This ingenious story begins from the end: counting the round sums spent on evil passion, the narrator gives convincing proofs that one should not, under any pretence, smoke; all the more his fiancée has unequivocally declared – either her or tobacco. So, he gave up smoking; and the rest of the book is an account, a canto, even hymn for smoking, bringing so much trouble, making you forget everything, except the only pleasure in this world. The hero is longing for the old times, dreaming of friends-smokers and the adventures of his bachelor life. He cherishes in memory his pipes, the beloved tobacco Craven mixture, he calls Arcadia, imagines Shakespeare fist smoking experience, his friends trying to convince his bride that giving up could be very harmful…
This story that still appears to be a peculiar “bible of pipe-smokers”, introduces us a famous Scottish author and dramatist, the creator of Peter Pan, Sir James Matthew Barrie, as a humorist.