| Description |
194 pages ; 24 cm |
| Summary |
"In the aftermath of Prohibition, America's top scientists joined forces with AA members and put their clout behind a campaign to convince the nation that alcoholism is a disease. They had no proof, but they hoped to find it once research money came pouring in. The campaign spanned decades, and from it grew a multimillion-dollar treatment industry and a new government agency devoted to alcoholism. But scientists' research showed that problem drinking is not a singular disease but a complex phenomenon requiring an array of strategies. There's less scientific evidence for the effectiveness of AA than there is for most other treatments, including self-enforced moderation, therapy and counseling, and targeted medications; AA's own surveys show that it doesn't work for the overwhelming majority of problem drinkers. Five years in the making, Joe Miller's brilliant, in-depth investigative reporting into the history, politics, and science of alcoholism shows exactly how AA became our nation's de facto treatment policy, even as evidence accumulated for more effective remedies - and how, as a result, those who suffer the most often go untreated. US of AA is a character-driven, beautifully written expose, full of secrecy, irony, liquor industry money, the shrillest of scare tactics, and, at its center, a grand deception. It will forever change the way we think about the entire enterprise."--From book jacket. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Subject |
Alcoholism -- Treatment -- United States.
|
|
Alcoholism -- Treatment.
(OCoLC)fst00804565
|
|
United States. (OCoLC)fst01204155
|
| Added Title |
United States of Alcoholics Anonymous |
| Other Form: |
Online version: Miller, Joe, 1968- author. US of AA Chicago, Illinois : Chicago Review Press, [2019] 9781613739280 (DLC) 2018052969 |
| ISBN |
9781613739273 (cloth edition) |
|
1613739273 |
|
