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Monday 23 January 2012

Smoking advice in literature

F Scott Fitzgerald
@HealthMed In 'The beautiful and damned', F Scott Fitzgerald's novel of the East Coast 'smart set' during the period just before The Great War and published in 1922, mention of smoking by the superficially charmed young men and women is very frequent, including for Gloria (age '22'). However also striking is Gloria's comment on advice from reformers that '... if you smoke so many cigarettes you'll lose your pretty complexion!'
Further examples welcome of earlier literary offers of advice on risks of smoking, heeded or ignored?

See related previous blog on: Stopping smoking - why and how?

1 comment:

  1. @Rtreatwilliams asked: Can chain smoking and scotch darken the complexion? A: Yes on both counts. For smoking, there are several effects, from increased melanin pigment (nicotine binds to melanin), to graying of the skin. For alcholol, reasons include increased iron absorption stimulated by the alcohol. The excess iron can cause organ damage including to the liver, heart and pancreas.

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