Alcoholics of my type seem to be beyond human aid. We have completely lost the power of choice (the ability to choose not to drink) as regards alcohol. There are times where we have no effective mental defence against the first drink. They call it that strange mental twist where the sane thought of consequences is replaced by the insane thought that it is ok to drink, it will be different this time. I was never more insane than in that moment just before the fatal first drink. Will power was useless. I think this is part of what Peter G was talking about above. I so relate to that total powerlessness.
The purpose of the book is to help us find a power greater than ourselves which will solve our problem "sanity has returned" , and it suggests we take certain steps to achieve this.
My experience is that we seem to be given a window of opportunity, perhaps through God's grace, where we are open to recovery. No one knows how long their window will be open for, but it seems, if we are making an honest effort, God will keep the window open long enough for us to reach step nine, and begin developing our spiritual life. But it also seems that if we squander the opportunity, the window will close and a drink will magically appear in our hand. From what I have seen, those who make it to step nine seem to find themselves on much safer ground, just as the book promises. These folk can choose to drink if they wish, but are not compelled to, as the obsession is now gone.