This Book Is The Reason I Quit Smoking, Once And For All

It's boring and repetitive and it really works.

We hope you love the products we recommend! Just so you know, BuzzFeed may collect a share of sales from the links on this page.

I'm sorry to say it, but I used to smoke cigarettes.

New World Pictures / Via giphy.com

For the sake of my mother, and my future chances of acquiring health insurance (JK, I have many more dire pre-existing conditions), I won't say how long I smoked, or how long it's been since I quit. Suffice it to say that I was decidedly A Smoker for some time.

I think I started because smoking was a great excuse to skulk out of parties, and then I continued because, you know, addiction. Plus, I went to poetry school, where my classes were held inside a pack of American Spirits.

But thanks to Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking, or as some smokers know it, The Book, I am now — very happily — a nonsmoker.

Jessie Gaynor

I first heard about the book on a podcast, when actor and comedian Paul F. Tompkins mentioned that it had helped him quit. He said that by the time he had finished reading the book, the idea of smoking repulsed him. At the time, I was interested, but skeptical — and, to be honest, not sure I was ready to quit, like, forever. Until I was.

If you're a smoker, I'm sure you already know the myriad reasons you should quit, so I'm not going to outline them. I'm just going to tell you that if you really want to quit, you need to read this book.

Before I read The Book, I had quit a few times, but I always found an excuse to pick it back up.

Fox / Via giphy.com

Said excuses included getting dumped, being drunk, sitting at a patio table, and the Lunar New Year.

So despite what I had heard about Carr's book, I was appropriately skeptical. Then, when I decided I was really, honestly ready to be done with cigarettes for good, I read it.

Allen Carr encourages you to continue smoking as you read, but I finished The Book in one afternoon, mostly because it was so fucking boring that I couldn't fathom stretching it out over multiple days.

Yeah, it's boring. It's incredibly repetitive, to the point where it starts to seem like an absurdist play. It's something close to hypnosis.

The basic premise of the book is that quitting smoking is easy and fun. The word "yippee" appears more than once. If you think of quitting as if you're giving something up, you're destined to fail. Instead, the book somehow manages to convince you that giving up smoking is depriving yourself, but freeing yourself. Carr is also against using nicotine patches or gum to wean yourself off cigarettes. It just prolongs the addiction to nicotine, which — he argues — isn't really that strong.

Just read the book, and stop. It's easy. It's fun. Yippee! It sounds simplistic, and it is, kind of! But it is also remarkably effective. I read the book and stopped smoking. It really was that simple.

I'm not the only one who swears by the Easy Way — the book has a lot of rave reviews on Amazon.

amazon.com

Promising reviews:

"I have been smoking a pack a day for 13 years. I have never tried to quit before so I didn't really know what to expect, I just knew I could do it. If you go in with the right mindset you will be an ex smoker by the time you finish this book! Once you understand why you smoke it is so easy to stop!" —Gloria B.

"I stopped smoking and haven't even wanted to pick up another cigarette since. It feels like I never smoked, and I smoked for over 15 years. The easiest, best way to stop smoking without using an ounce of willpower!" —J13

"WOW! What a revelation of the psychology behind smoking. I was a serial quitter, using willpower and being miserable every time. I quit after reading this EFFORTLESSLY! It is awesome!" —C Volk

Still not convinced? Maybe Jason Mraz will change your mind!

Jessie Gaynor

Or Anjelica Houston, or Sir Anthony Hopkins!

Seriously. If you want to quit smoking, I highly recommend reading this book. After all, when has Anjelica Houston ever led you astray?

Get Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking on Amazon for $9.69 or on Jet for $9.77.