The translator Ulrich Blumenbach
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The “Basic Text” of Drug Addicts Anonymous has a circulation of thirty million copies, but reads unwieldy. Thanks to the German translator Ulrich Blumenbach, this text now sounds really good.
EThere are books that are world famous, but only a few have read them in their entirety. James Joyce’s “Ulysses” is one of them. The Cantos by Ezra Pound. “The Waste Land” by TS Eliot. And there are books that are read millions of times, but they rarely appear in the press. They don’t appear on any bestseller lists and aren’t awarded any prizes. The so-called Basic Text by Narcotics Anonymous is such a book. Translated into 35 languages (as of 2020), with a total circulation of more than thirty million, the slim work is one of the most widely read books of all time.
Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is a recovery community modeled on Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). In 1953, the drug addicts split from AA. The first priority for narcotics is abstinence from all drugs, including alcohol. The “Basic Text” is like the “Big Book” of Alcoholics Anonymous (FAZ of December 22, 2012) a collection of essays on the subject of how recovery works for addicts. At its heart is the explanation of the “Twelve Steps,” an exercise program that ex-addicts around the world work through to continue their abstinence from day to day.
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