Bench Press

In Bench Press, Sven Lindqvist intersperses the story of his own toils in the gym with the history of bodybuilding. Quoting from Arnold Schwarzenegger and Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, Lindqvist muses on what bodybuilding's increasing popularity says about contemporary society. Bench Press is an intoxicating blend of philosophical and political insight, emotional candor, and forgotten annals of the history of exertion.