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Fitzgerald's drinking, severe enough during his working years--when he rose from newspaper reporter to CEO of the Book-of-the-Month Club--became worse after he retired in 1984. One attempt to get help at St. Mary's Rehabilitation Center in Minneapolis apparently failed, but he returned in 1988, and here tells of the 28-day stay during which he finally began to solve his problems. Deeply moving, this is a tale of laughter, camaraderie and a great deal of pain. The others in treatment with Fitzgerald, a lapsed Catholic, included a Catholic priest, a Protestant clergyman and a charming young Texas businessman. (In an aside the author comments that these people are his own creations, but that assertion is less than convincing.) Fitzgerald dramatizes gut-wrenching sessions when patients and their families confront one another under the guidance of a counselor who personifies ``tough love'' in a memorable and masterful account of rebuilding a broken life. (July)