Hoberman argues that the example of Ben Johnson was the logical outcome of a sporting ethos which seeks ever greater speed and strength - the creation of a man-machine - and the financial corruption of the Olympic ethos. Normal human limits are being exceeded but at a great physical and perhaps moral cost as sport becomes increasingly de-humanized.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Athletes' use of steroids, testosterone and other drugs to boost performance reflects an obsesson with winning at any cost, observes Hoberman, who maintains that the age-old ideals of sportsmanship prevalent less than a century ago have been replaced by dehumanized, often brutal competition. This eye-opening study traces the efforts of scientists, trainers and doctors to adapt athletes to ever-increasing levels of stress. Chapters cover the birth of sports physiology around 1890; anthropological theories of racial variation; the politics of contemporary drug use; the myth of robotized communist athletes; and the shameful drugging, electroshock treatments and physical torture applied to racehorses. Hoberman, a runner for 20 years and a language professor at the University of Texas, cogently argues that modern sports psychology, based on the romantic myth that athletes can be liberated from inner blocks, has scarcely advanced beyond its 19th-century prototypes. He also blasts the Olympics for managerial indifference to athletes' drug use.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
"Gentlemen, start your engines!" is the cry that resounds annually at the opening of the Indianapolis 500. Hoberman's Mortal Engines symbolically parallels this cry, substituting human beings for machines. The author's premise is that athletes, trainers, and scientists have utilized performance-enhancing drugs, such as anabolic steroids, in a relentless, nearly obsessive quest for victory--without counting the cost in human lives. Much of the material contained in this startling account is not widely known; thus, it provides a much-needed base for understanding the limit to which athletes will extend themselves, sometimes unknowingly. The author occasionally tends toward sensationalism, emphasizing German practices and questioning the efforts of reputable scientists to improve athletic performance. Still, this book will be a useful addition to sports science collections.
- Albert Spencer, Univ. of Nevada , Las Vegas
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Albert Spencer, Univ. of Nevada , Las Vegas
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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