Smoking: The Artificial Passion

From Publishers Weekly This study will be of enormous interest to the legions of smokers who have failed to give up cigarettes permanently, the estimated 75% of quitters who become re-addicted within a year. Krogh, staff member of the University of California Academic Center, here reviews the scientific literature to explain what motivates people to smoke--and, by extension, why stopping is extremely difficult. The book analyzes a complex of addiction and attachment factors:ok? personality, culture, genetics, neurobiology, pharmacology. Nicotine, we're told, does things for smokers; it stimulates the brain, helps concentration, is an aid in weight control, moderates moods (smokers, unlike other addicts, smoke to get "medium"). But smoking also does things to smokers; it is controlling and it can be lethal. In offering advice on how to quit, Krogh, not surprisingly, can do little more than give encouragement. And his endorsement of nicotine gum as a crutch is questionable--its use is censured by the American Cancer Society's quit-smoking program, for one. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal In this thoroughly researched yet entertaining book, journalist Krogh attempts to explain why people smoke, given the abundant documentation of attendant health hazards. He investigates physiological, pharmacological, sociological, and psychological responses to smoking, explaining each in simple, laypersons' terms. Krogh is adept at incorporating vast amounts of scientific evidence without weighing down his prose with dry data. He explores some alleged benefits of smoking (e.g., the paradox of smoking being both relaxing and mentally stimulating; the sex appeal of the smoker). His multifaceted approach offers fascinating reading. Having persuasively argued that the balance sheet for smoking is negative, he concludes with a fine chapter entitled "Advice on Quitting." Highly recommended.