Through incontrovertible evidence, Crawford compels smokers to summon the will and the means to quit.
Smoking kills; that’s common knowledge. But readers may not know all the innumerable ways in which smoking also disables, alienates and otherwise causes harm, all of which are detailed here.
As its subtitle suggests, Crawford’s (Smoking: 201 Reasons to Quit, 2009) book is organized into three sections: Why to Quit, How to Quit, and How to Keep Your Kids from Smoking. The first section is the most substantial and most successful. Crawford, a lawyer for the insurance industry, authoritatively outlines seemingly every conceivable drawback to smoking, from the possibility of fatal disease to the difficulty of selling a car that smells like smoke. With such varied examples, the book is certain to furnish at least one reason that will strike home; for instance, even the most fatalistic, anti-social person might be alarmed to learn that sidestream smoke could kill his or her beloved pet. Crawford may oversell somewhat when she discusses the growing social stigma attached to smoking—as part of an argument that may inadvertently create a perception of smokers as a persecuted minority—but in general, she makes a case in which few could find fault. Her advice about how to quit seems solid, although the perspective of a therapist, or even a former smoker, rather than a nonsmoking lawyer, might have strengthened the rhetoric. The multiplicity of tips—particularly those related to smokers getting every other aspect of their lives in order before quitting—could appear daunting enough to discourage some readers from ever making the attempt. The advice on how to keep kids from smoking comes from Crawford’s tried-and-true experience as a parent of nonsmokers—a respectable accomplishment. However, it might have been judicious for the guide to acknowledge a gray area that comes before helpless addiction, as well as the fact that a strong parental reaction also has the potential to cause rebellion. Despite these minor flaws, the advice is clear, comprehensive and utterly convincing. Of additional appeal is a foreword by TV actor Jack Klugman, who lost his natural voice due to smoking-related cancer and then became an anti-smoking activist before his death in 2012, just before the book’s publication.
Through incontrovertible evidence, Crawford compels smokers to summon the will and the means to quit.Pub Date: June 4, 2013
ISBN: 978-1484083383
Page Count: 348
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Doyle offers another lucid, inspiring chronicle of female empowerment and the rewards of self-awareness and renewal.
More life reflections from the bestselling author on themes of societal captivity and the catharsis of personal freedom.
In her third book, Doyle (Love Warrior, 2016, etc.) begins with a life-changing event. “Four years ago,” she writes, “married to the father of my three children, I fell in love with a woman.” That woman, Abby Wambach, would become her wife. Emblematically arranged into three sections—“Caged,” “Keys,” “Freedom”—the narrative offers, among other elements, vignettes about the soulful author’s girlhood, when she was bulimic and felt like a zoo animal, a “caged girl made for wide-open skies.” She followed the path that seemed right and appropriate based on her Catholic upbringing and adolescent conditioning. After a downward spiral into “drinking, drugging, and purging,” Doyle found sobriety and the authentic self she’d been suppressing. Still, there was trouble: Straining an already troubled marriage was her husband’s infidelity, which eventually led to life-altering choices and the discovery of a love she’d never experienced before. Throughout the book, Doyle remains open and candid, whether she’s admitting to rigging a high school homecoming court election or denouncing the doting perfectionism of “cream cheese parenting,” which is about “giving your children the best of everything.” The author’s fears and concerns are often mirrored by real-world issues: gender roles and bias, white privilege, racism, and religion-fueled homophobia and hypocrisy. Some stories merely skim the surface of larger issues, but Doyle revisits them in later sections and digs deeper, using friends and familial references to personify their impact on her life, both past and present. Shorter pieces, some only a page in length, manage to effectively translate an emotional gut punch, as when Doyle’s therapist called her blooming extramarital lesbian love a “dangerous distraction.” Ultimately, the narrative is an in-depth look at a courageous woman eager to share the wealth of her experiences by embracing vulnerability and reclaiming her inner strength and resiliency.
Doyle offers another lucid, inspiring chronicle of female empowerment and the rewards of self-awareness and renewal.Pub Date: March 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0125-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
PROFILES
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A vibrant, encouraging depiction of a sinister disorder.
A British novelist turns to autobiography to report the manifold symptoms and management of his debilitating disease, depression.
Clever author Haig (The Humans, 2013, etc.) writes brief, episodic vignettes, not of a tranquil life but of an existence of unbearable, unsustainable melancholy. Throughout his story, presented in bits frequently less than a page long (e.g., “Things you think during your 1,000th panic attack”), the author considers phases he describes in turn as Falling, Landing, Rising, Living, and, finally, simply Being with spells of depression. Haig lists markers of his unseen disease, including adolescent angst, pain, continual dread, inability to speak, hypochondria, and insomnia. He describes his frequent panic attacks and near-constant anhedonia, the inability to experience pleasure. Haig also assesses the efficacy of neuroscience, yoga, St. John’s wort, exercise, pharmaceuticals, silence, talking, walking, running, staying put, and working up the courage to do even the most seemingly mundane of tasks, like visiting the village store. Best for the author were reading, writing, and the frequent dispensing of kindnesses and love. He acknowledges particularly his debt to his then-girlfriend, now-wife. After nearly 15 years, Haig is doing better. He appreciates being alive and savors the miracle of existence. His writing is infectious though sometimes facile—and grammarians may be upset with the writer’s occasional confusion of the nominative and objective cases of personal pronouns. Less tidy and more eclectic than William Styron’s equally brief, iconic Darkness Visible, Haig’s book provides unobjectionable advice that will offer some help and succor to those who experience depression and other related illnesses. For families and friends of the afflicted, Haig’s book, like Styron’s, will provide understanding and support.
A vibrant, encouraging depiction of a sinister disorder.Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-14-312872-4
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Penguin
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2015
SEEN & HEARD
Readers Donate Depression Book After Star Suicide
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