On the one hand, I know AA to be a, if not the, viable road to sobriety for a great many, if not most, alcoholics.  I have friends who credit their very continued existence in the world to AA. 

On the other hand, for many of those friends—and others I have observed—that existence seems, in reality, to be life lived in an AA bubble.  Their world has narrowed to only those activities generated by AA.  Their friends are limited to only those who are also in AA.  While they may or may not accord ownership of their Higher Power to God, they are most definitely missionaries.  Their church is AA; their bible, the Big Book.  And like some zealous Christian friends I once had who were forever pressing me and others to Accept Jesus As Our Personal Savior, my AA friends were forever pressing me and others to Go To Meetings.  Just as it didn’t matter to the Christians what the religious beliefs and practices of we others were, it didn’t matter to the AA-ers what our drinking habits were.  I found it both amusing and infuriating how inclusionary my AA friends were.  It seemed as if they never met a person that they could not categorize as an alcoholic.  Their gestures were grand: All the world’s a stage and all the people on it merely drinkers in need of the 12 Steps. 

            But back on that first hand: I know AA is effective.  My friend M, one of the few non-proselytizing AA-ers I know, says, “Does it work? Absolutely, if you do the shit.  Going to meetings daily for  the first year keeps one close to the “alcohol axis” and ensures you don’t  forget how fucking miserable you were when you first went.  No one goes to AA by accident!”