Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous is mentioned in the diary through two brief references to meetings Brigid Berlin planned to attend or did attend. These glimpses place the organization within the characters’ everyday routines, while leaving its meetings and their significance to the attendees undescribed.

Planned Attendance

On January 22, 1980, Ronnie was saying that he hated himself and intended to go with Brigid Berlin to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting on Park Avenue that she was planning to attend. The diary records Ronnie’s stated intention, not whether he went or what took place at the meeting; it does not establish that either person was a member.

Attendance During a Workday

In a later account, after Brigid had narrowly avoided being struck by a truck and returned to the office, she went to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and then came back. Although she had been offered the rest of the day off, the office needed her. The entry records her departure and return as part of the day’s events, without describing the meeting itself or explaining what it meant to her.