In '81 it was suggested to me that I "read, study, absorb and do" what is in that book as if my very life depended upon doing so, and that is what I have been doing ever since...and I was also told, "Do not settle for second-hand information -- read the book to know who and what to listen to even in an A.A. meeting." I never intentionally find fault with how anyone stays sober, but I do distinguish between "the A.A. way", so to speak, and anything else since there is nothing else that has yet ever worked so well for so many. Stories are fine and I do have my own favorites, of course, but none of them ever contain the directions for taking the Steps in order to permanently recover from chronic alcoholism. Those directions can only be found in "A.A.", the book.

From our book, and also mentioning "true alcoholic":

"...the real alcoholic...may start off as a moderate drinker...may or may not become a continuous hard drinker; but at some stage of his drinking career he begins to lose all control of his liquor consumption, once he starts to drink...
"...does absurd, incredible, tragic things while drinking...
"...often possesses special abilities, skills, and aptitudes...
"...begins to appear at hospitals and sanitariums (treatment centers).
"This is by no means a comprehensive picture of the true alcoholic, as our behavior patterns vary. But this description should identify him roughly." (pages 21-22)

The above only describes the physical aspect of alcoholism that distinguishes the alcoholic from the non-alcoholic, and the problem today is that today's AA contains many people who have never even come close to being last-gaspers (including the bottom having yet to be raised to hit them) and have no problem with drunk-sober-drunk while still being self-reliant and allegedly recovering-ing-ing-ing one-drunk-at-a-time. Hence, and even if some of them might actually be real alcoholics, very few ever share any real solution since they have yet to even find or accept one for themselves.