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Paperback
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
At age 26, scrawny, Oxford-educated Samuel Fussell entered a YMCA gym in New York to escape the terrors of big city life. Four years and 80 lbs. of firm, bulging muscle later, he was competing for bodybuilding titles in the "Iron Mecca" of Southern California-so weak from intense training and starvation he could barely walk. MUSCLE is the harrowing, often hilarious chronicle of Fussell's divine obsession, his search for identity in a bizarre, eccentric world of "health fascists," "gym bunnies" and "muscleheads"-and his devout, single-minded acceptance of illness, pain, nausea, and steroid-induced rage in his quest for the holy grail of physical perfection.
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| Sam 'One Hit Wonder' Fussel |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Sam had a great life as a bodybuilder... one worthy of being the subject of a great book. Good thing for Sam, once he decided that being a gym rat was beneath him, that he had that personal experience about which to write. Try and find something else written by him.
Personally, I enjoyed reading about the people with whom Sam met in his journey more than Sam's personal achievements. If I were sharing the journey with Sam, I would've stayed at the free weights area of the gym back at the YMCA in New York, and let Sam continue on to California alone. Those YMCA characters were real, authentic people who I related with the most.
Sam's attitude about being a bodybuilder began going downhill after becoming a personal fitness trainer at that gym in California. He did not allow himself to live in the moment, but instead over analyzed the road he was on and constantly found things about which to complain.
Great story! Great author!
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| Juiced up |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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I have read a lot of reviews on this book - mostly positive but one really negative. Yes the characters in the book do sound a little exaggerated and might not be real but let us put aside this complaint for a few seconds and focus on the book itself.
There is a semblance of truth in what Sam says about the bodybuilding environment in general. Being from one myself, I have seen people obsessed with the workout routines and the diet plans and the creatine supplementaion. None of the people in my environment used drugs and therefore I cannot honestly say that I have seen the kind of behaviour regarding steroids that Sam writes about.
As for the writing, it is magnificient. The book is extremely well written and the writing shows that Sam Fussell, in the end, chose a path that is more appropriate for a man of his talents.
This book should be read by all, if not for a peek into the world of bodybuilding then for the writing alone.
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| Actually, this is a pretty accurate book about the obsessive weightlifting subculture ... |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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I was an avid weightlifter in college and first read this book years after I graduated from college in 1989 and was more or less humored by its candor ... i classified it as entertaining.
Shortly after reading this book, I was invited to train with a powerlifting team and was seriously bitten by the weight-training bug to a point in which it became not only a huge part of my life, but, in part, defined who I am. Having competed as a nationally ranked powerlifter over the years (drug free) in addition to placing 1st and 2nd in two bodybuilding shows (also drug free) ... i re-read the book and looked at it in a totally different manner.
The second reading was a different experience for me because I felt I could relate to so many of the events and people mentioned in the book ... the people Fussell names in the book represent a microcosm of the obsessive weight-lifting/bodybuilding sub-culture that does truly exist. I have seen several people take their obsession with "being big" to include steroids and i've witnessed the obsessive-compulsive and destructive behavior of those who've traded in "normal" lives to pursue bodybuilding careers.
Although some of Fussell's storytelling may be embellished for entertainment purposes, I thoroughly felt that the basis for his book was in fact true ... many of us just don't want to believe that people can be as stupid and shallow as those Fussell tells us about ... but they are definately out there ... in large numbers.
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| Well written but somewhat dishonest book |
| Customer Rating: 2 out of 5 |
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This story takes Sam Fussell from a weightlifting novice in New York City all the way to his debut in a bodybuilding competition in California. We follow the writer from the bottom all the way to complete mastery of a field.
Unfortunately, the story is not at all inspiring nor does it seem particularly honest. Sam Fussell, an Oxford graduate, who grew up as the son of two English professors, claims to join a gym out of fear of New York City and then grows towards an obsession with bodybuilding.
It seems obvious that a young graduate who has the pedigree Mr. Fussell does is looking for a project as an author and chooses bodybuilding as his vehicle to write the book. The lifters he describes as his "friends" from the gyms in New York and California are generally described by Mr. Fussell is anything but flattering terms. The author gives them ridiculous nicknames and writes of them as if they were complete imbeciles. If these people truly were his friends why can't he use their real names?
Mr. Fussell's decision to move to California and take steroids in pursuit of winning a bodybuilding competition comes across to me as more of a journalistic attempt to provide an "everyman" look at bodybuilding rather than motivated by his love of the sport. His decision to quit lifting weights for good immediately after the bodybuilding contest is the ultimate proof that his interest in the sport is not genuine.
As a novice weightlifter and a fan of the writings of Paul Fussell I thought I had come upon the perfect book for me. Unfortunately, it was fairly disapointing.
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| Very funny |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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This is the true story of Sam Fussell, an ordinary Oxford educated guy who took up bodybuilding, and gave up his his job because he didn't feel safe in New York.
Engaging, and very honestly written this tells you the unbelievable facts:
"I was at the supermarket stocking up on fuel to help me with my lifting.... I picked up each week 70 eggs, 14 tins of tuna, 10.5 pounds of beef, 10 ponds of chicken, 9 gallons of nonfat milk, 4 loaves of bread, and as many sacks of brown rice....".
There are a multitude of hilarious stories in this book and whether you have any interest in bodybuilding is actually irrelevent. Just the attitudes and techniques of the people involved are funny. "heightened arousal mode" for example. This is where one bodybuilder hits the other in the face to make him angry (and thus lift more).
Its a book I have read more than once, and I strongly recommend it.
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