Lush: Peter Benchley

Scott Preston, distinguished New York editor, is not an alcoholic. He may need two double vodkas before he can even think of facing the day, but drinking is not a problem. His wife and boss disagree with him and threaten to divorce him/fire him respectively if he doesn't enter a treatment programme immediately. So begins Preston's odyssey at the Banner Clinic, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre founded by Stone Banner, a John Wayne-like former star who is a recovered alcohol and drug abuser. Preston's co-patients at Banner are like no-one he's ever met before: there's Duke, who arrives at the clinic in a bunny costume; Hector, who's been in so many clinics across the country he's now come to see them as structured Holiday Inns; Lewis, a self-loathing homosexual; Cheryl, an alcoholic anorexic whose beeer-only diet has left her with very little liver; and Twist, Preston's steel-muscled black room-mate. Preston can't believe he belongs with this bunch of loonies but neither they nor his tough no-nonsense counsellor Marcia will let him off easily, breaking down his arrogance, self-reliance and his reticence until he comes to see that he'll only get better with the help and support of others. But someone at Banner is not getting any better...the beautiful Priscilla. And when Preston and his new friends discover why, they plot to expose the reason.