Getbig Bodybuilding, Figure and Fitness Forums
Getbig Main Boards => Gossip & Opinions => Topic started by: nycbull on July 16, 2006, 03:01:47 PM
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Hey Men,
After trolling here for a few weeks (that really means months) I thought some of you could really benefit from reading the book "MUSCLE: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder", It is the true story of a skinny Oxford University grad's journey into the world of bodybuilding from a YMCA in NY to Venice Beach, CA, from natural to roided, It is filled with lots of real life characters, gym rats, and groupies as he takes you along on his funny and sometimes pathetic journey. His opinions about the bb world are hysterical and entertaining throughout. The book caused quite a controversy when it was first published, many in the bb world wanted it to go away fast. It is not necessarily a knockdown on bb, it just presents the dark side thats all, and I think it is good to do that. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0380717638/ref=si3_rdr_bb_product/104-4524280-3408725?ie=UTF8 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0380717638/ref=si3_rdr_bb_product/104-4524280-3408725?ie=UTF8)
Has anyone on this board read it? Would be great to hear your opinion of it.
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Well worth a read, entertaining and well written. :)
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it was a decent book.
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"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."
This is silly. No competitive bodybuilder would have to do this. Why try to give the impression they eat or train differently or with more effort than we do?
HAHAH you would be suprised how delusional bodybuilders really are....He is telling the truth.....I rmemeber questioning some competitors on here and they were scared to have sugarless gum,cinnammon in the last few weeks of pre-contest.....Delusional these people really are....Sam is funny as hell and it is a great read.
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Humorous book. One of the guys that beats him in his contest ended up killing his girlfriend in san fran a few years later.
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I read it and liked it.
He talked extensively about steroids. He is a tad bit of a drama queen and the wording is very much Julian Schmidt, but I'd recommend it. A bit anti-climatic tho. 8/10.
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You read it and liked it? If it's a good book I may just have to make some purchases on amazon since I was planning on checking out Bob Paris' books also.
A friend of mine who juiced for years told me that eating moose meat was the magic bullet. ;D
Why does anyone try to pretend there is a special diet or training program that makes for success in muscle building? Like these weird-asses who do single armed dumbbell overhead presses while standing on one leg on a swiss ball to strengthen their core? ???
"Ain't nothing to it but to do it" - Ronnie Coleman
That says it all.
MATT!!!!!!!!!!! You HAVE to read it....You will love it......IT shows you how delusional bodybuilders are.......You have to get it tonite. IF you can`t find it, I will send you my copy.
It is really funny and true.
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I read it and liked it.
He talked extensively about steroids. He is a tad bit of a drama queen and the wording is very much Julian Schmidt, but I'd recommend it. A bit anti-climatic tho. 8/10.
I think that was the point though.....Since when is bodybuilding climatic....Usually most peoples "careers" just end, and nobody cares. Perfect ending!
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I think that was the point though.....Since when is bodybuilding climatic....Usually most peoples "careers" just end, and nobody cares. Perfect ending!
you're right.
If you picture the guy as Tom Prince the whole time you read, it's WAY funnier. English major, self-esteem issues, the whole shebang.
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LOL! I was going to pick up Bob's book like I said, so I'm sold. Might as well ship it with the same order.
The review that said Samuel bashed bodybuilding in order to win favour back with his father and his high society colleagues is probably the most accurate. Typical scapegoating.
The Andreas Munzers, Tom Princes, and Samuel Fussells of the world should not be bodybuilding.
Well Sam is good, in that he realizes it. Tom Prince still doesn`t and Munzer is dead.
This isn`t written from a delusional perspective, but instead he writes it as a I can`t believe I was that delusional and everyone around me is delusional and doesn`t realize it.
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LOL! I was going to pick up Bob's book like I said, so I'm sold. Might as well ship it with the same order.
The review that said Samuel bashed bodybuilding in order to win favour back with his father and his high society colleagues is probably the most accurate. Typical scapegoating.
The Andreas Munzers, Tom Princes, and Samuel Fussells of the world should not be bodybuilding.
I read some mixed reviews on Bob's book but picked it up anyway and really enjoyed it. :)
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I just thought it was a great book because it made me realize, at the time, that I was lifiting for the wrong reasons. I stopped for a while and then continued on with a more healthy perspective.
I think a lot of guys at the gym want to be big to avoid any feelings of insecurtiy, weakness or smallness. But wouldn't it be better to develop a job or talent that will give you real power. I think their belief that more muscle will protect them from ever feeling small is the reason they will do anything to get big, even risk health and avoid relationships and jobs. But the irony is that they are are actually making their lives smaller.
Plus the book was just funny as hell, especially his apt in Venice, it was his "bunker" for getting big. Just a place with protein powder, food and bodybuilding mags. Him and his roomates just eating , crapping and lifting morning noon and night.
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Take whats written in the book with a grian of salt it was an okay read but not q00% accurate I recall Ironman magazine and Lonnie Teaper going on about how the book was BS .
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Take whats written in the book with a grian of salt it was an okay read but not q00% accurate I recall Ironman magazine and Lonnie Teaper going on about how the book was BS .
I would say their Magazines are full of more BS. hahahah
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I enjoyed Gorilla Suit Matt if thats what you may get , John Hottens book Muscle was really good .
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I enjoyed Gorilla Suit Matt if thats what you may get , John Hottens book Muscle was really good .
Yeah "Muscle" by the english author is a GREAT book.
I like the stock quote by kerry kayes...
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Take whats written in the book with a grian of salt it was an okay read but not q00% accurate I recall Ironman magazine and Lonnie Teaper going on about how the book was BS .
I don't know, a lot of people in the bb building industry hated it, but of course they did, it wasn't a favorable light on the industry. But they should have supported it, In the long run it would have helped improve the industry.
Anyone care to guess who some of the characters in the book were.? I always wanted to know who the former champion, gym owner who was banging all the gym bunnies was? And who was the guy whose father was training him and encouraging him to do roids and get as big as possible? ANyone know?
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Yes, I enjoyed it...when it came out 14 years ago.
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That is an older book, but it's an interesting look into just how extreme some people become with "the lifestyle." If you are or have ever been a true hardcore bodybuilder, you'll find yourself remembering sam's mindest (with pride or shame; for you to decide)...
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I don't know, a lot of people in the bb building industry hated it, but of course they did, it wasn't a favorable light on the industry. But they should have supported it, In the long run it would have helped improve the industry.
Anyone care to guess who some of the characters in the book were.? I always wanted to know who the former champion, gym owner who was banging all the gym bunnies was? And who was the guy whose father was training him and encouraging him to do roids and get as big as possible? ANyone know?
Pretty sure it was doug brignole who owned the gym. the guy moved to pasadena not the mecca for some reason...
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Yeah "Muscle" by the english author is a GREAT book.
I like the stock quote by kerry kayes...
I like Kerry's American watch lol
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I bought the book back in the early nineties (when it first came out), and the last time I read it was a couple of years ago. Very entertaining read. "Vinnie" was probably my favorite character in the book. I have actually known a few people (from gyms) over the years who seem to have the same unhealthy level of meatheaded, obsessive-compulsive, pathetic narcissism as Sam and his three roomates. It's unbelievably funny and sad at the same time that there are actually people as bent as these guys walking around in society.
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Very well-written and entertaining book. Highly recommended. Puts other BB books like Gorilla Suit to shame.
Special "Cliterature" Ed
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This is my 1999 amazon posted commentary on Fussell's book.
A case study in working out for the wrong reasons, August 7, 1999
Fussell is the son of one of the most prominent literary and social critics of our time, and the breakdowns in his family led him to repudiate it by burying himself in a sub rosa existence, in this case amateur bodybuilding. He writes accurately about the gym and competitive scene, and sections of this book have a pungent black humor. There is a seamy side to the scene that Fussell captures well. However, he does not capture the quiet heroism of many people who devote themselves to the platonic pursuit of ideal physical form. I don't think Fussell could have met the right people in the scene because of his contempt for others (which he shares with his father). Until a more articulate writer comes along, this one probably offers the best personal account of bodybuilding. I never warmed to Fussell as a person or felt he was a successful competitor, though, and would be interested in reading an account of the scene by a successful bodybuilder who cares more about his fellow man and woman.
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Yeah "Muscle" by the english author is a GREAT book.
I found a few significant mistakes in the first UK edition of Muscle, don't know if they got corrected in the US edition. Things like claiming Reg Park won the Mr America (he was British, not American).
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I like Kerry's American watch lol
Yeah that was a good one. I like the whey king too.
Best quote is about cormier crying to yates and saying his sports pyschologist told him to rid rid of the outside influences and yates says dude i;ve been telling you that for 6 years you dickhead
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Its a pretty good book, well worth a read. Should be able to get it very cheap from amazon prime or ebay.
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The subtitle would have been more accurate had it read, "Confessions of a Failed Bodybuilder."
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Well, these monkeys, whoever they are should leave bodybuilding alone. When they failed to become bodybuilders, they go out and write books, and give interviews to anybody who would listen. there is nothing new in bodybuilding anymore that we dont know. Bodybuilding have been bashed, ripped to shred by the media time and time again. I really dont need another scrawny nerd who never had what it take to begin with telling me about " the life of bodybuilders"
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"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."
This is silly. No competitive bodybuilder would have to do this. Why try to give the impression they eat or train differently or with more effort than we do?
That's just ridiculous. ::)
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While I suspect that it takes a number of dramatic liberties [i.e. his mentor does hetero porn], it's my favorite bodybuilding book by a wide margin. It's certainly the most accurate depiction of the, uh, "mental game" in bodybuilding. [Which is why everyone in the industry feels humiliated by it.] And as Adonis insightfully observes, the anti-climactic ending is very true-to-life.
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While I suspect that it takes a number of dramatic liberties [i.e. his mentor does hetero porn], it's my favorite bodybuilding book by a wide margin. It's certainly the most accurate depiction of the, uh, "mental game" in bodybuilding. [Which is why everyone in the industry feels humiliated by it.] And as Adonis insightfully observes, the anti-climactic ending is very true-to-life.
Who was the mentor? Know the real name?
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Who was the mentor? Know the real name?
Afraid not. But he was an Italian from New York...
Bob Ciccherillo?
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Afraid not. But he was an Italian from New York...
Bob Ciccherillo?
You implied above that his mentor would have actually been doing gay porn. Are you saying that Bob has done gay porn?... ;D
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i thought it was a pretty good book as it shows his growth from an outsider to an insider in the bodybuilding world. esp interesting was his descripton of the caste system in many gyms in this country good reading. try to get your hands on david carters book the iron game it's in a similar vein but more graphic, only some names are changed to protect the quilty. ie the gropenator et el.
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Are you saying that Bob has done gay porn?
You tell me.
(http://media.bodybuildingpro.com/mrolympia2002f/2002mrof_cicherillo01.jpg)
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Hahahaha... Muscle, by Sam Fussell.
I've read it about 4 times now over the past 10 years. It always makes me laugh and cringe about the 'bodybuilding types' that populate our gyms.
Not like they don't exist in other realms of society, but this book cracked me up.
Def. a must read.
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what is the John Hottens book about? haven't heard of that one
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I`d like to read Dave Drapers Books. I hear he has a new one out. Draper is one of the greats.
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what is the John Hottens book about? haven't heard of that one
quite a bit about Munzer, Yates, Coleman, DeMilia, McGough
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what is the John Hottens book about? haven't heard of that one
Brit-centric, but very well written account of life in the pros. His account of Munzer's demise was rather moving, I thought.
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Brit-centric, but very well written account of life in the pros. His account of Munzer's demise was rather moving, I thought.
Agreed. A good read. Interesting in many ways.
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Hotten is a British investigative reporter & wrote about bodybuilding from the outside. He went to several shows & interviewed people who knew the details of Munzer's drug stack (which was mind-boggling). He doesn't do a hatchet job (like ESPN), but he also isn't biased in favor of bodybuilding either. It's from a British perspective. It's worth seeing but isn't a must.
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Hotten is a British investigative reporter & wrote about bodybuilding from the outside. He went to several shows & interviewed people who knew the details of Munzer's drug stack (which was mind-boggling). He doesn't do a hatchet job (like ESPN), but he also isn't biased in favor of bodybuilding either. It's from a British perspective. It's worth seeing but isn't a must.
its a pretty good book and he say it as he saw it.
he gives yates some props as being the brightest bodybuilder he met throughout his research by far.
ronnie he likes as a jovial, funloving character.
some of the rest get what they deserve for being themselves...
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Yeah, I remember that book. I was a member of Brignole´s Gym at the time. It was written by a guy named Sam Fussell (as was mentioned before). His parents were Ivy League professors (as was also mentioned before), or something like that. Lonne Teper bashed it appropriately, because we all knew it was a bunch of crap. He created a story by mixing characters and embellishing profusely. For example, he said he slept outside in his car. That´s a lie, and the book was filled with them. But he wanted to write a book that made him look like he had made the journey into the deep dark "cult" world of bodybuilding, and all its freaks. The reality was not freaky enough to make an "interesting" story, so he colored it - a lot.
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Yeah, I remember that book. I was a member of Brignole´s Gym at the time. It was written by a guy named Sam Fussell (as was mentioned before). His parents were Ivy League professors (as was also mentioned before), or something like that. Lonne Teper bashed it appropriately, because we all knew it was a bunch of crap. He created a story by mixing characters and embellishing profusely. For example, he said he slept outside in his car. That´s a lie, and the book was filled with them. But he wanted to write a book that made him look like he had made the journey into the deep dark "cult" world of bodybuilding, and all its freaks. The reality was not freaky enough to make an "interesting" story, so he colored it - a lot.
Dude, the reality of bodybuilding does not need to be embellished. It is as bad as he said. Lonne Teper has a vested interest in the industry, of course he was going to try to squash the book. I think it is a great reality check for anyone getting into bodybuilding.
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The Andreas Munzers, Tom Princes, and Samuel Fussells of the world should not be bodybuilding.
Matt, Matt... those types of people you described ARE the vast majority of people who are bodybuilding!
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(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v88/dobydog/Steriods.jpg)
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Matt, Matt... those types of people you described ARE the vast majority of people who are bodybuilding!
Of course Fussell was apparently smart enough to draw the line somewhere short of total self destruction.
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I read Sam Fussel's book. Interesting. I liked it overall, but definitely focused on the negative. He tried to write "from the inside", but he is clearly viewing it as an outsider. He's trying to display bodybuilding as a freakshow, playing up all the urban legends about it. There is some truth in those myths, but only some. Dave Draper is one fo my favorite writers, but my favorite BB book is still Pumping Iron. Charles Gaines perfectly captured the sport in his writing, punctuating his writing with the photographs of George Butler. The fact that many of the problems with bb that Gaines touches on in Pumping Iron are still problems in the sport today says alot about his insightfulness
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Good read.
I believe Rory Leidelmeyer was his mentor in the book-if this hasn't been
mentioned already.
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i liked the book, but i didnt like how he made everyone who works out hardcore as a loser that is going no where in life and of his 2 of 3 roommates seemed pretty cool, vinny and the other one i cant think of his name that was more a less a gigalo...gee fucking women for a living, not that bad of a way to life.