I attended the Allen Carr Clinic late 2005 and although i felt "different", I didn't give up. The follow up session seemed a bore to me. I reckon i spent too long analysing what the therapist was saying and why etc. Most of it was common sense really. I got my full fee of £195 returned to me as i didn't quit smoking.

I then promised i'd give up in January 2006.. It came a went... I just couldn't do it and smoked through my respiratory infection too (yuck). Into Feb and i'd promised myself that i'd be a non-smoker before i hit 30. Thought i'd give it another try so i bought this book... I'd come across someone who said "it doesn't work as well the second time". Of course you have to at least want to give up. It's not magic. Last Friday i read the last chapter but couldn't smoke my final cigarette. I kept telling myself each one was my "final" but kind of went into a panic. So.... I decided to try something else at this stage. I'd seen Tara Palmer Tomkinson taking part in some "aversion therapy" on TV recently and decided to try what i'd seen. I smoked as many cigarettes as i wanted in a row, taking one drag every 6 seconds. It became unbearbale, until i could no longer breathe properly, think straight, started to shake and then I was violently sick. I smoked 5! Think, now, if smoking relaxed you and helped calm nerves and concentrate why was the opposite happening? Also, THINK, if this is what smoking a few does to you, what do you think each one is doing to you without you even realising? It'd have to be in a controlled way, or else you'd never carry on smoking...(please note that I am not endorsing or recommending this. This is something that worked for me after reading this book. If you do try it, make sure you have someone there with you!)

This was around 8pm Friday 10/02/06. I stripped, showered, threw away all my ashtrays and lighters and have not touched a cigarette since. I will never smoke again. I finally see that the "trap" of smoking was always intended to last a life-time. The trick is that once you start "they" never want you to give up.

Read the book with an open mind. Don't miss any bits even if they sound boring and think about it all as you go along.

If you feel that it didn't work the first time; read it again! Why this method isn't endorsed by the goverment is questionable!!!!

I have have not smoked for almost 4 whole days. I've never achieved this in 13 years of smoking and i've tried to quit using every method available. It doesn't take willpower really. It's the nicotine monster you have to watch out for!!! You will have times when you feel bad but it'll be okay, i promise you! Remember, that there is never ever going to be a good time to give up. I gave up Friday and Saturday I was in hospital for an unexpected op. My Birhtday plans have gone down the drain as i'm not well. My tickets for the Ryan Adam's Concert are going to be wasted as i don't think i'll be able to make it to Nottingham this Friday... Still, I've not given in. Trust me when I say if I can do it and I have not will power at all i tell you, YOU CAN TOO!!!!!

Congratulations to all those whom have given up and Good Luck to those who are about to try!!!

Even though it's not al easy and everything seems to be going wrong right now.... Giving up smoking is the Best Birthday Present I could ever have given to myself.

Love and Peace to All xxx

Ps. This book should really get 5 stars but I do find the "final cigarette" thing a bit scary..


The only way to quit   February 11, 2006
 25 out of 42 found this review helpful

I was a smoker for the better part of 48 years, starting as a child. I quit several times, for periods as long as six years. I told people I "loved" to smoke and even convinced myself. A friend of mine read this book and quit. I finally got around to reading it several weeks ago. I haven't had any desire to smoke since.

While I think it's vital for the reader to discover the process herself (as Allen Carr meant it to be done), I think two things are very important: (1) this book works by reverse brainwashing, so you MUST read every single word, even when it seems boring or repetitious, and (2)this book doesn't "help" you be able to quit, because after you've read it, you don't need any help. It's true: you will simply lose all desire to smoke. This was the hardest thing for me to believe--that I wouldn't be tempted to bum cigarettes, that I wouldn't rush off and buy a pack after a few drinks, that I wouldn't have to avoid smokers. Instead, immediately after reading the book and smoking that last cigarette, smoking just didn't matter anymore and I'm sure I will never smoke again. It's amazing, but it really does work.


BRILLIANT? YES. BRILLIANT? NO.   February 1, 2006
 42 out of 50 found this review helpful

In September of 2004 I read this little book of wonder and instantly stopped smoking. I was, admittedly, only what Mr. Carr calls a 'casual' smoker, but he does stress that these are the hardest ones to convince.
Just under 6 months later I forced myself, and I mean forced, to have a cigarette. It was disgusting. Yet, I forced myself to have another one and before I knew it I was back to being a full-time casual smoker. It rules my life, ruins my health, makes me smell bad for my children and makes me feel like a failure.
So what did I do?
I read the book again. In fact I had previously lost the book and ordered a new one from Amazon. I read it each night with every confidence in its ability to reduce me rapidly to being a non-smoker once again.
I read it and waited for the 'light' to come on that would reveal to me, as it had before, and, as it has to countless others, the truth behind nicotine addiction.
It failed.
I panicked at the end of the book and read it again. Nothing.
Read the book the first time and it works like a magic trick. You are left wondering how on earth it is done but only marvel at the mystery and accept it for what it is: a miracle.
Read the book again and the magic has gone. There is no magic, in fact there never was, just printed words on paper. So how DOES the damn book work the first time?
Brainwashing. Brainwashing in the pure sense of the term or a reversal of a previous brainwashing? Whatever. It doesn't really matter does it?
It remains brilliant, absolutely brilliant brainwashing.
But BEWARE.
You cannot be brainwashed twice on the same subject.
Mr. Carr says that willpower is more than unnecessary, yet in the book he says (on page 201):
"Nevertheless, I want you to make a solemn vow: that when you have completed the ritual of smoking the final cigarette, no matter what happens in your life, you will never smoke another cigarette".
Now, I might be thick or something, but doesn't this sound odd?
In one breath he says that using willpower is completely unecessary, yet on page 201 we have to all make a 'solemn vow'.
In other words, we have to tell ourselves that no matter what stressful situation we find ourselves in, no matter what grief or heartache we may endure I will not, I will NOT, EVER EVER EVER smoke another cigarette. Now does that sound like willpower to you? It does to me.

So BEWARE. It IS a good book, but only the first time.


20 a day to non a day - thanks Allen   January 25, 2006
 9 out of 21 found this review helpful

I was browsing and came across this book and thought I would leave my bit on it. My dad bought me this book as soon as he heard I had started smoking. It came at a good time since i really needed the nudge to quit smoking as I was suffering with a never ending chest infection (8 months!). I am happy to announce that because of this book I have been a happy non smoker since I read it, which is almost 2 years ago! I quit on March 24th 2004. Its amazing how much a book can turn your opinon right around. Forget patches and gum! This book is the best investment you can make in quitting the ciggies!