What is important to remember about quitting smoking is that like with everything else, everyone is different. Some will respond to the patch, the pills, the gum, and a whole array of other techniques, but after trying them all, only this book worked for me.
It’s all a mind game, like many things in life. On a deeper level, this book is about learning to enjoy life again. By the end, I wanted nothing more than to be done with cigarettes and to enjoy the things I’d missed out on for years — being comfortable eating a meal and talking afterward, not feeling guilt for smoking, not feeling embarrassed for blowing smoke in someone’s face, not having my legs fall asleep when lying on the couch, not getting a cold and having it last the whole winter, not coughing up yellow stuff when I brushed my teeth, not wheezing when doing simple exercise, not hiding my smoking from loved ones, not littering out the car window, not rationalizing why I smoked, not having my clothes stink all the time. Many people say they smoke because they enjoy it, but when you are done with this book, you will quit smoking because you will enjoy quitting
The prose style is simplistic and the metaphors are cliche and awful, really. This doesn’t matter. After six years of smoking about a pack a day, I quit when I finished the book. It’s not about will power or wanting to live longer — it’s about wanting to enjoy life again. After quitting, I think used the same approach a few months later to stop smoking pot… then I started walking daily, then I started running. A month ago I ran my first half marathon, and now I’m in training to do my first marathon in May. Thank you Allen, and rest in peace.