I enjoyed this book enormously. It is lively and entertaining, and even though I haven't smoked for years, the first explanation of the smoking habit to make perfect sense to me. Allen Carr made quite a contribution to this debate and this book just takes that much further, dispensing with the addiction hypothesis completely and providing a model of the compulsive habit that will make a good deal of current thinking - particularly in my field, psychology - obselete. This book will probably upset a lot of people, but for all the right reasons. I found it very refreshing indeed.

This is probably the best book about the workings of the human mind I have ever read. It subverts conventions too, changing form and style, picking up and dropping different critical techniques from time to time but never without reason or a point to make. It is, by turns: ruthlessly critical, touching, laugh-out-loud funny, enlightening and very clever indeed. The courtroom-style analysis of Alan Carr's books about smoking is very impressive, hilarious in places and anyone who has read one of Carr's books should read that, certainly.
My only doubt about the book is with the way the chapter on nicotine replacement products develops. It seems somewhat over-complicated, since the bottom line is perfectly simple: it doesn't do anything useful at all. Perhaps the impulse is to prove the point beyond doubt with rather too much detail, which may be because the idea that smoking is a drug addiction is so familiar, so well-established already. Personally I do not think the general public have much faith in nicotine replacement products now, hard evidence that they are useless is surely not going to shock the world!
Apart from that little quibble, I recommend this book very highly. I enjoyed reading it a great deal, and I now know a lot more about the subconscious mind and hypnotherapy than I ever expected to - a fine read, very entertaining. I'm certainly looking forward to the publication of the second volume.

Somewhere in here there is a fine academic book presenting an impressive argument, but unfortunately it is buried beneath copious frivolous joviality. The author seems perfectly capable of serious writing, but keeps veering off in highly subjective excursions that some readers may find entertaining, but I did not. This is a serious subject, and although the author claims to have an academic background there is little evidence of that in the way the text is organised.
The stance against vivisection is particularly lacking in objectivity, and although some of those points are valid enough, the style of that chapter lacks the proper discipline required for arguing that case, resorting to sarcasm in a number of observations. The blanket dismissal of usefulness of animal experimentation seems populist and exaggerated, even tiresome.
The argument that nicotine cannot be classed as a drug at all may be the most surprising aspect of this publication, and the realisation that the argument is sound is perhaps even more surprising for the reader. Nicotine replacement products are utterly discredited too, all the evidence regarding that is well-researched and effectively presented. As I say, somewhere in here there is a serious piece of work - what it really needs is a good editor.

I am a therapist myself, and I have read several books on hypnotherapy before, but this is by far the most enjoyable book. It is easy to understand, beautifully written in some passages and often quite amusing. My only real criticism is that it is probably longer than it needs to be.
I loved the review of Allen Carr's books, two of which I had read but I hadn't noticed anything untoward. In this book Carr is sort of posthumously 'put on trial', accused of lying about how he actually quit smoking himself, but all the evidence is composed of his own accounts quoted directly from his various books on smoking! It is done in a mischievous, humorous way, but so cleverly presented that it is like a mock courtroom drama.
It is really nicotine products that are on trial in this book though, and the case against them is proved very decisively. The chapter that demonstrates that nicotine does not qualify as a drug by any standard is the most succinct, direct section of all, as is the explanation that proves cravings are not withdrawal symptoms. It all comes across so clearly, it makes you wonder why no-one has ever noticed all this before. I recommend this book highly, and it's a very good read.

At last! A book that really knocks Big Pharma on its ass! The alternative scene has a brand-new voice, and what a big hitter! Lie after lie whacked clean out the ballpark, what a killer book. Frequently hilarious too, a must-read for anyone in the smoking therapy business.

Right on the first page the writer predicts "The ranger's not gonna like this, Yogi!" For sure, the drug companies are going to hate you, man. But it's pretty obvious you didn't wanna be their friend anyhow. Smokers will love this book. Anyone who attacks it, they're part of the problem! If they hate you for writing this its because you just revealed them for what they are.

The book states that it will change medical history. Reading it, I realised this is not a boast or an exaggeration. It's just a fact. Bring on Volume II.

Smokers and non-smokers alike will find so much of interest in this book, which is really about habitual behaviour. All these things that get called addictions - this is a brilliant counterbalance to all that, a comprehensive explanation of compulsive behaviour and how it can be changed easily, with the right therapy.
I love the repetition of phrases like: "Poor little conscious mind!" and "The conscious mind doesn't believe in the subconscious - except perhaps in theory". And delightful, liberating little comments such as: "A belief is simply an idea that you have ceased to question for the time being." It's playful, insightful, witty stuff.

This is called Volume one - I can't imagine what there could be left to say in Volume Two. By the time I was up to the bit about animal experiments involving nicotine, I was already convinced. The ninth chapter, called 'The Stupidity of Nicotine Replacement Therapy' seems almost unnecessary by the time you reach it, but then the writer takes it up to a whole new level of critical detail. The case is made in a way that is relentless by this point - it is a bit difficult to cope with all the detail - but then, just when you think you can't take any more in, it stops, and there is another of the case histories. Those really balance it out, they are so entertaining. Great book. Not just for smokers, but them especially I suppose. Pretty impressive achievement, actually. Nicotine myth exploded in ten chapters, just like that.

This was a real surprise. Bought the download cos I thought this can't possibly be right! I always thought I was addicted because I couldn't stop, simple as that. I just got curios about what the book was saying: surely its an addiction? I mean I thought that was just a fact.

If you've ever thought that, read this book. That's all I can say. And hypnotherapy isn't what I thought it was either, it tells you all about it and I am seriously considering it now. I thought I had tried everything but I hadnt thought of that un til I looked at this. I jsut ordered the paperback version too. An excellent read.

No wonder the bloody gum and the patches didn't work! Now I feel really conned!
But at least now I know it wasn't my fault. I cant believe the failure-rate of the nicotine aids! They dont tell you that!
I thought this book was absolutely brilliant, every smoker should read this, wether they want to stop or not, for the first time you find out why its not your fault. And what to do about it if you do want to stop. Really enjoyed it, and it explains a lot of my eating issues too. Now I'm going to use hypnotherapy to sort these things out!

The thing that really surprised me about this book was how funny it is. I didn't expect that! It really had me laughing out loud on quite a lot of occasions, and is much more entertaining than the subject suggests.

The main thing is though, the author is so clear, so very certain of the truth of this argument that smoking is not a drug addiction, that there is no doubt about it. I had actually doubted it before, because I am a lifestyle therapist myself and I already suspected it was habitual like so much of our behaviour. But what really impressed me was the chapter which explains why nicotine is not a drug at all, just a poison. Quite a short chapter, but so obvious once its explained, it leaves you in no doubt at all. I will certainly be using that whenever I'm talking to smoking clients now! Very impressive.