Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder [Paperback]

Samuel W. Fussell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1992

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fussell, who took up bodybuilding after attending Oxford, tells his story and examines the diets, drugs and dedication that drive the bodybuilding world. Enjoyable reading.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-- Teenage boys who a generation ago would have answered Charles Atlas ads will be attracted to this book about Fussell's own immersion program in bodybuilding. He is an Oxford honors graduate in English language and literature and writes engagingly about what drew him into the subculture of gym life. He includes the reaction of his bewildered parents and describes the assortment of gym habitues who befriended him. This is no George Plimpton inside glimpse--the author lived the bodybuilding life full-time for four years, and he shares with his readers that life of mind-numbing exercises, fistfuls of vitamins, and steroid injections. This is destined to be a cult book that will survive because of its humor, its truth, and its fine writing. --Judy McAloon, Richard Byrd Library, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (August 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380717638
• ISBN-13: 978-0380717637
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (89 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #110,760 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bodybuilding for the Emotionally Sound, July 21, 2003

By 

Jeff Richardson (Cincinnati, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder (Paperback)

Sam Fussell comes from a family of intellectuals (his father is the author/professor Paul Fussell) and it is not surprising that he appeared to be following in their footsteps. He graduated from Oxford University and then proceeded to get a job in New York before entering graduate school. What is surprising is the detour that he took. Living in New York and being accosted by street people and witnessing acts of violence had the rather predictable and understandable effect of instilling him with some fear; however, his fear appeared to be more consuming than in most people. Sam Fussell sought some way in which to conquer the fear. He considered the martial arts but nixed that idea after reasoning that he would actually have to fight in order to employ them. After happening into a bookstore the answer presented itself. Bodybuilding could create a hulking Samuel Fussell that anyone would think twice about before assaulting. The current Sam Fussell was ectomorphic at 6'4" and 170 or a 175 pounds and clearly not someone who intimidated steet toughs.

Being a bookish sort, he purchased bodybuilding books and magazines before eventually getting a YMCA membership. He then started out using only the machines while marvelling at "Sweet Pea" and the other muscleheads who grunted, groaned and cursed their way through set after set of freeweight exercises. Diligently doing his circuit training routine and increasing his caloric consumption allowed Sam to make respectable progress, even gaining the attention of the behemoths on the other side of the gym. The story of his becoming a freeweight practitioner, initiated into the clique of weight-lifters at the Y and being taught such things as how to walk like a builder makes for entertaining reading.

Even after achieving a body weight of 200 pounds, he finds that strangers are not properly cowed. This serves to fuel his desire to get massive. He brings large quantities of food to work and eats every few hours. His desk is filled with protein powder and his attitude to co-workers is less than cordial at times. No perceived slight goes unpunished with the new Sam Fussell. After one too many of such incidents, Sam is out of a job. He's alienated his non-bodybuilding friends and flabbergasted his parents. Sam becomes increasingly enmeshed in the bodybuilding lifestyle and even goes so far as to use a small inheritance to support himself.

Sam eventually moves to the mecca of bodybuilding ---- southern California. There he meets still more interesting characters and begins, inevitably, using anabolic steroids. The photographic record of his transformation is astounding. He competes in a bench pressing competition and a bodybuilding contest. The harrowing tale of his pre-contest diet (e.g. not using Crest toothpaste because it's sodium content is too high) makes it easy to see why Sam came to his senses and stopped forthwith.

Being ectomorphic like Sam and desiring to gain weight, I could sympathize with some of his motivation. On the other hand, his fear is another matter entirely. Granted, I don't live in NYC but I think it's pretty obvious that he had other issues besides being lanky. I have worked out, gained weight and made decent progress. I think he was on a similar path but no amount of bulk would tamp his fears. I would have liked to see Sam come to his senses and eventually lift weights again but in a more healthful and reasonable manner but much like the alcoholic who knows he must never drink again, Sam abandons weight training completely. I suppose this is only to be expected from someone who chose to lift weights not so much to build his body as to ease his mind.

Samuel Fussell writes in an engaging manner and it's easy to get lost in this book. You need not be knowledgeable about the world of muscle to find this book engrossing. "Muscle" is not a bodybuilding how-to book. He does discuss particular routines, exercises and nutrition but those who think that it's primary aim is instructional in nature have missed the point. Lifting weights can be healthy and rewarding. Like anything, taken to an extreme it can be quite the opposite. Perhaps owing to my own bias, I don't view it as an anti-weightlifting book. The book may however be viewed as anti-professional bodybuilding. Professional bodybuilders are genetically above average and steroid drug users and this has been the case since at least the 1960s. There are an increasing number of natural contests but at the elite, big-money earning level drugs are omnipresent.

For those who wish to lift weights, increase strength and add muscle, read this book as an entertaining and yet cautionary tale. Then go get a checkup, buy a good weight lifting book (e.g. author Stuart McRobert), eat correctly, get plenty of rest and be persistent. You will see progress physically. If, however, you are expecting healing for an unquiet mind, perhaps this book will show you the importance of looking elsewhere.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling..., March 26, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder (Paperback)

I loved this book since reading it for the first time one year ago. Since then I have re-read it several times, and never get tired of the story.

It is easy to relate to the fears that drove Sam to take up bodybuilding. What is interesting is how those fears turned a well-bred, well-education, intelligent man in his mid-20s, into a an anti-social outcast among his friends and family.

Bodybuilding is a great sport, and lifting weights is a healthy activity. But because of the author's psychological issues, he lets it become an unhealthy obsession. The author quits his job and takes up residence in a window-less concrete basement while training full-time New York.

He comes to California, and associates with other obsessed with bodybuilding. These people include his training partner/steroid-dealer, a father-son team who train full-time at the gym while live out of their car, and a female bodybuilder with more testosterone in her body than most men. Sam shoots himself up with steroids, bullies people on the street, and competes in local competitions.

In the end, his quick departure from the sport is consistent with someone who came to the sport only because he was trying to find himself. And after bodybuilding didn't provide all of life's answers to Sam's satisfaction, he moved on.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sam Fussell "Keeps it Real" throughout the whole book., July 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder (Paperback)

Finally, someone who isn't afraid of telling the truth about what it takes to make it in bodybuilding. Fussell remains honest throughout the whole book and keeps nothing back. This is a must read and an eye-opener for anyone who wants to know what bodybuilders go through to win. I really appreciate the honesty that Fussell brings to bodybuilding through this book. He takes a no-holds barred approach...he tells it like it is, I ought to know I am a former competitor myself. He is right on! If you are a bodybuilder and you read this book...it may scare you to see the truth, you know the truth but you are in denial...it's true and I too, can indentify with 100% of Fussell's feelings. Does anyone know where Fussell is now? This book is an easy read and you'll finish it in no time. Order it!