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 Alcoholics
Anonymous-New York Times Magazine, February
21, 1988 |
Magazine
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A Long-Awaited Book on A.A. Doesn’t Satisfy
People
in Alcoholics Anonymous, dedicated as they are to taking
life one day at a time, have nevertheless been looking forward
to a certain book by Nan Robertson. Its working title ("Alcoholics
Anonymous") and the author's credentials (she is a
Pulitzer Prize - winning reporter for the New York Times)
suggested something sweeping and artfully authoritative.
The only question was whether Robertson, a recovering alcoholic,
should violate A.A.'s "traditions" by shucking
her anonymity. The author discussed this with the widow
of A.A.'s co- founder Bill Wilson - and Lois Wilson, 97,
ultimately said that it was "high time" for the
definitive study of the 53-year-old movement. Unfortunately,
Robertson's book has arrived and it is high time still.
On
the road to publication, by William Morrow, the book became
"Getting Better" a title that is bland, self-helpish
- and, alas, appropriate. Robertson has produced a handbook
for those new to the 12 steps. There are chapters on A.A.'s
history, the "god part" of the program, and so
on. These are useful, and "Nan's story," in which
Robertson tells of her own dealings with the disease is
the kind of powerful tale that can help an active alcoholic
overcome his feelings of denial. But most of the book is
an ordinary mix of facts, quotes and one-dimensional historical
figures. That's just not good enough for a subject like
A.A., which is extraordinary to say the least, and - given
that it has grown from two drunks to two million sober members
worldwide - probably the closest thing we have to a modern
miracle.
C.L.
(Source:
Newsweek, April 11, 1988)
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