No Smoking [Box set] [Hardcover]

Luc Sante (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2004

Can you imagine Groucho Marx without a cigar? Do you remember that a few years ago smoking was allowed in airplanes? Can you tell when New York stopped smoking?

In the not so distant past, posing seductively with a cigarette was de rigueur for Hollywood types. How many celebrities today dare to even hold one? No Smoking is a tribute to the 20th century, a century that created, promoted and glorified the cigarette and then suddenly declared war on it.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Assouline; First Edition edition (November 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 2843236169
• ISBN-13: 978-2843236167
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.8 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #469,857 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful collection, December 14, 2005

By 

Phillip Litt - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Smoking (Hardcover)

First off, I am not a smoker. I have smoked cigarettes before, and enjoy the occasional cigar, but don't consider myself a smoker. However I was intrigued when I saw this book in Barnes and Noble this afternoon (I thought the box was very clever) and ended up sitting down and reading pretty much the entire book.

You don't have to be a smoker to appreciate the effort put into this collection of art, including old advertisements, photos, paintings, and quotes from an array of influential people from the past two centuries. This is not a glorification of smoking; neither is it an indictment. Rather, it asks the reader to forget for awhile their beliefs about smoking and realize what a large part smoking played in American culture as well as European culture.

Yes, smoking can kill you. But to immeadiatly dismiss this book as a nostalgic collection for the fiendish smoker is juvenile, and frankly, disrespectful; like it or not, tobacco has played an enormous part in this country's history. This book does a very good job of taking the reader beyond their beliefs to see a whole world of art, life, and culture that revolved around smoking.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely book, May 16, 2005

By 

JA "JA" (Northeast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Smoking (Hardcover)

The pictures are terrific, and they demonstrate irrefutably that our cultural identity was established by people who smoked like it was their last day alive. What was/is smoking considered cool by some people? Who knows. But all P.C. nonsense aside, this is a fascinating book.

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun Table Book, November 28, 2007

By 

Estefania Fernandez "EFA" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: No Smoking (Hardcover)

I love the box it comes in!! So much fun. This is a great table book, it seems to call everyone's attention. Images are amazing and very crisp. But then again, of course, its TASCHEN.