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About thirty million Americans who smoke say they want to quit, but lack the motivation. "Smoking: 201 Reasons to Quit" by author Muriel L. Crawford, provides that motivation by focusing on why you should not smoke, rather than how to quit. The book contains a complete in-depth explanation of the dangers and disadvantages of smoking. The book includes discussions of problems caused by nicotine addiction, the best methods of quitting tobacco, the health hazards of secondhand smoke to others, and the ways that smoking increases the dangers of injury and death.
Smoking: 201 Reasons to Quit
Muriel L. Crawford
Dillon & Parker Publishing (2009)
ISBN 9780981959009
Reviewed by William Phenn for Reader Views (10/09)
I was skeptical at first. But after the first few chapters, it was evident that this was something worth reading. Right off the bat and not pulling any punches, Ms. Crawford talks about “Early Death and Disability” caused by smoking. Needless to say, it got my attention. She continues to emphasize the many hazards that smoking impales upon the body. There are the dangerous and noxious chemicals that are given off in the form of smoke, and the variety of different molds. She explains that nicotine is actually a very poisonous chemical that acts as a powerful stimulant and a depressive on the nervous system. Muriel mentions the diseases that smoking causes and briefly explains them as a bit of information for those of us that don’t know about them (or, are dumb enough not to care).
Covering such things as “Blood Disease, Heart Disease, Cancer, Brain and Nerve Disease, Digestive Tract Disease” and on and on, there is not a single body part or life-support system that is not affected by smoking and Ms. Crawford touches on all of them. Then she mentioned one item that I was shocked to read, “Impotence.” The author mentions how a man’s smoking increases the chances of impotence! I went back and read this a second time to be sure that I didn’t miss anything. I don’t know about anyone else, but that alone has caused me to take a good hard look at the affects of smoking on my body. Oh, and for the ladies, Ms. Crawford mentions the problem of “Menstrual Pain” and how smoking has a direct link to the duration and increases the severity.
“Smoking: 201 Reasons to Quit” is just full of all the hazards of smoking, from how it affects the human body to its impact on the environment. Fact upon fact throughout its 350 well-written and researched pages, Ms Crawford educates the reader. There is nothing in the book that will sound like a lecture, it is all fact-based and informative and the reader is left to draw his own conclusions. She does not push the reader to quit, she merely presents the facts. Scary facts as they may be, but only facts nonetheless. But, I might add, “facts that made me think very seriously about what I am doing to myself by smoking.”
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend it to all audiences (especially teens) in hopes that they do not start the nasty habit to begin with. But if they do, maybe reading this book will point them in the right direction so they at least have a chance to live a long and normal life. I have nothing but praise for “Smoking: 201 Reasons to Quit” by Muriel L. Crawford. It has earned my highest honor of an A+ and should be on every smoker and non-smoker’s bookshelf. Even if you are a non-smoker, I’m sure you have friends that are still puffing away their lives.
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