Book Reviews: Quit Smoken by Ron Roesch

Good day, readers and writers! I want to start off the day with a rather specialized book review. Well, the book in this review isn’t so much a book as it is a booklet. A lot of you don’t know this, but there is one human vice which I literally cannot be around, at least not for long: smoking. I don’t condemn those who do smoke; after all, we all have our bad habits. Still, I cannot be around people who smoke because of my asthma. My lungs burn if I inhale too much smoke (and it doesn’t take much for “a little smoke” to become “too much smoke” for my body). That’s why I feel a particular obligation to share this review of Quit Smoken!!!: The Easier, Faster, More Effective, No Side Effects, Guaranteed Way to Stop Smoking Forever!!! by Ron Roesch.

In this book, Roesch provides a deceptively-simple formula to stop smoking without the expected pitfalls. Essentially, Roesch recommends a form of behavioral modification which involves replacing the seemingly-pleasant stimulation of smoking a cigarette with a negative physical reaction. He goes in-depth on why this method might work, how it worked for him, and what to do if it doesn’t work (but he’s fairly confident it will).

To me, the most unique aspect of Roesch’s guide is that he doesn’t fall into the trap of presenting the tasking of quitting smoking as soon incredibly-difficult mountain to climb. Whereas even doctors depict the process as something akin to Sisyphus’s punishment in Tartarus, Roesch more illustrates it as a Rubik’s Cube: frustrating and time-consuming if you don’t know how to do it—you might even stumble across the correct solution by accident—but far more bearable if you know the trick to it. He doesn’t spend his time trying to cover his butt with what readers could experience as a result of quitting. Rather, he focuses on conveying a method which might circumvent the side effects and encourage readers to take the plunge.

Roesch’s method to quitting smoking also intrigues me. I particularly trust him because of his B.S. in Psychology. After all, so much of the chemical dependency in addiction is based in the mind, so who’s better to help people get over the addiction than someone who knows the human mind intimately? I can also very clearly see the logic behind his method. I mean, we’re more likely to quit something we’re repulse by than something that we know we should stop but that still brings us even a twisted joy. (I’m considering trying a similar method to stop my habit of being hard on myself.)

I cannot say for certain that Roesch’s method works for stopping an addiction, let alone smoking. I simply haven’t tried it for anything, and as a non-smoker, I don’t need to use it for that. Still, Roesch explains his train-of-thought behind the concept, so I don’t have any real problems believing his claims.

Roesch’s easy-going but passionate and informal voice makes this book very engaging. Quit Smoken is not a book to pick up for entertainment. However, if you—or someone you know—want to read this book because you’re trying to quit smoking, you won’t be falling asleep at the wheel, either. You might even find a kindred spirit in Roesch, someone who knows what you’re going through because he has gone through it himself.

Of course, this book is not without its flaws. At times, Roesch’s insistence that his method works 100% of the time grew tedious. It made me think “Well, actions speak louder than words, and statistics speak louder than claims!” I don’t mind that he only using his personal experience to back up the effectiveness of his method; I just wish that he would cut back on claiming that it always works if he won’t offer up solid statistics. Regardless, he does balance these claims out some by including a money-back guarantee at the end of the book (only available through 2018, as far as I can tell).

The book is mostly well-edited, but I did notice a few minor mistakes. Nevertheless, these mistakes are so minor that I doubt that they’ll really detract from anyone’s reading experiences.

Overall, I think that Quit Smoken by Ron Roesch is a good resource for those looking to quit smoking. Heck, even if you just want a loved one to stop smoking, you could gift them this book as a “hint.” Roesch may not have the scientific data to back up his claims, but the logic behind his method is solid and you can’t really hurt yourself just by trying the method. Just remember to read the entire book, not just the formula, and for Pete’s sake, don’t actually make yourself puke while trying to initiate the gag reflex!

You can buy Quit Smoken by Ron Roesch as an eBook and in print on Amazon.

Do you know of a book I should? Want your work reviewed on this blog? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com or message me on Fiverr and we can arrange something.