Making the American body : the remarkable saga of the men and women whose feats, feuds, and passions shaped fitness history /
Jonathan Black.
- Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, (c)2013.
- 1 online resource
Includes bibliographies and index.
Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Contents; Preface; Introduction: A Night to Remember; 1. The Shape of History; 2. Selling the Body Beautiful, 1900-1930s; 3. America Shapes Up, 1930s-1950s; 4. The Machine Age, 1960s-1970s; 5. Gotta Move, 1960s-1980s; 6. The Buff Culture, 1970s-1990s; 7. Pumping Up Business, 1980s-1990s; 8. Fitness Today; 9. Why Exercise?; Notes; Index.
If you thought the fitness craze was about being healthy, think again. Although Charles Atlas, Jack LaLanne, Jim Fixx, Jane Fonda, Richard Simmons, and Jillian Michaels might well point the way to a better body, they have done so only if their brands brought in profits. In the first book to tell the full story of the American obsession with fitness and how we got to where we are today, Jonathan Black gives us a backstage look at an industry and the people that have left an indelible mark on the American body and the consciousness it houses. Spanning the nation's.
9781461940470 9780803248922
Physical fitness--History.--United States Health attitudes--History.--United States