"It was the summer I turned fifteen, a magical season for me because that year I'd discovered exactly what I wanted to do with my life. It was more than a young boy's pipe dream of distant, hazy future-confused fantasies of being a fireman, detective, sailor, test pilot, or spy. I knew I was going to be a bodybuilder. It wasn't simply that either. I would be the best bodybuilder in the world, the greatest, the best-built man." Part One, Chapter One, p 13.

"'My god!' he cried. He went into the kitchen and told my mother. 'I think we better go to the doctor with this one, he's sick in the head.'" Part One, Chapter One, p 19.

"'I wouldn't go out with you in a million years,' she said. ' You're in love with yourself. You're in love with your own body. You look at...