The Perfect Pipe

Rating:
Summary: A nice introduction to the gentleman's smoke.
Review: I am a moderate pipe smoker, with a preference for extra sweet tobaccos and Missouri Meerschaum corncob pipes. As someone who smokes only four or five times a week, I lack the fanatacism of the pipe collector or the pipe club member. But, like many, I was lured to the pipe by its mystique, and became enchanted by its pleasures. It is a hobby that requires patience, but its rewards are many. And besides--it's so much more refined than the cigarette or the cigar, which are for hillbillies.

So it was with much pleasure that I read "The Perfect Pipe," which is an excellent primer on the subject for both the smoker and the non-smoker alike. Jeffers covers the subject with passion and erudition, and the book is very well illustrated. Whether you are wondering how to pack a pipe or are interested in its history, this book has something to offer you.

"A pipe in the hand proves that there has been no mistake--you are undoubtedly a man." -- A.A. Milne.

That pretty much sums it up.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable read, wish it had MORE info!
Review: I was just getting started with smoking pipes, and I wanted a guide as to what to buy and what to do, and this was really helpful. It's written in an unpretentious style, and the illustrations are clever. It's a very attractive book and I expect that I'll enjoy it for a long time (if I don't die of throat cancer - just kidding!).

Rating:
Summary: Pipe Book Has Little New To Say and Contains Several Errors
Review: Imagine my delight. A new book about pipes. I had to have it! Imagine my disappointment upon encountering its many errors, half-truths, and serious omissions! I have recommended it to my club only because of the generous sprinkling of anecdotes (some of which are new), poems, and historical references, and because it is an easy read for the new pipe smoker (though I fear he may receive some poor first impressions). I don't propose to list every mistake here--that would be an

unnecessary task and few would have the incentive to finish reading such a list. Really, I'm trying not to be a nit-picker. More than anything else, I suppose, I'm just perplexed. Jeffers must love pipes and pipe smoking--as I do fervently--so why not do a little better job of research? "Dan Pipe" is not a Danish firm, but German (at least all my correspondence with Holger Frickert, a co-founder of the firm, leads me to that conclusion); "PCCA" is not a club, but an internet buying service, as owner Bob Hamlin will freely admit. The most cursory glance beneath the surface of these "titles" would have lead to the truth. "Caminetto" is still in business (I bought a new one last month), though perhaps under different management, and some of the best pipe makers, such as Ser Jacopo and Ferndown are not mentioned in his list. "I can't include everything," he might say. He can and he must. And talk about advice on pipe smoking itself! No decent modern pipe

requires breaking in. My collection of several dozen pipes includes a few that required that largely outmoded practice, but they are, for the most part, cheap pipes acquired in youth (I've been at it for 40 years, now), or the odd stepchild in an otherwise quality brand. In a second edition, I hope these errors will be corrected, along with some 20 others I will not list. One last thing, from a purely personal perspective. The book has an overlay of mysticism about it that I find offensive, chiefly in the form of biblical references and that worn out saw about the magic quality of pipe smoking. Fun to talk about, but dangerous for impressionable "newbies." To include the silliness about common characteristics was almost unforgivable. Jeffers must not ever have belonged to a club? In ours, we have old and young; atheist, Jew, Baptist, and Catholic; Republican, Democrat, Marxist, and Libertarian; philosophical-minded and unthinking; happy and sad. In this, and other things, Jeffers is too much influenced by Richard Hacker, self-styled pipe guru--he quotes him often enough. Most smokers have read him--pipe books are rare and it's hard to be dismissive of even one text--but none I know respect him. The man simply doesn't know what he's talking about half the time (besides, he's moved on to cigars, his new area of expertise). Far from being the man who reintroduced the pipe to the world, he is responsible for more misinformation than anyone I can think of. Believe it or not, I wish Jeffers well. Much of pipe smoking is a matter of taste--we're all told that from the beginning. It's equally true that, for the most part, there are few absolutes in the world of pipes (no two pipesters fill their bowls the same way, it is often said), but there are a few. Certainly one of these must be the need for a high degree of accuracy in what the would-be expert puts into writing and offers the world to read.

Rating:
Summary: A decent introduction to the gentleman's smoke.
Review: Like most pipe smokers, I have a passion for pipe history, trivia, and tobacciana. Our hobby can become consuming, and this aspect of pipe smoking is evident in Jeffers' "The Perfect Pipe." Trivia and anecdotes abound. Unfortunately, so do recycled facts about pipe making and the inevitable list of famous pipe smokers.

All in all, this is a solid introduction to the hobby. But do we really need yet another chapter on how briar pipes are made? Or another witty quote on smoking from Mark Twain? I don't think so. I would have liked more information about various tobaccos (a history of, say, My Mixture 965 or Prince Albert would have been welcome), or perhaps about the tobaccos of choice of these famous smokers. Alas, I get another chapter on how to pack a pipe.

For beginning smokers, this book is a fine introduction. For more seasoned and experienced devotees, Richard Carleton Hacker's books on the subject offer more stimulating reading.

"A pipe in the hand proves that there has been no mistake--you are undoubtedly a man." -- A.A. Milne.

That pretty much sums it up.

Rating:
Summary: A Paean to the Pipe
Review: THE PERFECT PIPE is the perfect pipe book to read while smoking a pipe. Formatted as a kind of mini-coffee table book, this is H. Paul Jeffers contribution to the lore of "The Gentle Art."

Jeffers loves pipe lore and shares tales and poems and songs, and all manner of design and marketing information. There are a few historical and informational errors here and there, and the book skimps on pipe smoking techniques, but it is amusingly written and entertaining in a light way.

Jeffers does not have the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" approach of Richard Carleton Hacker (whom he quotes frequently). Jeffers' pipesmoking habit is an exercise in pleasure and fun, not the grimly serious side of the equation (though what could be "grimly serious" about the pleasures of the pipe defeats me. However, others will out).

See you 'round the fire!

Rating:
Summary: A Paean to the Pipe
Review: THE PERFECT PIPE is the perfect pipe book to read while smoking a pipe. Formatted as a kind of mini-coffee table book, this is H. Paul Jeffers contribution to the lore of "The Gentle Art."

Jeffers loves pipe lore and shares tales and poems and songs, and all manner of design and marketing information. There are a few historical and informational errors here and there, and the book skimps on pipe smoking techniques, but it is amusingly written and entertaining in a light way.

Jeffers does not have the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" approach of Richard Carleton Hacker (whom he quotes frequently). Jeffers' pipesmoking habit is an exercise in pleasure and fun, not the grimly serious side of the equation (though what could be "grimly serious" about the pleasures of the pipe defeats me. However, others will out).

See you 'round the fire!

Rating:
Summary: A very well written and thoroughly informative book, but....
Review: This is highly reccomended. It is humorously written and informative. There is much to be learned by the novice pipe smoker and I'll wager that even a few veteran pipesters will find more than a few interesting facts here. The hand drawn illustrations are elegant and beautiful. Only a few pages of high gloss color photography, though. While this is a great book and should be required reading for all pipe smokers, I dare say that I was disappointed with the way that Mr. Jeffers just breezed right through the sections dealing with the mechanics of how to smoke a pipe. I, for one, need a book that lingers on this area of pipe smoking. From proper break ins to proper packing and lighting, I need more knowledge! Otherwise, a great read, though. Perhaps I'll write the book to answer all of my questions.....