Chemical Pink - Softcover

Arnoldi, Katie

3.28

463 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1590200837 ISBN 13: 9781590200834

Publisher: The Overlook Press, 2008

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Aurora Jeanine Johnson is an unwed mother from Savannah, Georgia, desperate to sculpt a new life―and a new body―in California, where the quest for the perfect butt or bicep reaches religious intensity. Spending every spare moment training at the gym, Aurora is barely getting by―until she meets the man who will offer her everything she most desires. Charles Worthington is a wealthy eccentric, rich enough to indulge his every decadent whim and fantasy. Aurora is his sexual ideal, the raw material from which he will shape his masterpiece. He will transform Aurora into the woman of his dreams―and fantasies―no matter the cost. To achieve their common goal, Aurora hands over complete control of her life to Charles. He dictates her diet, her lifestyle, her training―and when and how much she'll take of the body-altering drugs he “prescribes” for her. He decides whom she sees and where she goes. And what kinky games of his own devising they will play. For Aurora, everything that Charles asks is a small price to pay to become the woman she's always dreamed of being. Or is it? Chemical Pink is a gothic duet that explores the boundary between obsession and pathology.

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About the Author:

Katie Arnoldi's literary debut Chemical Pink, set in the competitive world of female bodybuilding, became a surprise bestseller, winning Arnoldi praise from critics and readers alike. The Wentworths too graced the bestseller list. She lives in Southern California with her husband, the painter Charles Arnoldi, and their two children.

From Publishers Weekly:

Pygmalion goes to the gym in this tawdry expos? of the fetishistic, dangerous world of women's bodybuilding. Charles Worthington, a middle-aged, sexually eccentric millionaire, finds his Galatea in Aurora Jeanine Johnson, a single mom with big bodybuilding dreams. Young, blonde Aurora arrives from Savannah, Ga., in search of a new life and a new body on the West Coast. Charles spots her on a beach, then tracks her down at the gym where she is training, and the two strike up a bizarre, co-dependent relationship. In exchange for financial support and full-time training, Aurora becomes her mentor's sexual playthingAthough her instant and ongoing subjugation to the repulsive Charles defies all logic. Together, their goal is for Aurora to win a title in a top national competition. In exchange for working toward her dream, Charles takes complete control of Aurora's lifeAdictating her diet, her lifestyle, her training and her huge intake of steroids. As her training progresses, Aurora loses control over her life and neglects her young daughter, Amy. Supporting characters crawl out from beneath various rocks: a deranged ex-boyfriend named Skip DeBilda, who befriends Amy; Hendrik, Aurora's crooked trainer; and a motley cast of pumped-up grotesques at the gym. The writing is peppered with descriptions of bad outfits and sex acts so arcane as to be downright laughable. Arnoldi does try to provide an insider's look at this outlandish corner of the subculture, based on her own experience as a professional bodybuilderAtoo bad it's overshadowed by the porn. (Mar.) Forecast: This galley came to PW with two author photos, one a glam head shot of Arnoldi, the other of her in a pink bikini, flexing in triumph as the 1992 Southern California Bodybuilding Champion. She looks good in both, but it's obvious which one, if put on the book jacket, is going to galvanize browser attention. In any case, the publisher has some interesting marketing plans, including advertising in Women's Sports and Fitness, that should boost sales.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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