338 of 342 people found the following review helpful:
How to Quit Smoking- no if, ands, or butts.
No need for a long review here. About the first three quarters of the book is spent exploding various myths and delusions about smoking (such as smoking relaxing you or getting rid of stress), which sets you up and gets you into the right frame of mind for actually quitting. At this point, the book wants you to continue smoking while you read it. In a nutshell, the easy...
No need for a long review here. About the first three quarters of the book is spent exploding various myths and delusions about smoking (such as smoking relaxing you or getting rid of stress), which sets you up and gets you into the right frame of mind for actually quitting. At this point, the book wants you to continue smoking while you read it. In a nutshell, the easy way to stop smoking involves two things: one, deciding you are never going to smoke again, and two, don't mope about it anymore, rejoice. Sounds too simple, but after reading the first part of the book, this strategy will make more sense to you.
Lastly, the book cites two main reasons why you will fail: the influence of other smokers, and having a bad day. Having been around for 20 some years and being able to refine it with twenty years of feedback, I feel like this is one of the better books out there on non-smoking.
My wife tried every technique including the LungUSA program (Freedom from Smoking), counselors, the gum, willpower, etc. I came across this book in the mall, she read it, and quit. And she did it decisively. Don't buy this for someone you want to quit -- reserve it for when they are committed and struggling and need something to help them. The psychology is subtle but highly effective. I even bought a copy to put in the public library. It begs the question -- why hasn't it become popular here already?
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I quit after 40 years of smoking at least one pack a day, and it was just as easy as Allen Carr said it would be. I think the key is to give in and accept what Carr is telling you.
I didn't think I was ready to quit. I thought I enjoyed smoking, and some days, a cigarette was my only incentive to get out of bed. I had bought the book on a whim, for some day far off in the future when I'd be "ready" to quit. I had bought a carton of cigarettes on Saturday, and then on Sunday I was bored and decided to read the book. Had my last cigarette before I was halfway through. Next morning at work, a friend asked me if I was ready to go outside for a smoke break and I said "Well, I don't smoke anymore, but I'll go outside with you."
No withdrawal pangs, just a feeling of relief that I didn't have to smoke any more, and that it wasn't going to be hard at all. All the smoking triggers that I worried about -- car trips, after meals, phone calls, stressful times at work or at home, leaving work and lighting up, having a beer at the bar -- none of those things triggered the urge. The urge is gone.
Wish I had found the book earlier.
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UPDATE: May 18, 2008--Almost two years now. Happier than ever. My small circle of fellow-quitters-by-this-book: still a 100% success rate, most of them for almost as long as me.
Read my long, rambling review if you like, but I'd rather you'd spend as much time reading as many DIFFERENT reviews here as possible, then...BELIEVE IT.
Trust me, I know that as a smoker, it seems absolutely unbelievable. I was exactly the same way. Just do it, give it a shot. 359 out of 406 said FIVE STARS. That's no accident. You'll see some patterns in these reviews...believe what you're reading. Do it now.
Ten bucks for this book? That's two packs of smokes! So worth it. So easy. Don't waste another day. Don't even wait for it from Amazon...drive to the store and get it NOW. You can read it in two or three days...you'll be free.
UPDATE: September 22, 2006--it's now been three months since I quit, I haven't stumbled once, and the thought of smoking doesn't even enter my mind. I can happily and easily be around smokers without wanting a cigarette. For example: a friend of mine forgot I'd quit and asked me to HOLD HER BURNING CIGARETTE while she went inside the house...I did so with no desire to puff on it...no kidding...I never would have believed it if I hadn't experienced it myself.
A couple of reviews above contend that you will still have cravings. I'm of the opinion that those people weren't mentally in the right place when they read this book. Here's how I explain it: you can't crave or miss something that you truly don't want, right? (Case in point: non-smokers don't crave cigarettes.) For about a week, yes, I did impulsively reach for the spot on the coffee table where the pack usually was, but I'd quickly remember that I'd quit, and had no struggle. In fact, so easily beating the impulse was empowering.
Read the avalanche of positive reviews, and believe it. You know you shouldn't smoke, but deep down inside, you think you want it, that you enjoy it...you think you will miss it, you think you'll keep wanting it. Allen Carr will convince you of why you don't want to smoke. I've recommended this book to four other people, all of whom have quit without a problem. All of them (including me), and two other people who haven't finished the book yet, have stopped reading in the middle, or delayed starting it because they're afraid that they will continue to want the thing that they know is bad for them...they BELIEVE that they enjoy and want cigarettes. After you read the book, you simply no longer believe the LIES you've been telling yourself: that you want it, that you enjoy it, that you'll miss it. THAT'S why it's painless. Do you have to talk yourself out of eating cardboard? Do you have to exercise willpower not to chow down on it? Why not? Because you have no desire for it. That's what this book does for smoking. It's COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from any other approach to quitting.
Smoke four more days, and you've spent the price of the book. My original review from July 14th follows........
My smoking resume: I quit smoking three weeks ago today, after reading Allen Carr's book. I averaged a pack and a half a day for almost twenty years. During that time I quit smoking several times, once for six months. As with the vast majority of the people who have written reviews here, I quit smoking when I finished reading the book and have had no desire to smoke again. First, I want to address two recent reviews (that you will find below)...
Anthony (three stars on July 6th) makes the point that a person's commitment to quitting is a factor, and whatever book you're reading at the time you decide to quit might/could work. That's sort of true, but I disagree with him on another point: this book's approach to quitting is vastly different from anything else out there, and I, like most, have tried almost everything. Nicotine gum, regular gum, holding empty cigarettes, sheer force of will, the list goes on and on. This book explains, one by one, why each method of quitting generally fails, and even when successful, how people who haven't smoked for long periods can go back to it. It doesn't, as Anthony says, "acknowledge that it is the determination that ultimately makes it happen". Carr does note that you have to want to quit, for sure, but he equips you differently that any other method. Interestingly, simply, elegantly: knowledge is the power. Simply and truly understanding smoking for what it is gives you the strength, and I guarantee that you've never heard it explained like this. If you're reading these reviews, you're probably trying and wanting to quit for good yourself (or for a loved one to quit), and you know how common, and painful, the failure can be.
Okay, two big stars from Kenneth on July 5th. Kenneth, my man, ease up a bit. We all admire your Viking-like strength and ease of quitting by not whining and "just doing it", "just not smoking". You are truly a man of great intestinal fortitude. But most of the smokers who are reading these reviews will probably tell you it's not that easy for them, and they cannot explain why. My best friend, who still smokes but just started reading the book, said, "but I just...want one." He couldn't explain why. And Kenneth, before you disagree too strongly, o ye of infinite willpower, why, then, did you ever smoke at all? How long were you a smoker? A day? I'm happy for your success, but you seem like you might even be angry about quitting. The other eighty-some people who wrote positive reviews here don't seem mad at all. At least be happy for us, and avoid coaching little league.
When I've quit in the past:
1) I always decided I'd quit the following day, because I had to be able to smoke a few more before I actually stopped--y'know, otherwise, it would just feel like I'd run out--then I'd destroy any remaining cigarettes before I went to sleep (after clogging my lungs and stinging my eyes with as many as I physically could), and "not smoke" when I got up the next day. I'd wake up feeling ill, and would be smoking by noon, typically.
2) I rarely tell anyone else I was quitting ('cause the looming fear of failure made me want to make sure I had really quit before I broadcast it, so as not to embarrass myself publicly with my weakness...I would at least want to get past noon).
3) I had to make sure there were not any smoke-able butts anywhere, because I'd definitely fire one up if I found it. Had to spray water in the trash cans, because otherwise, I'd dig through the trash looking for butts. Y'know, you're not REALLY failing to quit if you don't actually go BUY a pack, right?
4) I was frustrated, irritable with people I loved and enraged with people I didn't even know, and was always thinking about the cigarette I wished I was having but knew I couldn't. After doing that a few times, I was able to consider how miserable quitting was before I would even make an attempt. Talk about a discouragement...that would begin several more months or years of puffing away before I'd think about trying to quit again.
Does any of that sound familiar?
This time--and I'm not kidding:
1) I quit when I finished reading the book. It was around one in the afternoon. I stopped at that moment with no regrets or worries about what I'd do with my hands for the rest of the day. Matter of fact, an hour after I put out my last cigarette, my mom called to tell me that her doctor needed her and my dad to come in together to look at a CAT scan from earlier that week, didn't tell them why, but it sounded serious. Mom just called to let me know and ask for prayers. This was ONE HOUR after my last cigarette. She's okay, by the way...a chronic sinus infection, not the big "C"...but I never even felt close to wanting a cig.
2) I have been telling everyone I talk to, from day one, that I've quit smoking.
3) I've walked by lots of leftover cig butts (I'm something of a slob, I guess) and sometimes I toss them in the trash, but sometimes I just shrug it off, leave it there, and have no desire whatsoever to spark it. I've had some moments where, simply out of habit, I reach for the place on the coffee table where they were, but I'm equipped to deal with it, and Allen Carr's not kidding, either--it's actually fun to beat the brief urge to smoke, and so easily.
4) I was not frustrated or irritable (no more than a normal, non-smoking human, anyway), and now when I think about the cigarette I'm not having, I smile rather than sweat.
Read more of these reviews...these people aren't making it up. There's a reason that the average rating is five stars instead of two and a half. No accident. I didn't believe it until I read the book. I would read a review and think, "yeah, you haven't smoked in five days, I've done that lots of times." But after I finished the book, I realized that I was looking at things completely differently than I ever had before, from the moment I put out the last one. One of these reviews says something like, "I read two-thirds of this book and then stopped reading it because I was afraid if I finished it, I'd quit smoking." Basically, he was afraid that by simply finishing the book, his cigarettes would forever vanish from his life. HE WASN'T AFRAID OF FAILURE, HE WAS AFRAID HE'D SUCCEED. How cool is that? (and if that doesn't demonstrate how twisted smoking is, I don't know what does.)
The final selling point that got me to buy this book: you get to smoke all the way until the very end, no guilt, no pressure. So you won't have to miss any of that smooth, full, smoking pleasure if the book doesn't work. But it will work, in spite of you. That's what's so great about it.
Do It Now.
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I was recommended this book by an ex-heavy smoker (40 a day). he said it worked for him and gave me a copy. I smoked for 10 years, and have been a non-smoker again for 4 years. I tried to read it once (out of peer pressure) and never got to the end of it. 6 months later I retried reading it, this time I finished reading it. I havent smoked since. I dont miss smoking at all. Yet I'm not a smoker.. I like the smell of fresh smoke, I can see why the ritual of smoking appeals to smokers, I dont mind if others smoke but I have absolutely NO desire to smoke. Its a cheap painless way to quit. Try it.The book is an easy common sense read but really does change your perception.
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This book is AMAZING! I started smoking when I was 13 (I turned 25 twenty days ago and quit a week before that) and have quit numerous times. Of course, as they say, "quitting is easy, it's staying quite that's hard." Most of these attempts only lasted a day or two, and every time I started again I felt like such a weakling. Once, I quit for four months, only to break down in a time of stress, picking up right where I left off. After reading Easy Way, I quit without feeling like I was losing something from my life. I actually have waited a month to write a review just to make sure that the program worked. I've never had an easier time quitting or staying quit. Allan encourages readers to smoke until they finish the book, which I think was very important for me. Being "allowed" to continue actually made me eager to stop; I threw the rest of my pack away before finishing. Allan also doesn't discourage you from thinking about cigarettes, which I do. BUT I think about them in a "thank God I don't smoke anymore!" way. On occasion (maybe 3 times) I've wanted a cigatette, but through the positive techniques and patterns established in the book (not to mention actually seeing the tar in my phlegm a week after I quit) helped me say no. I can't believe such an effective method is only $15! I've tried hypnosis and Nicorette, cold turkey, prayer and willpower, but nothing has been this effective. Strangely, nothing in the book is particularly revolutionary, it's the presentation, occasional repetition and tone that really provided the break-through. I haven't gained any weight (in fact, I think I've lost some)and my persistant acne is nearly gone. I look younger, my clothes don't stink, and I don't always have to leave my friends or the party to go out and smoke. Yay!
Update: November 2007: Still smoke free and happy! This book is also great if you have a relapse.
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10 years I smoked, 1 - 2 packs a day, and in spite of several attempts to quit, and thoughts of hypnotism, I decided I quite liked smoking, and that was that.
Never in a million years did I think this would work. I didn't even want to quit. I only read it cos my sister gave it to me and I'd run out of other books. (Although it worked for her, and the person who gave it to her...)
3 days I took to read it, thought it was all a bit obvious and that I could have written it myself, and was still seriously skeptical when I finished it.
But here's the thing.... that was last June. And I still haven't had even one puff of a cigarette. Nor do I want one. In fact after 9 months, I think smoking's kind of gross. It smells horrible, it interferes with your day, and it truly is like kissing an ashtray.
How did this happen? You stopped me instantly, Mr Carr, and I didn't even want to stop! So strange. So amazing. Never have the thoughts of one man had such a massive, and such a permanent, impact on my life.
I salute this man. The governemt should give a copy of this book to every smoker. The tobacco industry would collapse within the week.
It truly truly works. Buy it.
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I knew four people who read the book and they all quit. Most impressive though was that they were not suffering over it -- they were happy and carefree! I was scared to death to even read the book and did not want to quit at all, but my doctor told me to. Well, now I know five people who have read the book and quit. The book does not scare you into stopping with health warnings. Instead, one by one, it removes all the fears you have about stopping. (I won't enjoy myself at a party... I'll gain weight...I'll be miserable forever...) Once you lose all those fears, it really is easy to stop. It's been over a year now and I know I will never smoke another cigarette. Thank you Allen Carr!
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I thought I'd write a review of this book, but I think maybe it would be more revealing and sincere if I just paste a letter I wrote to a loved one about it. I had sent her a new copy of the book after it worked for me, and she wrote expressing that fear of quitting we all felt whenever we're contemplating quitting (or being somewhere where it was impossible to smoke for a few hours - oh the horror!)
Dear Jane,
Believe me when I tell you, the worst part about quitting is the FEAR of quitting. This book encourages you to smoke while you read it, and it won't "make" you do anything you don't want to! If you don't feel like quitting, you don't quit, no big deal! But those cigs are doing a real number on your brain, they are convincing you that you are afraid of life without them, life just won't be as enjoyable, you can't imagine never smoking again, etc. But don't be afraid to read the book! Like I said, if you want to still smoke, you do! There are no guilt trips at all.
You may think I was better suited for it because I had quit before, but let me tell you, I think I was WORSE off because all it accomplished, all those failed attempts did, was to CONVINCE me I could NEVER live my life without cigarettes! I was still dying for one over a YEAR later, just coasting along on willpower and totally failing and making myself go insane! I would pick fights with John so he would say, "Oh go have a cigarette for heavensakes!" I couldn't live the rest of my life like that, no way!!! Who could?! It's inhuman, WAY too much suffering! So, I'd start smoking again.
The thing about this book is it makes you a NONsmoker, like you were BEFORE you ever started! So you are not one of those pathetic EXsmokers who goes their whole life just dying for one more smoke, all the while acting so superior and righteous in front of current smokers.
When I got the book, I plowed through it in a day, expecting to find some "magic" part in it ... but there was none, and I kept smoking. A couple days later I thought, well maybe I read it too fast, maybe I'll read it again ... and had only gone through it again about halfway when I found myself walking home and tossing a cig after a couple of puffs and surprising myself by thinking so strongly, "I will never have another." I had a feeling that I can't describe, but it was among the finest feelings in my life and I'll never forget it. That feeling was freedom, delicious and palpable and absolutely confident. The hardest part was before I quit, of being afraid to quit. The quitting wasn't even hard, in fact, it gets more joyful every day that passes, unlike when I quit before. I was slightly physically uncomfortable for about 2 days (similar to that feeling of getting a cold) then it was gone. It's been over a month now and to be honest, I don't know exactly how long because I haven't counted and I don't really care, there's no struggle or internal strife or the need for a "reward" by celebrating anniversaries or whatever. It's just done. It's like I never smoked. And it had been 15 YEARS of smoking and being convinced that I would smoke till the day I died! Quite a turnaround!
But again, don't worry about just reading the book! If you don't feel like quitting, you don't! You are actually instructed to keep smoking while you read it! If you decide not to quit, I would NEVER think any less of you, I love you SO VERY MUCH! But do yourself a favor and just read it, with no pressure, no guilt, no expectations.
Love, me
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I read this cover to cover right out of the box -- pack a day for 10 years, plus 6 years before that with a 3 year "break" in the middle. Believe me, I went into this thinking no way is this book going to do it. I didn't even want to quit! I really just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Well, wow, fuss away!
First off, it is not a scare tactic book. In fact it addresses why scare tactics only make people smoke more. It's more about talking about the reasons why people THINK they smoke, why those reasons are illusions, the reasons people REALLY smoke, and how those things are easily overcome. The book terms it a sort of de-brainwashing.
By half-way through the book I never wanted another cigarette again, but it tells you to keep on smoking until you finish the book. There was a point in the book where it specifically said to light up, so I did. Finished the little experiment and didn't even want to smoke the whole thing. I ate dinner directly after finishing the book, realized that I had the "need" for a cigarette as usual after dinner, and then I realized I didn't NEED anything at all but to do the dishes.
All I can say is that I feel free after just one day. The book works, the ideas are simple and easy. You cannot spend a better $15 for your health.
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