The Easy Way to Stop Smoking
The Easy Way to Stop Smoking by Allen Carrby Allen Carr
Ranked 3 of 22 self-help books by recommenders
People recommend it as an easy way to quit smoking, and some say its framework helps with other addictions, though one doubts it works as well for vaping.
People recommend it as an easy way to quit smoking, and some say its framework helps with other addictions, though one doubts it works as well for vaping.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Helps smokers stop smoking
“Then they read Alan Carr's "The Easy Way to Quit Smoking" and then they don't want to smoke anymore”
Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “New benchmark shows top LLMs struggle in real mental health care” “I quit smoking many years ago with that book. Cost me like $8.”
Comment from 23 Sep 2026 in “People hooked on vapes try a new way to quit: cigarettes” “the point of the book is to get you to quit smoking”
Comment from 23 Sep 2026 in “People hooked on vapes try a new way to quit: cigarettes” Framework applies to other addictions
“the main thrust of the book is actually a framework that generalizes pretty well to dealing with any addiction”
Comment from 23 Sep 2026 in “People hooked on vapes try a new way to quit: cigarettes” “Helped multiple people in my life with addiction”
Comment from 23 Sep 2026 in “People hooked on vapes try a new way to quit: cigarettes” Cheap and easy to recommend
“This is why Alan Carr's book is an excellent resource and easy to mention to any smoker.”
Comment from 23 Sep 2026 in “People hooked on vapes try a new way to quit: cigarettes” “I quit smoking many years ago with that book. Cost me like $8.”
Comment from 23 Sep 2026 in “People hooked on vapes try a new way to quit: cigarettes”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Less effective for vaping
“It works for smoking, but I don't think it does as well for vaping?”
Comment from 23 Sep 2026 in “People hooked on vapes try a new way to quit: cigarettes”
Other self-help books people recommend
The four most recommended other self-help books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How to Win Friends and Influence Peopleby Dale Carnegie | 67 | 25 | 73% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Atomic Habitsby James Clear | 20 | 2 | 91% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Easy Way to Stop Smokingby Allen CarrThis page | 9 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| Feeling Goodby David D. Burns | 8 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| The Art of Money Gettingby P. T. Barnum and John Woods | 8 | 6 | 57% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
8 of the 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I quit smoking many years ago with that book. Cost me like $8.”
“This is why Alan Carr's book is an excellent resource and easy to mention to any smoker.”
“the main thrust of the book is actually a framework that generalizes pretty well to dealing with any addiction”
“It works for smoking, but I don't think it does as well for vaping?”
“Helped multiple people in my life with addiction”
“the point of the book is to get you to quit smoking”
“which needs all the preamble to get the message to your addicted brain”
“Then they read Alan Carr's "The Easy Way to Quit Smoking" and then they don't want to smoke anymore”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.