THE BOOZE BATTLE: A Common Sense Approach

If you are involved with an alcoholic, you, too, become a victim of the disease, says author Maxwell, and she illustrates this sad fact with a series of grisly case studies of addicted drinkers and their family tragedies. Ellen loses her husband to drink, but manages to save herself. Tom's wife also dies, but therapy saves him and his daughters from the resultant guilt. Sally seeks help in time to reform her husband, who, we are told, has now been sober for 20 years. There's a ""how-to-help"" section for the wives of alcoholics, and one for employers. But for the most part this is a rather muzzy rehash of what anyone who doesn't live in a cave already knows: that alcoholism is a disease that requires professional help; that AA and Al-Anon often work if the alcoholic can be made to attend--often the hardest part.