Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder is a 1991 non-fiction book by Samuel Wilson Fussell. It describes Fussell's time as a bodybuilder over four years, during which he takes steroids.
Publishers Weekly described it as "A book of minor significance, but enjoyable reading."
Camille Paglia wrote, "Fussell has a great eye for eccentric characters and a great ear for the crackling vernacular. But too little time has passed for him to have psychological perspective on his profoundly self-altering experience.
Musical adaptation
The book was considered for musical adaptation by Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim and librettist James Lapine as a one-act companion piece to Sondheim's Passion, but Sondheim's involvement ended as Passion grew into a full-length show; he suggested Lapine continue the project with another composer.Secrest, Meryl. Stephen Sondheim: A Life. Delta; new edition (1999), 379 Lapine subsequently completed the piece as a full-length musical with composer William Finn and lyricist Ellen Fitzhugh; it was workshopped in New York in 1995 and received its world premiere at Chicago's Pegasus Players in 2001.Marks, Peter. "On Stage, and Off." The New York Times, November 24, 1995.Jones, Kenneth. "Lapine, Finn and Fitzhugh Flex Their Muscle June 13 – July 22 in Chi" Playbill, June 13, 2001
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