I Hate the Gym [Paperback]

Jessica Kaminsky (Author), Sammy Yuen Jr. (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 2004

Most of us would rather give up bread than step on a treadmill, but there are basics to consider - good health, fitting into a favourite pair of jeans, attracting a mate, feeling fit. Whatever the incentive that draws people to the most unappealing place on Earth, getting to the gym is less than half the battle. Once there, navigating the sea of distasteful sights, sounds and smells can be a horrifying experience. The gym is a minefield of people you'd rather not stand next to on the underground let alone share a sweaty machine with. In "I Hate the Gym", seasoned sitcom writer Jessica Kaminsky shares her tips on getting through a trip to the fortress of evil relatively unscathed. The tips include: the half-hour rule (doesn't matter what you do, if you stay for thirty minutes, it counts as a workout); reward systems (thirty minutes equals carte blanche to eat and drink whatever you want); identifying the players (from the prison warden to the bored housewife); surviving the classes (beware the territorial spinners and aggressive yogis) and more!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The gym, for Kaminsky, is "the epicenter of evil," and those who share this view will laugh their way through this viciously funny, step-by-step tour through a place "chock full of sights, smells, and sounds you wish you had never witnessed." She offers advice on self-motivation (make goals like "one cocktail for every mile I run") and appropriate attire, recommending readers "go with the old T-shirt, loose sweats, and granny panties" while admitting that she herself wears a thong (her explanation: "I am a panty line Nazi. I’d hand out tickets to underwear offenders if I could"). For each area in the gym, from the weight room to the juice bar, she lists types of people one is likely to find: in the ladies’ locker room, avoid "the exhibitionist," and in the fitness room, look out for "Mr. Midlife Crisis." Her observations are caustic and often over-the-top—her suggestion for keeping weird people at bay is to act like a deranged character from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest—but no one who picks up a book with this title is likely to be offended. Despite her caustic, exasperated tone and relentless wisecracking (or perhaps because of them), readers who share her love/hate relationship with the gym will find this a fast, laugh-out-loud read, especially for those days when the last thing they want to do is drag themselves to the gym.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Jessica Kaminsky has written for a number of successful sitcoms, including Just Shoot Me! The author of I Hate the Gym, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment (December 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689873697
• ISBN-13: 978-0689873690
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,391,909 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Fun, January 8, 2005

By 

Charlie Penn - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Hate the Gym (Paperback)

This is a very, very funny book. Ironically, after a somewhat debauched holiday, I was seriously thinking of turning myself into our local sweat emporium to do something about myself; this slim volume is the perfect antidote, or if you will, guide book to such impulses. I admit I peeked at "The Ladies' Locker Room" chapter first but its male counterpart certainly brought back vividly hideous memories of showers after peewee soccer in fifth grade, the grotty gym at college, and best of all, USArmy basic training. How did she do that?

Ms Kaminsky recreates in all their horror the sights, smells, and, yes, even textures of these 21st century torture chambers which only the truly demented can really enjoy. Read the book and skip the torture! She gives the reader the lingo and paints the scene so authentically that no one will ever suspect that you were doing mocha lattes at Starbucks instead of working out.

You will meet all the characters in your neighborhood and in your worst nightmares as well being well prepared to face yourself in the mirror. This is a fun book and a great gift for the overexercised in your sect.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laughed out loud, February 17, 2005

By 

spell this "spell this" (boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Hate the Gym (Paperback)

I never laugh out loud when I read, and this title surely made me giggle. I saw the cool cover treatment and knew it had to be a fun, cute book. I was right. Such a light topic, but something many of us have on our minds: when are we going to make it to the gym--and do we really have to go??

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gym-haters of the world: Unite!, January 17, 2005

By 

Adam Kadmon - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Hate the Gym (Paperback)

This is a fast, fun, funny read that gives America's torture chambers (aka "gyms"), its sadistic machinery and vicious employees what they deserve.

The author blows the lid off of the sick culture of fitness and exercise. And she puts into words exactly what the rest of us feel: That we would rathre be ANYWHERE and do ANYTHING rather than go to the gym.

Which is why, instead of going to the gym like I should, I am writing this review.

Well done, Ms. Kamensky!