Nicotine

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE ECONOMIST

By turns philosophical & darkly comic, an ex-smoker’s meditation on the nature & consequences of his nearly lifelong addiction.

Written with the passion of an obsessive, Nicotine addresses a lifelong addiction, from the thrill of the first drag to the perennial last last cigarette. Reflecting on his experiences as a smoker from a young age, Gregor Hens investigates the irreversible effects of nicotine on thought & patterns of behavior. He extends the conversation with other smokers to meditations on Mark Twain & Italo Svevo, the nature of habit, & the validity of hypnosis. With comic insight & meticulous precision, Hens deconstructs every facet of dependency, offering a brilliant analysis of the psychopathology of addiction.

This is a book about the physical, emotional, & psychological power of nicotine as not only an addictive drug, but also a gateway to memory, a long trail of streetlights in the rearview mirror of a smoker’s life. Cigarettes are sometimes a solace, sometimes a weakness, but always a witness & companion.

This is a meditation, an ode, & a eulogy, one that will be passed hand-to-hand between close friends.

Gregor Hens, born in 1965, is a German writer & translator. He has notably translated Will Self, Jonathan Lethem & George Packer into German.

Jen Calleja is a writer, translator, curator & musician. She has translated prose & poetry for Bloomsbury, PEN International, the Austrian Cultural Forum London & the Goethe-Institut. 

Will Self is the author of many novels & books of non-fiction, including Umbrella, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2012, & Shark, published in 2014. He lives in South London.