big Book was written in a sequence, on purpose, to carry certain ideas. They kept at it. The same page says they often drove 225 miles to sit in each other's homes and talk about the book.

In 1977, the page says, some members were in a hotel room in Tulsa, Oklahoma, talking about the Big Book. One of them asked Joe and Charlie to bring a program on the book to his home group. An A.A. member who taped meetings recorded that presentation as a four-tape set and called it The Big Book Study. The tapes moved through the fellowship. Invitations followed, to conventions, roundups, and other events. By 1980, the page says, about eight studies had been given.

That is the part worth knowing. Two members studied the book together, a home group asked them to present it, and a tape of that presentation is what people still mean by the name.

How people use it

A.A. says each group decides its own meeting format. At a Big Book meeting, members often read the book out loud and then talk. The Joe and Charlie tapes are one way groups and workshops have walked through that same book. The history page says the recordings circulated, and that groups and events then asked the two men to present the study in person.

The homepage of that workshop site says Joe and Charlie later gave other members permission to keep offering the weekend version. Those weekends try to put the program together in one weekend. If you want one, the dates are on that site. A weekend is optional. It is not a requirement for belonging.

The only requirement A.A. prints, in the short form of Tradition Three, is a desire to stop drinking. The long form says membership ought never depend on money or conformity. You can be in the rooms for years and never hear these tapes. You can also hear them and still need the book itself. Alcoholics Anonymous, first published in 1939, is the basic text. The study is people talking about that text. The Big Book resource on this site is a plain map of the chapters. The books guide is the short shelf of books A.A. itself publishes.

"Conference-approved" is a different question. A.A. says the phrase means material the General Service Conference approved for publication by the General Service Office. The phrase does not apply to recordings that office does not publish, and A.A. says it does not mean the Fellowship disapproves of other reading. The conference-approved guide stays with that definition. The history guide is the short story of how the Fellowship started, if you want it later. You do not need it tonight.

What to do tonight

You do not need a tape to be welcome. A.A.'s newcomer page says you can sit and listen, and that you do not have to pay anything to attend. There are no dues or fees for membership.

Find A.A. Near You points you to a local office for a meeting list. A.A. says that national page is not itself a meeting finder. You can also search public listings on this site's meetings page. The how to find a meeting guide covers the Meeting Guide app and what to check before you drive. The first meeting guide is there if walking in is the part that scares you.

Go to one meeting. You do not have to say your name. A.A. says that after the meeting, people usually stay and talk, and someone may offer help. That is a good moment to ask, "Where does this group read the book?" If they use a Joe and Charlie study, they will tell you. If they just read the Big Book a few pages at a time, that is a real start.

If you have been drinking heavily, stopping all at once can be dangerous. NIAAA says alcohol withdrawal can be life-threatening when people who drink heavily stop suddenly. A tape cannot manage that. Read the withdrawal guide and get medical help. FindTreatment.gov lists licensed programs. Call or text (800) 653-9376 if you want help finding one. Calling is free to you. We check your benefits before you commit.

If you are in immediate danger, call 911. If you are in a mental health crisis, call or text 988. A meeting, a book, and a tape are for the drinking problem. They are not a substitute for emergency care.

Additional Resources

Sources cited on this page:

• The Big Book Comes Alive: history
• The Big Book Comes Alive: homepage
• A.A.: The Big Book
• A.A.: What does Conference-approved mean?
• A.A.: What to Expect at an A.A. Meeting
• A.A.: Need help with a drinking problem?
• A.A.: The Twelve Traditions
• A.A.: Find A.A. Near You
• NIAAA: Alcohol Use Disorder, From Risk to Diagnosis to Recovery
• SAMHSA FindTreatment.gov
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
• SmarterRecovery about page (calling is free to the caller)

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