The Body Shop: Parties, Pills, and Pumping Iron -- Or, My Life in the Age of Muscle [Hardcover]

In a matter of months, he grew from a dorky beanpole into a hulking behemoth, showing off his rock hard muscles first on the streets of New York City and then alongside his colorful gym-rat friends in strip clubs and in the homes of the gotham elite. It was a swinging time, when Would you like to dance? turned into Your place or mine? and the guys with the muscles had all the ladies -- until their bodies, like Solotaroff''s, completely shut down.

But this isn't the gloom-and-doom addiction one might expect -- Solotaroff looks back at even his lowest points with a wicked sense of humor, and he sends up the disco era and its excess with all the kaleidoscopic detail ofBoogie NightsorSaturday Night Fever.

Written with candor and sarcasm,The Body Shopis a memoir with all the elements of great fiction and dazzlingly displays Paul Solotaroff's celebrated writing talent.

Paul Solotaroffis a contributing editor atMen's JournalandRolling Stone. He has written features forVanity Fair,GQ,Vogue, and theNew York Times Magazine, and he was nominated for a National Magazine Award in 2004. His work has been included inBest American Sports Writing. The author of two books,GroupandThe House of Purple Hearts, he lives in New York City.