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Steroid Nation: Juiced Home Run Totals, Anti-aging Miracles, and a Hercules in Every High School: The Secret History of America's True Drug Addiction Hardcover – October 23, 2007

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Shaun Assael (Author)
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Shaun Assael (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars 17 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 368 pages
  • Publisher: ESPN; 1 edition (October 23, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1933060379
  • ISBN-13: 978-1933060378
  • Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.2 x 9.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,649,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsThe problem is far more extensive than most realize...
By Thomas Duff HALL OF FAMEVINE VOICE on December 2, 2007
Format: Hardcover
It's impossible to be a fan of sports these days and not be aware of the role that steroids play in the lives of athletes. If you listen to the athletes themselves, only a few rogue players get sucked up in the juice. But any rational human knows that the truth is something completely different. In the book Steroid Nation: Juiced Home Run Totals, Anti-aging Miracles, and a Hercules in Every High School: The Secret History of America's True Drug Addiction, Shaun Assael looks at steroid use in America from 1981 to today. You can't help but draw the conclusion that there is a vast conspiracy of silence that allows this to go on in professional and amateur sports.

Contents:
Band of Believers - 1981 - 1992: The Guru of Venice; "Zee Codes, Zey Are Missing", Mules, Threesomes, and Mom; The Running Man; Inside Job; Blow Out; The Biggest Believers
Tapping the Vein - 1992 - 2000: Mormon Money; The Perfect Pitch; Solace and Sex; 'Cause I'm TNT, I'm Dynamite!; The King Is Dead
Long Live The King - 2000 - Present: The Right Stuff; A Bully Pulpit; The Scientist Strikes Back; The Two Arnolds; State of the Union; This Is War; A Vicious Cycle; Growing Pains
Acknowledgments; Bibliography; Source Notes; Index

Assael goes back to the days of the Underground Steroid Handbook and Dan Duchaine. Duchaine became known as "The Guru" due to his extensive knowledge and experimentation with performance enhancing drugs. Working out of the Gold's Gym in Venice, he quickly became the go-to guy when bodybuilders wanted to get bigger and athletes needed to get stronger. While these drug sales were far from legal, the government wasn't as motivated to prosecute as they are in today's environment. But that doesn't mean that all the players were staying out of jail.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsMust Read For Sports Fans.
By Salvator Marinello on November 6, 2007
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Shaun Assael, in his book Steroid Nation*, does a great job of weaving the threads of the steroid story from its less than humble beginnings as part of the Venice Beach bodybuilding underground to the Tour de France scandal, use by NFL stars and Major League Baseball players and Olympic champions. Assael tells the story of how the Dan Duchaine, the original steroid guru, opened up Pandora's Box when he published the Underground Steroid Handbook for Men and Women in 1982, and set in motion events that were responsible for - among other things - the BALCO Labs performance-enhancing drug scandal, the drug related deaths of professional wrestlers and the creation of the multi-billion dollar dietary supplement industry.

Steroid Nation* is a crazy story of mad geniuses, smugglers, drug dealers, underground gurus, self-taught chemists, deviants, narcissists, human guinea pigs, cheaters and liars. For people who have had their head in the sand with regard the steroids in sports scandal, Steroid Nation* will grab them by the scruff of their collective necks and shake them into awareness. The uninitiated will be amazed that a sociopath like Dan Duchaine could have had an influence on everything from the explosion of the use of steroids and human growth hormone to the creation of the drugs that were at the heart of the BALCO Labs scandal.

The amazing thing about how performance-enhancing drugs have affected the world of recreational activities and sport, is that there is a coherent string running through the story that connects the pioneers of the movement 30 years ago - Duchaine and his contemporaries; people that nobody has really ever heard of - to some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment of the past 10 years.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsEnlightening read
By Sunday Morning on July 20, 2008
Format: Hardcover
Excellent book on how steroids moved from the gym culture in California to mainstream America, from professional to high school athletics and strange way we view steroids - classifying them as dangerous drugs while giving those who make, distribute or use them little more than a slap on the wrist. I liked the personal anecdotes about the people involved, which lent a lot of color to a very throughly researched book. I'm looking forward to learning more about this topic, especially as the Beijing Olympics unfold. It will be interesting to see how the IOC handles the issue this go around.
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3.0 out of 5 starsEntertaining but Incomplete
By D. Miller on March 16, 2010
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
The cops and robbers part of this book is excellent, as the author draws nice profiles of the major characters, and follows the legislative and legal history of steroids. He keeps up interest as you get to "know" the enforcers, the "gurus", scientists, coaches and others including the famous governor of my state. He also does a good job of explaining how steroids and other enhancement drugs work in your body. I think he was pretty fair in not overly demonizing the bad guys or hero worshiping the good guys.

However, I was frustrated by much that was left out. For example, in the first chapter he talks about a steroid advocate being in regular contact with strength coaches of major NCAA schools without identifying the schools. He also doesn't give much information on what the long term effects of these drugs are. He gives a few scary examples of individuals who died before their time, and in a late chapter he mentions scores of ex-wresters dying at an early age (but doesn't say what they died of - though he implies it's of heart problems).

Finally, he doesn't get into the usage of steroids in the beef and poultry industries and what those health consequences might be, and / or how they are regulated.

I'm afraid we're still waiting for the definitive book on steroids in society, but it's a good read with some interesting information.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsHuman Destruction

Sobering account of what happens when logic goes out the door to pursue the Holy Grail of being top dog whatever the cost.Very well balanced. Very enjoyable read. Hard to put down. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Excellent

Published 16 months ago by Ron at Mizzou
4.0 out of 5 starsEducational book

Excellent book that gives insight into the world of steroids. Discusses politics, business, and dangers of steroid trade at the national and international level.

Published on November 26, 2014 by G Pringle
3.0 out of 5 starsOk book. But all over the place.

Ok book . But all over the place.

Published on October 2, 2014 by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsAn engrossing inside history of Steroids and the people who ...

An engrossing inside history of Steroids and the people who used and profited from them, this book is gossipy, unsparing of private lives and riveting . Read more

Published on September 7, 2014 by Phantom Critic
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat Book.

Enjoyed the read very much, covered the topic at hand very thoroughly with nothing left out. I look forward to reading more from this writer.

Published on April 15, 2014 by michael jaramillo
5.0 out of 5 starsImpressive research

I thought this book was a fantastic representation of the steroids timelines. The book was heavy with details but easy to digest due to the anecdotes.

Published on January 20, 2012 by Analise
5.0 out of 5 starsBook Review

Great book on the drugs that fuel professional sports. It is really an eye opener on how common steroid use is in college and pro sports. Excellent read.

Published on November 1, 2011 by AMY24K
1.0 out of 5 starsScare Tactics

Millions have used and continue to use steroids with no ill effects whatsoever. There is no science that proves steroids present a risk greater than the benefits. Read more

Published on October 4, 2010 by hwhitmore
5.0 out of 5 starsGood Read

After I finished the book I watched Bigger, Stronger, Faster for the second time and was able to pick out characters the book talked about. Read more

Published on September 21, 2010 by Canoeist

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