Rating: 
Summary: Thoughtful and provoking
Review: Kudos to Mr Fussel for sharing his tragic yet comical story. This book takes the reader into the seedier side of bodybuilding as well as the intellectual side of the culture that reads more than just the labels of protein powders and supplements. I'm a little suspicious of his "the names of some individuals have been changed to protect the innocent" and how outlandishly cartoonish some of the characters are I applaud his honesty and his ability to point the finger at himself.The ending could be a little more detailed and less rushed, but all in all this is a very good book for those in and outside of the world of bodybuilding.
Rating:
Summary: A look at obsession and the worst of bodybuilding
Review: This book is basically an account of the author's experiences with the seedier side of bodybuilding in the mid to late 80s. Fussell seems to have (had) some basic psychological and emotional problems that he tried to overcome through bodybuilding. He even admits that if it wasn't bodybuilding, there would have been something else he would have taken to the extreme. With this is mind, the book is actually a vivid account of the most extreme form of bodybuilding, and presents a cross-section of some of its more eccentric inhabitants. It's a pity that the author couldn't have found an eventual happy median between extremism and natural, intelligent bodybuilding; he ended up stopping altogether. As a natural bodybuilder myself, I found some telling parodies of my own actions and was oddly inspired. An easy, enjoyable read, that gets a star deduction because of a few questions I was left with that were never sufficiently addressed.
Rating: 
Summary: The psychology of obsession
Review: An exceptional insight into the psychology of Obsession, Muscle shows how a mans character and characteristics can be shaped by the sight of glory ( no matter how minor). An entertaining and amusing read for anyone who has ever become obsessed with anything, or anyone - especially themselves
Rating:
Summary: great
Review: The finest book ever written on the real world of bodybuilding. If the classic "Pumping Iron" introduced the world of bodybuilding, "Muscle" answers all the questions that you were afraid to ask or didn't even know to ask. Although parts of the book were certainly "creative," it none the less captured the exaggerated essence of bodybuilding. I gave the book to a friend of mine who had no knowledge of bodybuilding at all, yet she loved the story. She in turn gave the book to someone else and they read it in one sitting! It is both funny and sad and demonstrates what an obession can do us.
Rating:
Summary: Short, yet excellent read.
Review: Bodybuilding/Weightlifting purists will enjoy this short read for both its humor and its honesty. As a person who has "been there and done that," I can honestly say that this book captures the reality of bodybuilding better than any other book I've read (for you non-believers). While I feel that the book is a bit rushed in certain parts, its still worth the price.
Rating:
Summary: A good exercise for the funny muscle
Review: The humour in this book is very dry, gentle and self observed. As a introduction into the strange world of the semi-professional bodybuilder, it is informative and I am sure accurate. The author has lived the life and walked the "Walk" of a man in love with himself.
Rating:
Summary: One mans' insights on the lifestyles and training involved.
Review: I found this book to be both insightful and frustrating. Throughout the book, Mr. Fussell seems to be his best biographer
and worst enemy - on the one hand, his insights on the training and philosophy are keen, but he almost seems to miss the point of it in bemoaning
his new look and way of life. (I was always wondering, "If it causes that much angst,
WHY DO IT?!?").
Rating:
Summary: Creepy and entertaining
Review: As a personal trainer, books like this are useful in showing someone that we truely are limited by our genetics when it comes to bodybuilding. Very funny, ironic and, quite simply, creepy, Muscle is a worthy read for those interested in someone who's lived the bodybuilding lifestyle.
Rating:
Summary: Tantalizing: Less Beef, More Meat
Review: I found Fussell's voyage to the nether world of bodybuilding - his "iron etude", his "atavistic nightmare", as his father put it - enthralling. I mean I couldn't put it down.
He portrays honestly and I think without too much ironic reserve the weird and seamy world of bodybuilding, a sub-culture replete with its own myths, rituals, even vocabulary. Tha characters are larger than life, at once absurd, pathetic and even, through their mad devotion and self-sacrifice, admirable.
What's missing in Fussell's tract, what I longed for and found only scattered pieces of, was the inner psychology. the thoughts this thinking man must have had, his relationship with his other world, his aesthete father, blueblood friends and famous mother. I felt I could almost see the publisher's hand, forcing out this meat for more beef to satisfy the target market - bodybuilders and their voyeuristic spectators. Too bad. The great comedy in this book is the clash between the two utterly alien worlds of Ivy League intellectuals and Arnold-worshipping bodybuilders.
Rating: 
Summary: An early barometer of the current health & fitness mania
Review: Although written over ten years ago, "Muscle" is an excellent barometer of the current unhealthy obsession to 'look' good, rather than actually feel good.
Fussel chronicles his development from a self-styled Ivy League 'beanpole' to a dangerously obsessive musclehead. A development that takes him from the urban jungle of NYC to the sands of Southern California.
During this slow transformation, Fussel details his inevitable disconnect from both family and friends as he develops relationships with other bodybuilders whose lives and vanities revolve around that elusive armor - muscle.
To summarize, an attempt to build his confidence in NYC took a turn for the strange as he developed an unhealthy need to work out. And this need soon transformed into body building once he dedicates his entire life to developing the perfect work out routine, diet, and even more amusingly - the elusive 'muscle walk'.
The cast of characters Fussel meets during this odyssey are both amusing and tragic. As he delves further into the body building culture, it is clear that the people he meets and ultimately bonds with are also unstable in varying degrees.
Fussel successfully outlines the nutritional sacrifices one makes in developing a bodybuilder's body without going into tedious detail. His explanation of the effect steroids has both physically and emotionally does a great job in outlining the sacrifice one must face when finally crossing that line.
My only criticism is during the second half of the book. The first half deftly examines how Fussel lives two distinct worlds - one with his increasingly distant friends and family and the other with his 'gym family'. However, once he is in SoCal - there are only vague inferences to his social life outside of the gym. I could never tell if that meant he had *no* life anymore beyond the gym - or if he was just glossing over it. An examination of his lack of his non-gym life while in SoCal would have been beneficial.
Despite that, this is a true cautionary tale. While showing the benefits one reaps for 'looking good' - Fussel doesn't hesitate in showing that such strident dedication comes with a very high price.
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