Very Buddhist

Changed my perspective on alcohol entirely. Happy to be done!

I am very impressed with the easyway method. It has been very helpful to me this year when I made a resolution to quit drinking and smoking. I would suggest the most important thing is to have an open mind when reading this book. If you truly want to improve your life and health follow the instructions and it will be easy.

Trite

Read this as a 6+ year sober ex-drinker. Working with folks who are looking to stop, it’s helpful to read quit-lit and recovery books so I can make recommendations.

Annie Grace’s This Naked Mind borrows/references Allen Care’s work heavily. I got a bit out of Annie Grace’s work, so also thought it may be helpful to read the source.

Not a fan.

Long and rambling, the book was extremely repetitive, as well as preachy. I did listen to the audio book and the narrator was awful. But even aside from that fact, I was startled when he asserted that people shouldn’t be afraid to quit alcohol cold turkey, that DT is no big deal regardless of amount of alcohol or duration of alcohol use.

The language was a little dated as well. There are many other (far better) resources that offer hope and help to those who would like to be a non drinker.

Amazing book! each chapter covers how brainwashed we all are to drink alcohol instead of fostering witholding from drinking as a solution

Just finished this and feeling positive that it has worked for me. It gets repetitive but that is the point as the message needs to be drummed in but this can make it a struggle to get through the middle. I'm also any ex smoker and Carr relates back to quitting smoking regularly which resonates with me but not sure how that the comparison would land with someone who has never smoked.

All in all happy with the book, very interesting and I'm away to enjoy my life now.

I could see this book being helpful for an alcoholic. For a casual drinker, his arguments are less compelling. Suggesting that someone who has a glass of wine with their spouse at the end of the day is the same as a drunk who passes out every night is nonsensical. I’d be curious if his opinion is the same on chocolate cake.

O o o o

Great book condo do a so I hydro kiddo didn't did dormant y sniff do d confirm offend if not

This book is repetitive, illogical and is aimed at a very specific audience: people like Allen Carr.
I see now on Goodreads that there is an Easyway to stop drinking for women, maybe I should have read that instead.
Carr makes a lot of statements in a "ofcourse that is ridiculous" way, when the thing he describes is not ridiculous at all and also he is not an expert in (like medical procedures around pregnancy and birth for example).
What also really annoyed me was his recurring argument that if one drink would make you happy/sociable then many drinks would make you even happier/more sociable, and since that is not true, one drink does not make you happy/sociable. That is a stupid argument, especially to make about a substance, because sometimes a little is beneficial when a lot is not (vaccines, food, medicine, even water one can drink too much of).
I'm not against the principle of joyfully embracing a non-alcoholic life, and I believe that it may be possible. But Carr uses examples that turn me against him and overlooks people that are not like him. When he states that we do not need alcohol to have fun at a party because as children we did enjoy many parties without alcohol I want to scream "I HATED parties as a child!" "I was depressed my entire teenage years and I never drank!" Where is the chapter about people who need to do a lot of work when they no longer soften the evil voices in their head with alcohol? Many people drink because they survived trauma or because they self medicate undiagnosed adhd or other mental problems. I am not saying they should keep on drinking! Just that Allen Carr has not helped everyone with this book, and did not sweep all excuses off the table.

Review 2020: not drinking from September 2016 - I think this speaks for itself.

I can't think of another book but this and Quit Like a Woman: The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol, which is where Alan Carr was recommended to me, that have so immediately prompted me to not just think differently about a major component of my life, but to change my behavior in a radical way. They really got through to me via rational argument, which I've known since adolescence to be the most effective way of flipping my views on both important and trivial matters (hence double-majoring in journalism and philosophy).

These two books also resonated with me by deriding the more well-known AA/12-Step approach that so many people have come to rely on. I don't want to diss what works for different people, but the whole mentality of being diseased, alcoholic, and forever after speaking in terms of [de]privation of something that so-called Normal Drinkers/Non-addicts enjoy is not only stigmatized and depressing AF, but is just not going to be a healthy or effective method for me or many others.

Speaking of how we view (and often involuntarily condescend) others living according to different rules and M.O.s, I really don't like that Carr tells us to "pity" people who are still drinking. The last thing I want is for my healthy choice to translate to being a holier-than-thou asshole.

I DO like that with this method, I begin with a genuine sense of elation and eagerness to all the wonderful things I'm opening myself up to for the rest of my life. I love that I don't have to fear or avoid talking about or being around alcohol.

Today is Day 5 of me choosing to be a non-drinker, allegedly "without willpower," though that is debatable. I don't expect this choice to be nothing but doubt-free, smooth rolling sans temptation. I still have more work to do to "kill the Big Monster" (the underlying belief that alcohol enhances or supports my life experiences in some way). For real though, I've already drank enough for multiple lifetimes, and I lament the ways alcohol has detracted from my positive experiences, memories of conversations and actions, and caused me to be a less healthy, less attractive version of myself.

Possible future tattoo (likely on the wrist), inspired by/copying Holly Whitaker: DFQTD - Don't Fucking Question The Decision.