Gorilla Suit : My Adventures in Body Building

Rating:
Summary: One Man's Captivating Account of the Bodybuilding World
Review: This is the story of Bob Paris and his rise in the bodybuilding world. The book starts from his earliest days as a child in Indiana coming across muscle magazines and tinkering with weights. The book then takes us later to California where Bob struggles and hits upon some VERY difficult times. Right when you think he can't go anymore he manages to start winning some bodybuilding shows and enjoying a certain level of success. Unfortunately, things are never as pretty as they seem. The Weiders (Joe and Ben) have controlled bodybuilding for years and did so at the writing of this book. Since they owned most of the major magazines in the sport that offered any kind of publicity and also ran the IFBB federation it was best to stay on their good side. There are many stories of them keeping an athlete's money, taking back certain promises, and basically running a monopoly of the sport. Bob had difficulties with Joe Weider from the start, which probably were only worsened by the fact that Bob was gay. At the time most publications (whether they admitted it or not) did not want an openly gay man in their magazines. Nevertheless Bob grew disillusioned with the sport partly because of the Weider's and also partly because of ethical issues such as drug use within the sport. It's a shame because even though he did manage to win some big amateur contests he never really fully achieved his potential as a pro.
Therefore, he eventually decided to walk away but did leave us with details of his career in the form of this book.
The one problem I had with the book is that I would have liked for it to be a little more developed. I also didn't really care for the style that bounces back and forth from the present to the past but I still thought it was a good read.
It's a very eye-opening book about the bodybuilding world that is sure to touch your emotions in one way or another.

Rating:
Summary: This Suit ROCKS!
Review: We've all had lives that sometimes are a bit different. Bob Paris has written about his, and how he was able to accomplish his achievements in his personal life as well as in the bodybuilding world. When it became clear that because of Bob's sexual preferance he would never be allowed to reign in the bodybuilding world, the man still had enough awareness of himself to not hide his beliefs. Yes, it cost him in the competitive world of sports but, as this book proves, it made him a better person for acknowledging his beliefs and not trying to hide them and become what everyone in the sport wanted him to be. So many have hidden what they believe. Paris had the guts (and he paid the cost) of not jumping on the bandwagon, but, instead, sticking with his beliefs for himself.

Rating:
Summary: This Suit ROCKS!
Review: We've all had lives that sometimes are a bit different. Bob Paris has written about his, and how he was able to accomplish his achievements in his personal life as well as in the bodybuilding world. When it became clear that because of Bob's sexual preferance he would never be allowed to reign in the bodybuilding world, the man still had enough awareness of himself to not hide his beliefs. Yes, it cost him in the competitive world of sports but, as this book proves, it made him a better person for acknowledging his beliefs and not trying to hide them and become what everyone in the sport wanted him to be. So many have hidden what they believe. Paris had the guts (and he paid the cost) of not jumping on the bandwagon, but, instead, sticking with his beliefs for himself.