Gorilla Suit: My Adventures in Bodybuilding - Hardcover

Bob Paris

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312168551 ISBN 13: 9780312168551

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1997

Synopsis

Related along two timelines, this revealing look into the world of professional bodybuilding explores both the author's present comeback efforts sans drug abuse, and his past, shattering common myths about the men in the sport. 25,000 first printing. Tour.

About this title

Reviews

A former Mr. Universe, Paris is an unexpectedly eloquent guide through his bodybuilding career, wiping off the posing oil to reveal a sport populated by insecure, drug-gobbling competitors, all beholden to a single Machiavellian puppet master. Paris, who has previously cowritten a perky memoir of gay marriage, Straight from the Heart (1994), and several exercise books, started lifting weights as a teenager in the late '70s, discovering in this pastime an enticing, self-esteem-building alternative to partying with his slacker friends and enduring the abuse of his alcoholic father. After being thrown out of the house at 19, Paris made his way to the bodybuilder's mecca, L.A., and endured many harrowing months of struggle before getting steady work as a trainer and winning his first competitions. Although Paris believes bodybuilding to be an intrinsically worthy sport, he paints a damning portrait of its chief booster, Joe Weider, who publishes muscle magazines and sells training equipment and nutritional supplements; Weider's brother is the head of the organization that sanctions competitions and awards the titles. Bodybuilders make their money on contracts with Weider for endorsements and appearances; to be useful endorsers, they need exposure in his magazines and, of course, victories in his brother's contests. Paris carefully expresses his gratitude for Weider's sometime support, but he also suspects that calling for drug testing and being openly gay cost him titles in the latter part of his career. The book alternates between past history and the issues involved in Paris's recent contemplation of a comeback at age 35: Unwilling to go back on the steroids that give musclemen their ``freaky'' bodies, and wary of the Weider way of doing business, Paris seems understandably unlikely to return to the fray. At once empathetic and scathing, Paris's memoir conveys with equal persuasiveness both why he became a bodybuilder and why he found it impossible to remain one. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Until recently, bodybuilders have gotten less respect than Rodney Dangerfield. They use diet, exercise, and drugs to sculpt their bodies into improbable masses of muscles. Being in contest condition used to make Paris (Natural Fitness, Warner Books, 1996) feel like a "little boy walking around in a gorilla suit." Yet in 1994 he contemplated coming out of retirement and returning to competition. To draw us into his world, he uses the story of how he became a bodybuilder and discusses the current state of the sport. Paris's work is both an insider's look at a unique subculture and a firsthand account of how a suicidal gay teenager from a dysfunctional family turned himself into Mr. America. This belongs in most sports and biography collections.?Terry Jo Madden, Boise State Univ. Lib., Id.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312168551
• ISBN 13: 9780312168551
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288