Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Pumping Iron by Charles Gaines ISBN: 0-671-42688-5 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 January, 1982 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: These were the real champions
Comment: I book this book back in 1973 and then lost it in a flood but was able to get a copy at a used book store.These were the real champions and pioneers of bodybuilding; Arnold, Nubret, Columbu, Zane, Corney, Waller, Katz etc.You rarely see training photo's like this and heretofore, never saw bodybuilders depicted as real people as Gaines and Butler did with this work and the movie that followed.Pumping Iron and a Mega-Superstar German with a hard to prononunce last name literally took bodybuilding into the mainstream and turned the stars of our sport into household names.While I was lucky to find a copy of this book at a used book store, I really feel that Gaines and Butler should have a reprint for people who would like a new, first class copy; perhaps even a revised version showing where those champions are today.Great book Mr. Gaines and Mr. Butler.
Rating: 5
Summary: Intriguing Look At Subculture Of Competitive Bodybuilding!
Comment: It is no overstatement to attribute to the publication of this book much of the fitness revolution that first began in the 1970s. It lionized the then relatively obscure sport of bodybuilding, and in particular made much notice of the then only marginally known figure of a relatively young Austrian muscle freak with the unlikely name of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The book proved such a trenchant and penetrating look into the shadowy subculture of fitness freaks and muscle-heads that it created a boom in the gym business, which previously existed only in a few locations where the numbers of bodybuilders reached enough of a critical mass to allow such a commercial venture. In fact, as Gaines points out in the narrative, most of the gyms were owned by guys like Joe Gold, who weren't in the gym business to make a profit, and who merely managed to eke out a living, and who rarely made much of a return on their original investment.
Of course, this affectionate and knowing look at the life and lifestyles of several serious competitive bodybuilders was so successful that it encouraged the photographer, George Butler, to try to find backing for a film version of the book. And it was a difficult sell, for the movie mavens had little appreciation for the degree of public interest in muscles and muscle men then. Indeed, the movie was never released for wide commercial viewing, but was rather relegated to showings at art cinemas and other venues. Yet the book was a resounding success, and was on the best-selling trade books for months and months.
The book can still be found in used bookstores, and is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in the history of bodybuilding or the lifestyles of the most famous musclemen of the late 1960s and 1970s. I have several copies, although I lost one in a fire last year. It is a shame it is now out of print, for the book (and the subsequent movie) capture the essence of the exotic little world of competitive bodybuilding as it existed in the days when the sport was marginalized, before it became big business, and before eager young men who want fame and riches got involved for that reason rather than because they just wanted to be bodybuilders. Ah, the good old days! Enjoy!
Rating: 5
Summary: Brought bodybuilding into the spotlight
Comment: Before this book, bodybuilding was an obscure sport that nobody cared about or was interested in. Pumping Iron changed all that with it's realistic look at the sport with many pictures of the champions of the 70's & early 80's at work and play. Shattered many of the myths that people believed about bodybuilders and presented them as ordinary people with an intense drive and competitive will.
 |
Title:Pumping Iron - The 25th Anniversary Special Edition ASIN: B0000C3I6U Publisher: Warner Home Video Pub. Date: 11 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $16.38 |
 |
Title: Arnold Schwarzenegger: A Portrait by George Butler ISBN: 0671693964 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 1990 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
 |
Title: ARNOLD : THE EDUCATION OF A BODYBUILDER by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Douglas Kent Hall ISBN: 0671797484 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 January, 1993 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
 |
Title: True Myths: The Life and Times of Arnold Schwarzenegger, from Pumping Iron to Governor of California by Nigel Andrews ISBN: 1582344655 Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Pub. Date: 01 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
 |
Title: The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding : The Bible of Bodybuilding, Fully Updated and Revised by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Dobbins ISBN: 0684857219 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 05 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
