Rating: 
Summary: One of a kind
Review: This is a rare find. In all the bodybuilding books, magazines, internet sites, and videos in distribution, not a SINGLE ONE has been so graphically honest and specific as this one about what it takes to be a "pro" bodybuilder. For anyone wanting to know just how freaky bodybuilders are, this will give them all the ammunition they need. And for anyone wanting to know how they can BECOME more freaky big, this is the only source I've seen that gets into the daily diet, what drugs, workout routine, etc, the pros use. "Underground Body Opus" by Daniel Duchaine tries to answer many of the same questions but uses an encyclopedic approach, listing ALL the drugs and diets bodybuilders have used instead of focusing on what works best. In the end, the author of Muscle concludes that a life centered on one's muscle is empty and pathetic. I don't expect too many wannabe muscle heads, just DYING to get cut enough that they can turn heads and get offers to do porn movies, would be so convinced. But Fussell has done an excellent job of portraying both sides as someone who's been there, and showing why people taking the same road could actually die in the process.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite book ever!
Review: Samuel Fussell's account of his own battle to gain size through weight training, is bold and honest. I am a personal trainer and have actually bought this book for many of my trainees. I feel his verbage is excellent and his accounts of gym life show the raw truth behind the glory of muscle. Anyone who has worked out should read this inspirational true story.
Rating: 
Summary: College kid writes first book-results are poor
Review: Their are a few major flaws to this book which I believe the writter will be able to rectify in his subsequent works, if their are any. The most annoying is his incessent usage of verbose vocabulary, he used to big of words. Being a graduate of Oxford University and the son of two english professors, this is understandable, however, Mr. Fussell should have realized that the great majority of the population would have no idea what he was talking about in many cases unless they wanted to carry a dictionary with them as they read. Another problem I had was the portrayal of the various character in the book. They seem to be very "cartoonish" - with behaviors and mannorisms one would only find in some make-believe land. Those are the two biggest complaints, if you want more, I think my mail address is posted with this review.
Rating:
Summary: too sad and too funny
Review: it reads like a drug addicts time before rehab. fussel spares no blushes in his truthfull re-telling of his addiction and downward spiral into sadness. i guess that "sam fussell" is not his real name as many of the characters will be out for his steroid-enriched blood if they recognise themselves, especially either of the two giver/receiver of a blowjob at a muscle-meet in a toilet. as a primer in obsession it is first class. the mind set of the young fussell is clearly laid out and immeidiatley engages the reader. like de niro's character in "taxi driver" fussell tries to build a defence against an impossibley hostile world. de niro's barrier was heavyduty firepower. fussells was muscle. or rather the paraphanalia of muscle. the detail of his steroid abuse is both worrying and comic. as is the whole book. this is an excellent picture of obsession that should appeal to anyone sufficiently unembarressed about buying a book called "muscle"
Rating:
Summary: totally over the edge
Review: A very well written book on the subject of bodybuilding. Hardcore, truthful, entertaining, and sometimes sad about the quest for perfection. After reading the book, it is clear to see that Sam Fussell graduated with an honors degree in English language and literature.
Rating: 
Summary: Muscle Addiction
Review: Muscle is a book that explores the addiction to climb a ladder that is leaning against the wrong wall. The books takes many unexpected twist and turns, but is always well written and exciting. One man's experience that represents a growing nation looking for security by building "Muscle".
Rating: 
Summary: A case study in working out for the wrong reasons.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: beautifully written, funny, moving book
Review: I wanted to learn a little more about what makes bodybuilders tick. If the motive is basically sexual, then why are there straight bodybuilders? The first part of Fussell's book is a little confusing as to just what the motives were in Fussell's case. If we are to take him at face value, it would seem he was suffering from an acute case of paranoia, an extreme bully-kicks-sand-in-my-face Charles Atlas syndrome. I think the real reason is mentioned in passing only later on in the book, after he's been training seriously for awhile -- the place where he imagines he's driving through the city and encountering nothing but green lights, green, green, green. His bodybuilding quest, I think, was an extreme reaction to being cooped up in a gray, threatening, meaningless world; he thought he had found a way, his unique way, of escaping all this, of breaking through. The prospect of unobstructed progress is addictive and one will do anything, even make a Faustian pact, to keep it going. Unfortunately, Sam had to discover that this was impossible -- to use the Devil's favorite phrase, non datur. Fussell's experience might seem to be a rather special example, but it generalizes to the world at large, which is one of the reasons why his book is important. Although he portrays bodybuilding as a ridiculous caricature, as a microcosm somewhere well off the deep end of society, it is actually more representative than may first appear -- it applies to all those who strive immoderately. This has of course been known for a long time ("moderation in all things"), but the message bears repeating. There will always be souls incapable of moderation, and they end up destroying themselves; in the final analysis it's what they want, and preferable to being in *this* world. These people are rebels, and they pay the price. Sam had to decide for himself if the price was worth it, decided it wasn't, and looked back upon his experience with horror as a "disease". This book is beautifully and concisely written. Often in just a few words, Fussell conveys a scene with merciless camera-like accuracy. Given his obvious talent as a writer, one eagerly awaits further books by him. At the very least, his bodybuilding quest gave him something to say. I hope he can find other things to say and write about now that he's back in the ordinary gray world (which is its own disease, if a bit subtler).
Rating:
Summary: This is a "must read" for any bodybuilding enthusiast!
Review: I am completing my fourth reading of this book, and, increasingly, I appreciate Fussell's candid, no holds barred immersion into the lifestyle of amateur and professional bodybuilding. And, what a lifestyle! Fussell's account of the sport's "win at all costs" attitude is right on, from my limited exposure to friends who are "diseased" (as Sam describes it). The reader can sense the palpable anger, anxiety, frustration and disappointment which Fussell so capably describes with the written word. It is clear that this is not the product of a ghost writer. Unless you've "been there, and done that," you cannot reduce the complexity of the lifestyle to text. Congratulations, Sam Fussell, on a job well done.
Rating:
Summary: Insight to the world we all want to explore
Review: Scott (previous comment) has not experienced what the author and other reviewers have. Nobody makes the right decision evey time.(a.k.a fussel giving up the gym rat race) Except for the steroids, I too went through the authors ordeal, discarding personal life and responsibilities for a shell and place to communicate with oneself. The power of the book brings back memories but reminds us that going a step to far an ruin you instead of advancing yourself. A great book if you ever seen or wanted to be a body builder for fun or sport.
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