Nat Sherman's a Passion for Cigars: Selecting, Preserving, Smoking, and Savoring One of Life's Greatest Pleasures

Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1996. 160 pages: illustrations (some color), maps; 24 cm Fine with a few tiny spots to fore-edge; in a fine jacket now in archival mylar. Hardcover. ISBN: 9780836221824, 0836221826

Very well illustrated. "Approximately 100 million cigars are sold in the U.S. every year, and a growing percentage of those are premium stogies costing three dollars or more apiece. Given this level of demand, it is surprising how few books there are on cigars--a situation that Messrs. Jeffers, Gordon, and Sherman begin to rectify. Both books cover similar ground: the history of the cigar, how tobacco is raised and harvested, cigar malting, various types and brands, how to choose a prime cigar, and smoking accessories. But The Good Cigar presents a fuller history of cigars and how tobacco became such an important commodity in the New World. It also highlights many references to the cigar in literature and the arts, such as Mark Twain's essay 'Concerning Tobacco,' in which the author recounts a trick he played on cigar-smoking friends. Sherman's book contains its own interesting tidbits. For example, when cigars were almost exclusively hand rolled, someone would read books and newspapers aloud to keep the rollers alert. But that practice could cause problems, too, as happened in a Tampa cigar factory where the management believed that a bitter strike was created because inflammatory labor tracts were being read to the rollers. Sherman owns and operates Nat Sherman, a famous cigar shop in New York that his father founded in 1930, and the son's enthusiasm is evident throughout. It's as if the readers were sitting across from Sherman and he was eagerly answering all their questions about cigars. Cigar smokers will find either book a satisfying read."—Publisher.