This study will provide a critical analysis of David R. Rudy's Becoming Alcoholic: Alcoholics Anonymous and the Reality of Alcoholism. While Rudy's perspective is certainly marked by an appreciation for the benefits of Alcoholics Anonymous for alcoholics who seek sobriety, he is nevertheless objective and balanced in his analysis of AA. As Rudy writes in the Notes section of his book, "Nearly half of the reviews that addressed my relationship to AA charged that I …showed first 75 words of 2682 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2682 total…pressured into successful, long-term recovery. This must be, as in AA, a matter first and last of individual choice, individual responsibility, individual commitment--always within the communal environment such as is provided by Alcoholics Anonymous and such as is recommended by Rudy. Bibliography Works Cited Flores, Philip J. Group Psychotherapy With Addicted Populations. New York: Haworth, 1988. Goode, Erich. Drugs in American Society. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1989. Rudy, David R. Becoming Alcoholic. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois U P, 1986.