Customer Reviews

Kill the Addiction: Stop Smoking : Without Quitting

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In this book, John English who writes that he was a smoker for 50 years, sets out his method for kicking the nicotine habit. At the time of writing this book, John English has been a non-smoker for 7 years, so this method has clearly worked for him.

Breaking the nicotine addiction is hard, whatever the reasons we each have for choosing to do so. Many of us quit more than once, as did John English. Many of us try a raft of different methods in seeking to break free of this habit, and no single method works for everyone.

So what makes the method in this book stand out? Why might this method be worth trying for those about to consider breaking the smoking habit? Simply, the attraction is that the smoker uses his or her own resources and doesn't smoke - one day at a time. In John English's case, one day at a time is now over seven years. Personally, I think that is the key. One day at a time: each day we live is part of a greater whole, but when fighting demons (and addictions) one day at a time is the way to do it.

Well worth considering if you want to stop smoking. Sometimes the best answers are simple ones.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Stopping without quitting sounds like an oxymoron but it can be done. "Kill the Addiction: Stop Smoking: Without Quitting" takes a unique approach to fighting one's addiction. John English tells people that it's addiction, not the product that one must conquer, and offers much intriguing advice. For any who have tried and failed to quit smoking, "Kill the Addiction" is a top pick for self-help collections.

"What's in a word?" we ask.

Sometimes everything; or, more specifically in John English's book Kill the Addiction, whether you choose to continue being addicted to smoking cigarettes or not.

English ought to know. At age 20, the Britt was swept into compulsory military service and supervised the weekly cigarette ration at the officers' mess. In those circumstances (and assuredly in circumstances of your own), try avoiding being caught in the smoking web in the first place, and when you see you haven't, try escaping it.

Over the next fifty years, English tried to do just that, and he'll tell you he quit "many, many times. The shortest was for several hours. The longest for eight months . . ." Then he found a way--or rather made his own way--to stop smoking, and he shares that method with you in his book.

Kill the Addiction is a slim book with a dynamite cover guaranteed to grab attention. The author tells you a little about himself, how to use the book, how it is structured, and what the essential first step is if one seriously wants to stop smoking. In short, snappy paragraphs, he'll tell you what the method is not, and he'll cover popular smoking myths. As a former smoker with a handful of friends who still smoke, all of the myths rang true with me. He'll hit you between the eyes with smoking facts; not pretty--not pretty at all. The author primes the reader's pump a little further with information about overall physical and emotional health, provides a brief review, and then delivers you to the method's starting line and on into the battleground.

I appreciated the book's directness, and how when the author knew he would never smoke again, he set out to test the method with others. Toward the end of Kill the Addiction, he shares the statistics and the comments from some of those in his control group and provides numerous resources on where smokers can get additional information.

Each of us finds our own way, and most often it is with a helpful point in the right direction. John English delivers one such direction.

The problem with so many quit-smoking approaches is they ask you to tackle the wrong problem. In John English's new gem, "Kill the Addiction", he identifies the right problem, then tackles it by providing the nicotine-addicted an easy-to-follow method to never lighting up again.

The devil is in the details, and smoking cessation is no exception. The method presented in this book is noteworthy because, rather than relying on products, gimmicks, nor support groups, it taps the power of one's own (often hidden) inner strength to succeed, reinforced with easy-to-follow but critical behaviors. After smoking for 50 years while trying various approaches to quitting, the author has identified the confounding obstacles to success; his method attacks such obstacles head on using specific important behaviors. Explained in short easy-to-read chapters, the reader can take in the method in 5-minute bytes, or read the entire book (72 pages) in one sitting (I read it in about 2 hours).

The book starts by attacking popular smoking myths, presenting scientifically-proven truths; then, goes into the method itself. The method draws on the author's experiences trying to quit, uses the basic psychology of motivation, and the effect the environment (especially one's friends and associates) have on one's success. Hint: when you plan to stop smoking, keep your intentions private...until you are well into your non-smoking pattern. Included are numerous statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO) about smoking and health. Also included are statistics that dissect the author's study of his own method (90% success rate).

While other methods imply one's (lack of) inner strength is a liability, this method acknowledges it as an asset, useful for self-control. In contrast to a simplistic "you can do it" mantra, the logic behind the method is explained. I found this logical approach refreshing.

I recommend this book to any smoker who wants to stop, or to anyone who knows a smoker who would admit they'd rather not smoke. The method in this book ended the author's smoking habit, and he has remained smoke-free for over 7 years. It was this success after many failures with other methods that the author claims led him to write this short, helpful book, so that others can succeed, too.