A Glimpse in the Rear View

With his passion for training intact, Dave Draper takes a glimpse in his rear view to bring us the stories that make up the foundation of Golden Era bodybuilding. Dave’s unique writing style and spectacular insight allows us to feel like we were there, leaning against the dumbbell rack in Joe Gold’s gym in the morning, then soaking up the golden sun of Santa Monica in the afternoon.

In this collection of Dave Draper’s quirky memory columns, we get to sit next to the Blond Bomber as he weaves his tales from the East Coast to the West. Over 60 years under the iron surrounded by some of the world’s top bodybuilding personalities in gyms around the world provides a lot of fodder for an unusual wordsmith to mold into a most enjoyable book.

"A Glimpse in the Rear View puts us in the passenger seat as Dave Draper pulls away from Muscle Beach and from the stage of Mr. Universe. He takes us into the dungeon, brings us out to the movie set and lets us help open a gym with the Austrian Oak. He pulls the weight set from under the bed for us and leads us in sets of dips on kitchen chairs. We meet people from all over who love the iron. We bury some of them as time moves along, and others just fade from sight.

"This isn’t once upon a time; these are real stories. Life can be sad. Life can be cruel. Dave protects us; he cushions us in his mighty arms." ~ Dan John, author of 40 Years with a Whistle