The language of the heart : a cultural history of the recovery movement from Alcoholics Anonymous to Oprah Winfrey /

Women's studies professor Travis (Univ. of Florida) historicizes and explicates the paradigm and movement of recovery and examines its connections to broader historical and cultural currents in the US. She focuses on recovery's manifestations in print culture to chart the movement's genesis in Alcoholics Anonymous through its evolution to distinct strands within and beyond it. Travis tracks the movement from its original institutional location in the 12-step group out into the broader US culture, in which diverse and seemingly unrelated institutions have refined its forms and, in doing so, have increased its visibility, legitimacy, and power. The book has three parts connected by a thread of spirituality, as the title connotes. The first part, "Addiction and Recovery," traces the appearance and maturation of the institutions that formed the material base from which recovery print culture precipitated the addiction treatment industry and AA. "Alcoholics Anonymous and Print Culture" builds on this broad foundation to depict the large and complex world of 12-step print culture and its myriad effects. "Politics and Spirit" presents a feminist analysis of post-12-step recovery and critically analyzes Oprah Winfrey's role in the recovery movement. Summing Up: Recommended. All academic levels/libraries. G. Bruyere Nicola Valley Institute of Technology