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Samual Wilson Fussell

Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder Paperback – March 31, 2015

by Samuel Wilson Fussell (Author)

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From skinny scholar to muscle-bound showman. “Easily the best memoir ever written about weight training, steroids and all” (Men’s Journal).

When blue-blooded, storklike Samuel Wilson Fussell arrived in New York City fresh from the University of Oxford, the ethereal young graduate seemed like the last person on Earth who would be interested in bodybuilding. But he was intimidated by the dangers of the city—and decided to do something about it. At twenty-six, Fussell walked into the YMCA gym. Four solid years of intensive training, protein powders, and steroid injections later, he had gained eighty pounds of pure muscle and was competing for bodybuilding titles.

And yet, with forearms like bowling pins and calves like watermelons, Fussell felt weaker than ever before. His punishing regimen of workouts, drugs, and diet had reduced him to near-infant-like helplessness and immobility, leaving him hungry, nauseated, and prone to outbursts of “ ’roid rage.” But he had come to succeed, and there was no backing down now.

Alternately funny and fascinating, Muscle is the true story of one man’s obsession with the pursuit of perfection. With insight, wit, and refreshing candor, Fussell ushers readers into the wild world of juicers and gym rats who sacrifice their lives, minds, bodies, and souls to their dreams of glory in Southern California’s so-called iron mecca.

Print length

272 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Open Road Media
Publication date

March 31, 2015
Dimensions

5.25 x 0.68 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

1504002059
ISBN-13

978-1504002059
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“A kind of beefcake Alice in Wonderland . . . Hilarious . . . Marvelous, entertaining.” —The Boston Globe

“A powerful, funny, and disturbing book, a classic piece of Americana.” —Entertainment Weekly

“Lively and enjoyable . . . A modern cautionary tale on answered prayers . . . A very good book.” —The Washington Post

“Easily the best memoir ever written about weight training, steroids and all.” —Men’s Journal

About the Author

Samuel Wilson Fussell resides in Montana. Since 2004 he has lived as a subsistence hunter and worked as a rescue, recovery, and salvage scuba diver for the Flathead County Sheriff Dive Rescue Team. He is a graduate of the Lawrenceville School, Pomona College, and Oxford University. Since the initial publication of Muscle, his life story has been optioned for film, television, and the stage.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media; Reprint edition (March 31, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1504002059
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1504002059
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.68 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #577,768 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #719 in Weight Training (Books)
- #2,663 in Sports Biographies (Books)
- #20,217 in Memoirs (Books)

Customer Reviews:
296 ratings

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4.5 out of 5

296 global ratings

5 star		64%
4 star		22%
3 star		12%
2 star		1%
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Top reviews from the United States

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Jonathon Sherer

Best bodybuilding book I’ve read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 5, 2022

Verified Purchase

Absolute blast reading this book. This guy really is well composed and tells a great story. I found myself reading before bed and staying up late quite a few nights

One person found this helpful

Helpful

A Midwesterner in Jersey

Good, but Apparently Fictionalized Memoir of BodyBuilding Days

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 1, 2015

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I read about "Muscle" many, many years ago in an article on Fitness, but had never found it for sale, and was pleased when it was released on Kindle. I read it over the course of a few hours, and it was a very involving story, but throughout I found myself wondering at how much of it was true, and how much had been exaggerated or simplified for storytelling effect. The characters he encounters in the book are caricatures, not portraits, and he readily admits that he changed names and details throughout.

I've never been a bodybuilder, and my own fitness levels have waxed and waned over the years, but I did go through a period where I got hooked on going to the gym and strove to lift heavier and heavier weights. My motivation, like most others, was the knowledge that I should be fitter than I was, but I did see the powerlifters and bodybuilders who strove for something beyond mere fitness, for reasons known only to them.

Fussell says that he turned to bodybuilding out of feelings of fear and vulnerability while walking the streets of New York. For reasons he explores in the book, but not quite getting to the real reason - SPOILER ALERT - he gave it up after he competed in his first bodybuilding events.

I don't want to get all Chicken Soup for the Soul or anything, but after an initial read, it seems to me that he did what he did not because of what he felt he lacked on the outside, but for a sense of manliness, for lack of a better of word, that he didn't feel on the inside. He embraced the "bodybuilder identity" and all of its outward hypermasculinity, but eventually realized its hollowness, and when the reality of competition didn't live up to his expectations, he dropped it completely. That's growth, I suppose, but the author's bio page now makes a point of him being a subsistence hunter in Montana, which seems to be another way of seeking to actualize and announce one's manhood. Why the need to call out "the author is now a subsistence hunter", rather than simply saying "the author lives in Montana", unless one is trying to make an impression?

At any rate, it is a good read, and an interesting read, but not the classic I was hoping for. Its reputation is a bit overstated.

9 people found this helpful

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Nemo

A first hand look into the psychology of bodybuilding

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 23, 2011

Verified Purchase

I absolutely loved this book. The people that the author runs into in this book are people I have seen, (or a reasonable fascimile).

What really got me was when this extremely well educated bodybuilder stops working his lucrative literary job and takes a job as a trainer at a gym. And why not? I have worked with a lot of bouncers who took jobs in clubs because they figured they would be there anyway, why not get paid for it? I have a friend who now works as a trainer at a gym, even though he is well educated and could do a far more lucrative job. But he liked the weights, he works out multiple times a day, and he doesn't want to be too far away from the weights. His life revolves around building his body and his clients bodies.

That sort of dedication blows me away. As does the concept of taking steroids, (that give you acne, cause you to lose your hair, makes you insane, and cause your bits to shrivel), spray tans that get all over everything, and starving yourself to get that vascular paper thin skin look that shows off all of your muscles to the maximum. It blows me away, but I understand it. I understand people dropping everything and focusing on the one thing that is most important to them. I both admire it and look down on it. I admire the dedication but feel the lack of well-roundedness is unfathomable.

One part of the book that really stuck with me was the scene where the author was at competition. There was a celebrity bodybuilder there and he was doing arm curls while staring into space. His expression of someone who has done this a million times before and will do it a million more times. It had a horrible sense of finality to it that makes you wonder, why? Is it worth is to spend 8 hours every day working on weights and the rest of the time calculating your protein intake?

An absolutely amazing book!

2 people found this helpful

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Frank and Unvarnished Look At Bodybuilding

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 28, 2020

Verified Purchase

I originally read this book back in the 90s (I believe) and remember liking it very well back then. Sam Fussell opens up with some very personal observations as he transcends from a skinny kid always on the receiving end of harassment to transforming his body as well as his life and attitude (and not for the better) by lifting weights. I thought well enough of the book back then to pass it on to a friend who I thought would enjoy it. Fast forward to just recently and I'm talking with friends about working out and exercising, and I remember reading this book and talking about it to them. As I often do, I had the urge to re-read it; thus my recent purchase. I haven't yet got to it as I have other books in my queue in front of it, but I am looking forward to enjoying it again.

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Top reviews from other countries

Chris

Fake news, Hugely embellished and inaccurate. read Muscle by Jon Hotten instead

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 6, 2020

Verified Purchase

The author obviously had some limited interactions with the bodybuilding world but it stinks of a wannabe journalist going undercover to write a book. The fact that the author took steroids but looks like an average natrual in his photos should be a red flag. This is a huge caricature of his experiences at best. I can gaurantee that bodybuilders do not punch each other hard in the face before sets. They do not teach each other how to walk with their arms out, train with nappies on or even call each other "builders" nor did they in the 80s. I got halfway though and had to give up. This is a book written for people who have never gone to a gym and expect the experience to be a cartoon farce. The author also refers to Arnold Schwarzeneggers wedding years before it happened, he cannot even get a simple date right. For a more balanced warts and all take on bodybuilding I would recommend Muscle by Jon Hotten. If you want pure fiction and are naive enough to lap up any old bs you are fed, stick with this. For the record I have competed nationally as a bodybuilder and boxer.

jaq

Pump it up

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 25, 2017

Verified Purchase

An absolutely wonderful book.

Sam Fussell is an academic, an Oxford graduate no less, who takes up bodybuilding to cover up his fears and anxieties, to create a shell, an armour, with which to protect him from the everyday life he so fears.

It's funny, tragic and inspiring, and quite graphic. All emotions are here - despair, elation, pride and self-loathing. The dedication of himself and his friends to their cause and journey - for it is a journey for them. And in case you're not sure - this is a true story,

Even if you're not into bodybuilding, I have no hesitation in recommending this book.

One person found this helpful

Jason Cleveland

A genuine insight to bodybuilding life.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 30, 2022

Verified Purchase

I listened to the audible version (which is brilliantly read!) and as a bodybuilder it really hits home. Its a genuine insight to the world, life and mindset of bodybuilding. Times have changed but muscle has not.

I bought this book for a loved one as a window into my mentality. Mum loved it.

DiggyDoggDingle

10/10

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 15, 2013

Verified Purchase

Brilliant informative book on the world of bodybuilding. 'SPOILER' The first part of the book makes you long for the touch of cold hard steel and to destroy your body in the gym but then the second part goes into the drug part of the book dieting so be prepared to loose some motivation.

One person found this helpful

Karen johnson

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 12, 2018

Verified Purchase

Husband loves the book, really entertaining

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