EASING THE ACHE Gay Men Recovering From Compulsive Behaviors <i> by David Crawford (E. P. Dutton: $18.95) </i>

David Crawford (a pseudonym, as are all the names in this slim, anguished work) sits at the intersection of his homosexuality and his alcoholism, and writes specifically for gay men who fight compulsive behaviors, from too much drink to, in this era of AIDS, too much careless sex. He began fighting his addiction to liquor in the traditional Twelve Steps program of Alcoholics Anonymous, and, while he was successful, he came to realize that gay men often felt constrained in heterosexual AA groups.

Crawford’s book is an effort to translate what he learned into a gay vernacular in hopes of reaching readers who felt they couldn’t tell the truth in AA, or who found, like Crawford, that they were reluctant even to identify the sex of the person they lived with. Sadly, much of what he writes is in the misery-loves-company/true-confessions vein. He can paint a vivid scene and describe in painful detail the various dents to one’s self-esteem that lead to addictive behavior, as well as the difficult crawl back up. But his advice is terribly dilute by comparison, full of therapeutic platitudes. Although his experience and his desire to heal seem genuine, what he offers--his talk of spiritual victory--does not seem enough to sustain a beaten soul. Would that it could--but even his description of his brother’s death from AIDS, and what he learned about the process of “softening and severing” ties, seems a helping hand held just out of reach.