Ok well in response to why the male characters with the alcohol problem didn't move on to harder drugs seems foolish to me. Yeah drugs are another major issue in American society, but look at the facts.. this is a ballpark figure but I'd say 1 in every 4 or 5 households has an alcoholic in the family. And I can speak from experience that alcohol has a very serious impact on a family. I think what made the shining believable was simply the fact of how disfunctional the Torrance family was, because of Jack's drinking problems and his poor anger management. Now Jack's character made me furious at several points in the book, just do to his reluctance to change. Then above all he regressed all the way back into what he hated the most, which was the portrayal of his own father. As well as it fit into the story, it truly had me worked up.