Book Reviews, Book Marketing, Selling a New Book
Review of books Articles & Information
|
|
|
Book Reviews, Book Marketing, Selling a New Book |
|
| |||
|
|
| ||
|
| |||
|
Books | |||
|
You are free to use content from this page in your blog or website, in return for a link back to this page from that blog or website.
Beyond Bodybuilding: Stranger in a Strange Land -- A Book Review
When America's foremost literary critic, Harold Bloom, professor emeritus at Yale was asked to define literary greatness, he did so as follows, "I have tried to confront greatness directly: to ask what makes the author and the works canonical. The answer, more often than not, turned out to be strangeness, a mode of originality that either cannot be assimilated, or that so assimilates us that we cease to see it as strange. Walter Pater defined Romanticism as adding strangeness to beauty'when you read a canonical work for the first time you encounter a stranger, an uncanny startlement rather than a fulfillment of expectation. {The great works} have in common their uncaniness, their ability to make you feel strange at home." I have been at home in the strange, odd world of bodybuilding for two decades and Pavel's Beyond Bodybuilding has made me feel strange at home. It has taken a stranger in a strange land to write something fresh and vital about the art and science of physical renovation. This is not old wine in new bottles this is something strange and different and entirely new. Bodybuilding in the abstract and in practice is at once both repulsive and seductive: as a competitive sport bodybuilding is form without function, bloated appearance is heralded as benchmark, pompous preening triumphant over functional grit. On a fundamental level grassroots adherents combines progressive resistance training with cardiovascular training and nutrition. In its simple form bodybuilding is the healthiest, sanest, most effective and balanced fitness system known to man. The true bodybuilder seeks synergy and balances three component parts (eating, cardio and weight training) in a precarious, delicate ballet. Handled deftly and precisely, results are profound and the successful application produces complete physical transformation. Pavel is no bodybuilder ' what he is, exactly, defies description ' yet he has written a profound book, a genuinely strange treatise on the art and science of physical transformation. His book is both profound and baffling. His workbook is strange, in the best sense, in the sense Harold Bloom and Walter Pater ascribe to. I was left with an unsettling feeling after I read Beyond Bodybuilding. His perspective is unlike anything I have ever encountered. As an athletic scribe with three decades under my belt, I have seen and read it all; yet this is unlike anything I have encountered and it jars me. I am not easily jarred. This 327-page workbook could only be written by an outsider, someone with enough distance from the prevailing orthodoxy to see clearly. Someone not at all concerned with fitting in with what is; rather, like Faulkner, he establishes an entirely new reality. Those of us within the box could not have written anything other than a clever recapitulation and recasting of the contents of the box. Only someone outside the box ' someone not yet co-opted ' could write what Tsatsouline has written'a strange tome that brings a fresh perspective to bodybuilding. This is not a book for the elite; this is a book for Everyman. This is a book for the serious individual without a lot of baggage or preconceptions; this book is for someone seeking to improve their physical lot in life. Pavel's particular and peculiar circumstance led him from the Ukraine to Santa Monica. What better geographical dissimilarity for spawning something strange, fresh and different' By blending empirical experience with a thirst for knowledge ' and given a decade of seasoning ' he is coming into his own and his voice is clear and resonant and worth hearing. Ken Kesey once quizzed Sonny Barger, the Maximum Domo of the Hell's Angels on how exactly he selected Hell's Angel's. "We don't select them, we recognize them." And so it is amongst the athletic elite. Pavel's effortless entry into the stratosphere of the athletically gifted in this country was not contingent on grudging acceptance rather on an obvious recognition of a peer. Academically he has done his homework. How well I remember him visiting me many years ago here at the Mountain Compound. He was exposed to my own brand of strangeness and at the end asked, "So Marty, you old collective farmer, where are the books, magazines and periodicals'" I laughed and directed him to a musty attic where stacks and stacks of ancient Strength and Health magazines, Muscle Mags, Muscle Builder, All American Athlete and Iron Man lay, plus my autographed copies of books by Paul Anderson and Bill Pearl. He asked if he might be given a few hours to peruse, ponder and absorb. I insisted he borrow what he considered essential and he treated the materials with reverence, as if he'd hit a mother lode. His thirst for knowledge was, and is, unquenchable. "The anxiety of influence cripples lesser talents but stimulates genius'strong writers do not choose their prime precursors; they are chosen by them but have the wit to transform these forerunners into composites." I wholeheartedly recommend Beyond Bodybuilding: I view it as a summation of the accumulated knowledge Pavel Tsatsouline has gathered to this point in his (still embryonic) career. Herein lies strange work full of strange and exotic tactics: janda sit-ups, sledgehammer leverage drills, fingertip pull-ups, bent presses, straddle-style one arm deadlifts, power rack partials, kettlebell drills, full contact bar twists, pinch gripping, one-finger partial deadlifts, progressive movement training, secret underground Russian fatigue hypertrophy cycles, renegade lunges, neck planks, loaded passive stretches, dragon walks, deck squats, "Russian laundry" grip work'on and on it rolls. All told through the strange prism of a Russian Spetsnaz commando trainer who now lives on the beach in Santa Monica and exemplifies the Horatio Alger/American Dream better than any American I know. Harold Bloom would be proud. Tsatsouline offers his ample storehouse of empirical knowledge and blends it with abstract theoretical data. Every conceivable angle, nuance, subtlety, wrinkle, innovation, twist, technical explanation and plan of attack is discussed and described. Every body part is covered and a blueprint provided for how to build and strengthen every conceivable muscular target. The detail and description are tremendous. The mix between text and photos is spot on; the clarity of exercise description leaves nothing to the imagination. Granted this Opus Magnus is strictly limited to progressive resistance training of all type and variety 'nutrition and cardio are mentioned in passing ' regardless, this strange and comprehensive work needs to be seen and read. Once a notoriously difficult music critic described his rapture upon hearing the Miles Davis quintet, "this is the musical equivalent of an ice cold shower: initially shocking but ultimately bracing, refreshing and regenerative." If you are serious about physical renovation and want a new approach to progressive resistance training, if you yearn for the physiological equivalent of an ice-cold shower, then lay down your hard-earned disposable income and purchase Beyond Bodybuilding. Take the financial plunge then turn this accumulated abstraction into concrete reality. Once you have this strange fruit in your possession it is up to you to put the mountain of information into play. The harsh reality of the gym floor beckons. "Beyond Bodybuilding" is available for purchase at http://store.martygallagher.com. Marty Gallagher is a former fitness columnist for washingtonpost.com. He is also a former national and world champion powerlifter. Marty's work has been published in some of the world's foremost bodybuilding and strength magazines, including Muscle & Fitness, Muscle Media, and Powerlifting USA. His website, http://www.martygallagher.com, assimilates years of accumulated knowledge from the athletic elite and makes them accessible to the common person. The "Purposeful Primitive" way has been proven effective time after time after time for fat loss, muscle building, bodybuilding, and improving health.
Cat 267 |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
A Coaching Book Review Win-Win Partnerships ' Be on the Leading Edge with Synergistic Coaching Los Angeles City Re-writes Free Car Wash Fundraiser E-Book The City of Los Angeles Storm Water Program has recently re-written the Detail Guy's Founder's Car Wash Fundraiser book to promote non-polluting fundraising events. The run-off from car wash fundraisers can hurt the environment with all those soapy suds. The City of Los Angeles has strict National Pollution Discharge Elimination System procedures as required by the Environmental Protection Agency. If you run a non-profit group and you are looking to raise funds anywhere in the United States, this free online E-Book is made available thru the City of Los Angeles. Fading Towards Enlightenment - Book Review Fading Toward Enlightenment by Wayne Wirs is definitely a well made book of excellent quality ' it will certainly endure multiple readings. I loved the feel of the pages as I turned them. I would classify this book as a useful, inspirational, self-help tool for those searching for inner peace. Wayne shares his personal experiences while he searches to come to turns with himself and life in general through this beautiful work of art. Not Just A Shocking Horror Tale: The Surgeon By Tess Gerritsen The Surgeon grabbed me and kept me reading. The suspense builds with every page. There are no dull moments, no holes in the plot. A serial killer is on the loose in Boston. He enters women's bedroom windows at night, chloroforms them and takes away the very thing that makes them female. While his victim is awake, tied to her own bed with duct tape, he cuts her with a scalpel, removes her uterus and then slashes her throat. Death comes while the victim watches her own blood spray from her throat. This story is even more chilling than Silence of the Lambs because this killer tells the victim exactly how he will torture and then kill her. He draws death out over several hours while the victim waits alert and in pain. Sorat and the Modern Day Evil "Sorat's evil will be spread by his infernal army of soulless followers, willing to give their lives for his pleasure in subjecting mankind to horror of the ultimate magnitude." Metaphorically Selling The Big Idea Her Backyard: Book Review Her Backyard by Doreen Lewis is an adventure, romance novel that depicts a career woman in the middle of self-discovery. It is about making choices that may not be so easy to make and complex relationships between co-workers, siblings and friends. I am certain that many readers within the age group between 30 and 40 will find a connection with Audrey, the main character. Business Plans Way back in business school we had to churn out business plans every semester. As soon as the assignment would drop we would be scrambling for information. Start the number crunching game, do the analysis, do some mental planning, and write business plans. The Rich Jerk - A Study in Anti-Marketing I've always been fascinated by "anti-marketing", and how powerful its effect can be if done properly, so when I stumbled upon The Rich Jerk salesletter, I was immediately intrigued. Constantine Loosely based on the graphic novel Hellraiser, Constantine follows the life of John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) a man with limited time on this earth due to his constant chain smoking, and a determination to work his way back into heaven by killing demons that have crossed our earthly plain, since he will be denied access because of a suicide attempt he made as a child. Since Constantine is based on Catholic doctrine, suicide is a mortal sin and therefore guarantees you a one way trip to hell, one Constantine is desperately seeking to avoid. Be the Captain of Your Lifes Ship In his book, "Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity," author David Whyte explores the concept of work from an internal perspective and how work allows us to become the individuals that we are. He refers to the works of the well-known poet and engraver, William Blake. Whyte uses the analogy of a ship crossing unknown seas to illustrate how we need to be the captains of our vessels. Through a variety of analogies, Wyte has presented work from a different perspective and one that allows us to explore our own potential and how we can better leverage that potential within that area of our life we call work. Book Summary: The E-Myth Revisited Ever wonder why most small businesses-- no matter how huge effort they put in their endeavor--still fail? Micheal Gerber reveals the answers in this book. Accordingly, the future of small businesses revolve in only three philosophies: the e-myth (entrepreneurial myth), the turn-key revolution, and the business development process. Chris Carpenters Google Cash - An Ebook Review It is rare to find a brand new blueprint for making cash on the internet. The continuous churning of rehashed and ripped off regurgitated pablum has plagued the internet guru market for the last few years. But ever so often with some persistent digging you find a gem. Google Cash is that shining diamond on the coal-heap of get-rich-on-the-internet promotion. Sportcraft Treadmills Sportcraft Treadmills - Lowww End Book review on Finite Capacity Scheduling, Part III With this all possible the price could be lowered to a back breaking competitive level giving lower prices to consumers who voted with their dollars while retaining a huge number of proficient hours each time period. It is amazing that with all the freight forwarding software, inventory software, manufacturing scheduling software that no one sees the obvious uses to streamline services. Look at a Taxi Cab company, police dispatch, air traffic controller, train master at a rail yard with trains moving all directions and many 300 miles away all converging and departing simultaneously. Or the Phoenix missile system used by the government which when put onto an F-14 could track and kill 8 target 150 miles away moving at almost any speed in and direction on a three dimensional plane. Ever wonder why no F-15 has ever been shot down in combat? Even a gondola wire could not stop it, it always wins. So is it safe to say that when you have the best of everything that the odds are stacked so far in your favor that knowing the percentages is irrelevant to the game. All that needs to happen is to set fire in motion. Living in Darkness - Book Review Award winning author John Roynesdal, is a retired English teacher who has written for more than 15 years and produced 3 books for his Phillip Michael Carnegie Mystery series. Throughout the series, John focuses on issues that prevail on mankind: greed, prejudice, poverty, dysfunctional families and the conflict between traditional and modern societies. Living in Darkness, a 265-page mystery novel, is the third book in this series. Never Fry Bacon in the Nude - AchieveMax Top Ten Book Review Never Fry Bacon in the Nude (And Other Lessons from the Quick and the Dead) by Stone Payton Author Releases Comprehensive Family History Book On The Family of JACKEL, JECKEL, IEKEL, YAKEL When the topic of family history comes up, where do you stand? How do you respond when someone asks you where you are from, or when questions about your surname are raised? Do you wish you could give something more than a vague reply, such as, "I grew up around here, and I'm not sure about the name. ..I think it's German"? If so, you aren't alone in your desire. The fact is, most people have a difficult time identifying their lineage much past their grandparents. In most cases, oral history alone is insufficient to traces one's family tree back beyond a couple of generations. One way to determine your history is through your own research, which can be quite frustrating, as well as costly, and excessively time consuming. Or, if you are very lucky, someone has already researched the family for you. Well, today is your luck day! Book Excerpt: Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam When I reached the top of the driveway after getting off the school bus one April afternoon, I couldn't help but wonder why Dad was standing on the stepladder next to the tractor. Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office 101 - A Book Summary Dr. Frankel clearly identifies the common mistakes '101 in all-that women commit unconsciously to sabotage their careers. This book provides revolutionary guides to help the women of today eliminate the girl-like behaviors they became accustomed with, which hold them back professionally.
|
 |
| Copyright © 2010 www.dovada.net.au Website hosting Australia |
