TO SMOKE OR NOT TO SMOKE

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 31, 1969

The question is quickly reduced ad mortem--to be or not to be--and the answers are undeniably convincing. Butt: the psycho-social probing of the whys of the first cigarette and wherefores of the subsequent ones is anathema to the young adolescents who've heard all that before, e.g., the need to belong, the quest for maturity, the compulsion to impress the Opposite Sex. There is strength in the proof that we've been ""had"" by TV ads, that the tobacco industry acts, out of self-interest (in case that were open to question), that filters are generally little more than gimmicks, that the inhalation of polluted air is no excuse for ignoring the health hazards of smoking. Less satisfying is the concluding section on how to stop once hooked, though it insists that the best way is to avoid starting, and it does encourage the young to discourage the old. If the book sounds somewhat patronizing and looks puerile (a square-ish flat format with full-page cartoon illustrations), it's still about as authoritative a treatment as any, being the work of the former U.S. Surgeon General and the present director of the National Clearinghouse on Smoking and Health.

Pub Date: Oct. 31, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1969

Categories: NONFICTION