It spells out a path for recovery that includes traditional recovery values, but goes beyond the psychobabble so often used in recovery circles. It is a book that was ahead of its time regarding the pub. date, but in recent years has gained a wider readership due to the maturation of the recovery movement away form terms and concepts that are now much dated. "Codependency" includes both counterdependent and dependent variables present in all human relationships-and its vague clinical meaning limits is use as a term or recovery concept. Most interesting about the book is its easy application to all unbalanced relationships, and its continued relevence seven years later. It's a basic how-to book that highlights simple personality pattern recognition to correctly manage oneself and others. It starts out deep, covering issues of language and thinking, and develops a useful, practical direction as the reader sees relevant applications in everyday life.