Rating: 
Summary: Intresting read, not tecnical about bodybuilding
Review: As my title suggests, this book is a life story rather than a training manual. For some people it can be a curse, for some a blessing. Anyway, it is an intresting read and to my opinion, Paris writes quite well..He is somewhat whiny in his writings, but still manages to make the story intresting. Another reader remarked that it is not truthfull about the drugs but in my opinion it is, compared to the many other books in the market!
Rating:
Summary: this was not the book i was expecting to read.
Review: Being a gay bodybuilder and into a sport where there is a lot of explotation and all around craziness,I was epecting this book to be a real page turner.A great deal of the book tells of Bob's childhood and troubled adolescence.I wanted to skim ahead to the "juicy stuff".I decided to be patient.The juicy sruff never arrived.I've read other accounts of the bodybuilding lifestlye and this was the dullest.I'm sure Bob left some stories out to protect the innocent.Even the gay issue wasn't really explored.While I admit Bob had me turning the pages with anticipation,I kept wishing he'd get ot the point.I found his growing up years touching and disturbing,and when the book was over,it was indeed as if Bob Paris had told me his story personally,but it wasn't the story I was expecting to hear.
Rating: 
Summary: The Gorilla Suit is Really a Mask
Review: GORILLA SUIT is the third book by Mr. Paris that I've read and it was strike three, he's out. While he is looked upon by some as a spokesperson for the gay community, I am not among his admirers. I had a tough time with this book and thought he was really searching for sympathy over the breakup of his relationship and his current place in the world. There is a serious "pity me" quality to the writing here which is unacceptable from such a respected man.Having met Mr. Paris and his then-spouse, Mr. Jackson and hearing them speak at a gay event in Minneapolis several years ago, both my friend and I were put off by his coldness and somewhat rude attitude. Mr. Jackson was much nicer and far more outgoing. It was evident that he was the warmer of the two, and he wasn't going to take a back seat to his more famous lover. Read GORILLA SUIT at your own peril, but frankly, there are better books about this topic...
Rating: 
Summary: Rewarding
Review: I bought this book in hardcover when it appeared and I am glad to see that it has won some admirers among its many critics. I thought it was an interesting memoir even apart from the special focus on bodybuilding, the story of his youth, family, and departure from the mid-west was convincing and to me, absorbing. It is indeed well written and moves smoothly from chapter to chapter, and I do not share the views of those who found it self-pitying; rather it seems an honest attempt by a man with a very unusual career to come to terms with his own life. It made me like him and wish him well. Why criticize him for not writing the book you "expected"?
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but not what I expected.
Review: I enjoyed learning more about Bob Paris' early experiences in Indiana. However, the book is quite short on details of his most (in)famous relationship with Rod Jackson. I know that the breakup of any relationship has a profound effect on the people involved, and it would have been nice to hear his reactions to it. As for the bodybuilding aspect, the book was quite enjoyable, not shying away from the more controversial aspects of the sport (steroid abuse, the Weiders, etc.). It's nice to see the brains behind the muscle, and I look forward to more from this author.
Rating: 
Summary: Knowing the Truth Brings Respect
Review: I have never really folllowed compeitive bodybuilding, but recently decided it was time to get in shape. In my quest to transform myself I founf this book written by Bob Paris, about his journey through competitive bodybuilding, and his eventual withdrawal from it. Reading his story I have to new found respect for the sport, and most of all for him, as he turned way from the body building establishment because of value conflicts. After reading this book, I'll never be able to look at a Weider product the same way.
Rating:
Summary: NOT about Instructional Bodybuilding ...
Review: I remember seeing Bob Paris when he was in Singapore, and I was in my early-teens. I was with my parents at the Lobby of the Hotel. Wow, feels like a life-time ago... and maybe it has been. I guess because of this, my affinity with the narrative of the book is alittle more special than any other reader. This is NOT about Reps, Sets, Posing or Fitness Strategies. This is an auto-biography about Bob Paris... or actually just the segment on his growing up years and some scalding issues with the "Sport" of Bodybuilding. I use the term "Sport" loosely due to the nature of Politicking and the eventual dissolution of the IFBB's probationary status by the Olympic committee, even as a Demonstration Sport. IF YOU ARE A WANNABE (or, want-to-be-a) PROFESSIONAL BODYBUILDER, READ THIS BOOK!! Honestly written about the darker aspect of the sport: the steroids, the illusion and the facade of this glamourous hyper-masculine display of the male physique, I guess Paris wishes to find an aspect that will tie-in to the spiritual if not intellectual aspect from the purely Physical that the sports provide, and had kept him 'alive' during his more trying times. It's not a Bad read, in fact, I never expected the level of language or some of the images that leaves a memorable mark in the reader's imagination. The "lock of hair" like a "comma" on his mother's face is hauntingly real to me, or Joe Weider's notorious accent translated and described as an- off key wood-wind instrument quashed under a heavy truck" (well-done Bob). The language is simple but succinct, and despite the conversational grammar and vocabulary that Paris displays in his conversations through out the book, "tongue-in-cheek"wise, I cannot but suspect he had the secret aid of a very good editor or a ghost-writer:P!! (kiddin' Big Guy). The format of the book is in a modern Narrative where it is decidedly Post-Modern which reflects on the fragmentation that Paris feels at the moment of the Book's writing. The book reveals the oft-repeated cycles that Paris lived throughout his life so far... and by the end of the book, the discerning reader could not but feel a slight prophetic sense as to where he might be heading next. I don't know about the level of Honesty or the verificacy of the subjects dealt within, it might be a 'clean-up'ed or 'dramatized' version of his life, but that would be going into the realm of Academic dispute on the issue of "Authorship" and "Literary Genres". It reads simple enough and honest enough to feel real. So, to all you skeptics out there, I think it is as candid as it'll be if Paris were to be narrating to us over a repast. I find his faith in 'divine' intercessions to be extremely heart-warming, and it did put a smile on my face. It's a pretty good read, it offers a short but definitive insight into the politics... I would also recommend Samuel W. Fussell's "MUSCLE : Confession of an unlikely bodybuilder", who handles the topic much more satirically and with an erudite flair. (see my review on that book). I finished Paris' gorilla suit in one sitting, sans the Zinfadel (heh-heh), in a nutshell, it is honest, engaging, and a real waker-upper, for those who are still trap in the glamourous glossies of various muscle mags on the shelves today! it's a good read! Bob, if you are perchance reading this: "Thanks".
Rating:
Summary: Beware: This book is not what you think!
Review: I will keep this brief and to the point. This book spends a ton of time talking about Bob Paris' difficult life growing up with parents twice divorced and his own battle to defeat his inner demons. The bodybuilding aspect of this book isn't nearly as featured throughout the book as you would suspect from the title and isn't revealed through this book. Therefore, in terms of a story of a troubled young man that turns his life around into something successful and meaningful it is an average book; in terms of a book providing inside insight on Bodybuilding ... you may want to look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: inspirational and great for making a come back
Review: This book is great for those people trying to make a comeback in the world of weightlifting. Bob Paris describes his moods and feelings. I like the part when Bob as a teenager really want to work out to the point of making sacrifices. From sleeping in his car behind the gym because he had no money for rent to years later working out in his own personal gym with a grandeur view of the Pacific ocean. Bob is gay yet is a great book to read even though one may not approve of homosexuality. Bob is very descriptive of his early years as a teenager into weightlifting. His own story of finding an abondoned universal weightlifting apparatus in the gym storage room and his first attempts of lifting. Then years later when he was on the pro circuit the problems he encountered not only with drugs but the whole organization. I highly recommend this book for an inside view of bodybuilding and the tremendous discpline it takes to overcome all of the obstacles.
Rating:
Summary: Angry with Joe Wieder and lost in life
Review: This is a book well worth reading. I enjoyed the insights into the world of bodybuilidng and the years of struggle Bob went through to achieve hs goals.
Despite a 5 rating I have some observations about the book. After reading it I was sad to see the author NOT happy in life and kind of drifting. He is angry at Joe Weider and 1/3rd of the book is spent waiting, and talking about waiting, for a phone call from Joe Weider. And since the book is written on 3 times lines, the one time line (now) is about this phone call that never comes. I can understand he is pissed at Joe Wieder, but he could have covered this topic in 3 pages and stopped. It's obvious that as of the books writing he had not moved passed his PAST.
Which is sad. Bob seems like a man whose life is on "hold" and he's not sure what's next.
Finally his not liking having muscles (he works hard to shrink them and avoid them "blowing" back up) or working out any more is again, sad. He's against drugs, but how come he can't lift without them for his own enjoyment? Did he never like weight training? He had some bad stuff (and some good) when he competed but why did that turn him away from being fit? Training for himself.
Unlike most who take up the bodybuilding game Bob doesn't seem to love lifting for it's own sake (without competeing). How can that be? He's written several fitness books which I guess are written for money and not for love of fitness or helping people.
Bob Paris has the best body I have seen in 30 years next to Flex Wheeler.
He went to an apple tree (bodybuilding and it's business) and found he was looking for oranges and left the sport. I am sorry he was so hurt by his experiences.
However we all have had our personal set backs. I was mugged once on the beach it didn't stop me from going to the beach. I have had employers cheat me on paychecks, it didn't stop me from working.
How did the IFBB and Joe Wieder acting like an big company (they all use you to make money, even Walmart etc) make it so Bob HATES bodybuilding?
A great book for those that dig pro bodybuilding and maybe fans of Bob Paris. I am glad I read it.
| 
