I have lost count of how many times I have read this book over the years. I first found it in the local library nearly 20 years ago, and still think it is Block's best literary creation, bar none. His characterization is brilliant -- Skip Devoe, Joe Diebold, that nameless Latina he meets in a bar, Telephone Tommy, Carolyn from the Caroline, all exist in this one book only, but are clearly etched in my memory. In addition, I mailed a copy to a friend who was a substance abuse counselor in an inpatient facility, set up along AA lines, and he was really impressed at how exactly Block had gotten the world-view of drunks of a range of types. This is a morality play in which no one is completely innocent. Every time I pick it up just to read a paragraph or two, I find myself drawn up in it again. The society depicted is not pretty, and the language can offend, but that's the only caveat I would give.