I actually didn't finish the book, but I did smoke the last cigarette of my life while reading it, and extinguished it in utter disgust.

The book is written at a third grader's level of reading comprehension, and at times, the arguments seem positively infantile. The text is repetitive, and the author's personal history is repellant and dull. The money argument doesn't really work on me. And yet, and yet. There is some very clever rhetoric in play here, utterly simplistic in its logic, but ultimately compelling. My brain has completely rewired how I think about cigarettes, smoking, and smokers. The only two times I previously semi-successfully quit, I would miss cigarettes, and envy smokers, until I fell back off the wagon. This time, I simply SMH and wonder how I could have been so foolish for so long.

I smoked for most of 17 years, and now I'm free (a better word for quitting, I learned herein), and though I sort of hate to admit it, this book has a lot to do with it. I wish I remember who recommended it to me, but since I don't, I just try to pass it on. I do notice many of my still-smoking friends seem to ignore it, even if it's sitting on their shelf -- so it seems to me that there is definitely a component whereby you need to truly want to give up the poison before this book can work its hypnotic magic on you.

We all make questionable life decisions here and there, I'm glad this one is behind me.

کتاب را با قصد جدی برای ترک سیگار، همراه با مراجعه به روانپزشک شروع کردم و مطابق دستورالعمل کتاب پس از پایان خوانش آن آخرین سیگارم را کشیدم.

بسیار امیدوارم که بتوانم از این اعتیاد رهایی یابم، اگر چنین بود؛ حتما این نوشته را ویرایش می‌کنم و اطلاعاتی به آن می‌افزایم.

There are alcohol addicts, drug addicts, smoking addicts, sex addicts, gaming addicts, shopping addicts….and I guess there must be many more.
In my case, I am a book addict.
Yes folks, I admit.
My name is Loy Machedo and I am a bookoholic.
And this was proved even further when I passed by yet another book store to just ‘have a look’ as I call it, and ended up purchasing two bags full of books.
As I was exiting the store, my eyes fell upon the book titled Allen Carr’s ‘Easy Way to Stop Smoking’.
Now under normal circumstance, I wouldn’t bother.
Simply because I don’t smoke or drink.
Never have and never will.
But then the fine blue print at the top of the book caught my attention – Nine Million Copies Sold.
I was like, what the hell does this book have that it would end up selling Nine Million Copies in Print?
And without a seconds hesitation, I decided to purchase it.
Well, if there was a secret, I need to know what it is all about so that I can may be help others – especially since I am a self-help coach and trainer.
So I took it home, opened it….and this is what I found out.





So now who is Allen Carr?
Allen Carr (2 September 1934 – 29 November 2006) was an author of books about quitting smoking and other psychological dependencies including alcohol addiction. He quit smoking after 33 years as a hundred-a-day chain smoke

Carr's clinics claim 90% success rate in helping smokers stop for 3 months, and 51% percent success rate in helping smokers stop for 12 months. Celebrity clients include Richard Branson, Anthony Hopkins, Ashton Kutcher, Britney Spears, Ellen DeGeneres, Charlotte Church, Mahesh Babu and Hrithik Roshan.

Carr also wrote a number of other how-to books on subjects such as losing weight and stopping alcohol consumption. The combined publishing effort and global clinic network built him a £120-million fortune.

On the plus side
1) Very easy to read book.
2) Simple small short chapters
3) Logical in its mental approach
4) Most probably you can finish it in one single sitting

On the minus side
1) It is so simplified that you will wonder if the approach really works
2) The whole focus is towards being aware and responsible
3) It focuses around smoking being a mental game.

Content Summary
1) The first 35 pages were nothing but praise for the Easyway method (the method Allen Carr uses to help people stop smoking)
2) The pivotal questions he poses are: What is it doing for me? Do I actually enjoy it? And Do I really need to go through life paying through the nose just to stick these things through my mouth and suffocate myself?
3) An average smoker spends around 75,000 pounds in a lifetime on smoking
4) The person is never addicted to smoking – they are addicted to a Nicotine – the drug.
5) Why asking the wrong questions does more harm than good – like ‘giving up’ smoking is primarily focused on the mind thinking it is giving up something than gaining something
6) And yes, then he focuses on all the common myths we have and experience which make us even more addicted to Nicotine rather than help us free ourselves from it.
7) The 5 day physical pain and the three week withdrawal symptoms.
8 ) 44 Chapters which are easy to read – really easy but with a major question – is this all there is to quitting smoking?

Overall Analysis.
There is a big question at the end if this system works or not. The strange bit is that after reading through so many websites all I found is positive recommendations with regards to this book. So does this work or not – well I don’t know. I guess not being a smoker, I am not a good candidate to speak if this works or not. May be the only criticism anyone can point out towards the book is this - Allen Carr died because of lung cancer at the age of 71. However....I still would recommend you to buy it and have a read. Well if it does work – why not? After all, what do you lose if you can purchase one book – the same price that you would pay to purchase one pack of cigarette?

Overall rating – (based on ease of reading and goodwill)
8 out of 10

Loy Machedo’s Extra
For those of you who do not wish to spend money like I did, well I found quite a number of sites offering these books for a free download. Here is the link if you are interested.

http://quitober.com/pdf/AllenCarrEasy...

من به این کتاب 5 ستاره دادم .
" تنها کتابی هست که این امتیازرو دادم چون تنها کتابی هست که واقعا منو نجات داده "
من 7 سال سیگار کشیدم سیگاری تفریحی و معمولی نبودم یک سیگاری قهار شده بودم صبحا ناشتا 3 تا سیگار میکشیدم تا بتونم روزمو شروع کنم . هرروز حدودا 15 -20 نخ سیگار میکشیدم .
فکر دور بودن از سیگار برام عذاب آور بود . کمتر پیش خانوادم میموندم و بیشتر دوست داشتم تنها باشم که بتونم راحت سیگار بکشم .سرکار رفتن برام سخت بود و مجبور میشدم سه بار از محل کار برم بیرون و توی ماشین سیگار بکشم . دلم نمیخواست کسی متوجه شه که سیگاری هستم و بوی سیگار میدادم و این عذاب همیشه همراهم بود
مسیر زیادی رو نمیتونستم پیاده برم احساس خستگی میکردم . این احساس خستگی همیشگی بود حتی صبح بعد از بیدار شدن از خواب . نفس عمیق نمیتونستم بکشم چون توی ریم احساس درد شدیدی میکردم .
تک سرفه میزدم و بعد از غذا مخصوصا ، ببخشید که اینطور میگم ولی سرفه هام خلطی بود .
به کسی نمیگفتم چه عذابی میکشم حتی به خودم . جرات نداشتم به این مشکلاتم فکر کنم . هر بار توی ذهنم یکی از این مشکلات میومد یه سیگار میکشیدم و به خودم اجازه نمیدادم دربارش فکر کنم چه برسه به صحبت .
نفرت انگیز ترین کاری که میکردم وقتایی بود که سیگارم تموم میشد و توی خاکسترا دنبال سیگارایی میکشتم که یکم مونده باشن و بتونم حداقل یکی دو پک بزنم .این کار خجالت آور رو برای خودمم مرور نمیکردم .
توی سالهایی که سیگاری بودم شدیدا احساس پیری میکردم . نه درست نفس میکشیدم نه خوب راه میرفتم نمیتونستم ورزش کنم دندونام زرد شده بود وهمیشه بوی نفرت انگیز سیگار میدادم
بعد از دوبار یا سه بار ترک ناموفق تصمیم گرفتم دیگه هیچوقت به ترک فکر نکنم
تا اینکه این کتابو یکی از دوستانم بهم معرفی کرد .
کتاب رو خریدم و حسابی به خودم خندیدم . مادرم وقتی کتاب رو از پست تحویل گرفت با تعجب گفت با کتاب میخوای ترک کنی ؟؟؟؟
خنده دار بود با کتاب ؟ با یه سری دستور و روش ؟ فک میکردم این کتاب مثل کتاب راز یا قدرت یا جزب و ازین چرتو پرتاس و با نیروی درون کمکت میکنه که ترک کنی .
وقتی کتاب رو شروع کردم حسی بهم میگفت دیوونه نشو این آشغال چیه اخه میخوای بخونی
ولی کتاب فوقالعاده بود نویسنده خواسته بود کتا ب رو حتما تا آخر بخونیم و من جرات نداشتم تمومش کنم . یک سال کامل طول کشید تا کتاب رو خوندم و باتمام وجودم قبول کردم که آزاد شدن از سیگار فقط چند روز مشکل جسمی داره و بقیه اش مشکل روانیه
توی کتاب از دو تا هیولا حرف میزنه هیولای کوچیک نیکوتین و هیولای بزرگ که ذهن و روانو درگیر میکنه
نیکوتین 5 6 روزه از بدن دفع میشه
اما هیولای بزرگ رو باید چند بار زمین زد .
هر بار که زمین میخوره ضعیف تر میشه .
راه آسان ترک سیگار : این راه آسان هست واقعا .
من الان بسیار سالم هستم و هر روز پر انرژی از خواب بیدار میشم و بدن درد ندارم و ریه هان مثل روز اول سالمممه سالم شده
من ورزش میکنم و حتی قلیون هم نمیکشم
اعتیاد به سیگار سخت هست ولی بهتون قول میدم این کتاب آزادتون میکنه .

Brilliant!

I particularly liked Chapter 21, "Benefits of smoking" and followed by a blank page. I actually thought a page was missing...Cheeky writer! :)

کتابهای ترک سیگار قبل از تو سوء تفاهمی بیش نبود .

I had been a smoker for over fifty years. I smoked two packs a day. I tried to quit many times, paying for hypnosis sessions, using Nicorette gum, using nicotine patches of various dosages, and even being active in exercise and recovery programs. Nothing worked. I would quit for a few days, once even for a month or two but then would start up again smoking more than ever.

Four years ago my wife gave me this book. She said, "Don't start reading it until you are ready to quit. It really works!" Needless to say, I was skeptical, but she had not picked up a cigarette for a couple of weeks, so I decided to give it a try. I read the book over the next two days (while smoking). When I finished the last chapter, I also threw away my cigarettes. I have not found it necessary to pick up a cigarette again.

I am not sure exactly how it works. Part of it is psychological: convincing the reader that most of the fear of withdrawal is caused by propaganda, fed by those who would get rich off of the various "quit smoking" schemes. Also, a reminder that gum and patches and other system use nicotine so they just prolong withdrawal. Part of it, I'm sure is a but of auto-hypnosis because many of the ideas and suggestions are repeated in different ways throughout the text. But the fact it that it works and it worked for me after years and years of trying every other method. It also had no cost beyond the price of the book. Perhaps that's why none of the smoking clinics and not even the American Cancer Society has spoken of it. It undermines the corporate system of making the most money possible from addictions. Shame on them. This book should be promoted by every health professional.

It might have been the translation to Norwegian, but this book was utter crap. More repetitive than 90's techno, and there are just about NO proper instructions until the very end. I learned nothing new from the constant repetition of old and obvious information.
Yes, I'm quitting smoking, but this book did absolutely nothing to help me I think. I will just quit, and that's that. At least I'm happy I was given this book, and didn't put any money in Carr's pocket.

I do not enjoy smoking. I hate smoking and the cigarette itself is what's making me miserable. I'm tired of feeding the monster. If I were a non-smoker I wouldn't feel cravings and would enjoy moments in life more. These are the things I've learned so far. I can understand why this book makes people want to quit smoking. It's not shock therapy which scares you into quitting. It explains all the good things that will happen to you when you quit, and while you think you like smoking or that it helps you in some way you find out that you don't and it doesn't. It really makes stressful situations more stressful, and so on. It's not hard to quit, it's easy. The book makes you realize that smoking is very unenjoyable. And makes me wonder why I ever thought it was. I am so looking forward to finishing this book and quitting smoking and being freed from the monster. I am also excited to make other people I know who smoke read it. I'm shocked they haven't already.

Obviously not stellar writing, but the book did the trick--I AM A NON-SMOKER! WOO-HOO!!

I was not the target market of this book, so it didn't make a ton of sense to read, but I did anyway out of curiosity. Apparently it's the one "stop smoking self help book" that sometimes actually works. I found the lessons interesting to apply to other non-smoking bad habits, like procrastination, drinking, over-eating, whatever your vice may be.

J’ai envie de dire que la « review » devra être faite dans quelques semaines...!