April Is the Smokiest Month

As Ogden Nash once asked: "Spring is sprung, the grass is ris, I wonder where the birdies is?" Dead, every last one of them dead—from secondhand smoke. The sun is out again, and folks who quit smoking to avoid getting cozy with Jack Frost can finally get back to it. If you fall into this category, however, I strongly suggest you read Allan Brandt's new book The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product that Defined America. I don't mean because it will convince you to give up your warm-weather outdoor activity—I'm not trying to infect you with truth our anything—but because it's a fascinating, sanctimony-free history of a subject that interests you.