Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder

``I sing of arms and the man,'' writes Fussell in this account of his four years as a serious bodybuider. The son of academics and an Oxford graduate himself, the author returned to New York after college to find himself ``in a constant state of terror in the city.'' At 64 and 170 pounds, Fussell reacted by pumping iron in 1984, then moved to the West Coast and eventually reached his peak: 257 pounds of bone and muscle, impressive enough to participate in local contests. While focusing on his own development the author also examines the world at large of bodybuilders, portraying their diets, drugs and dedication to the sport as a kind of religion over which Arnold Schwarzenegger presides as chief deity. Fussell finally quit, fearing he had become a human caricature--and less than human. A book of minor significance, but enjoyable reading. (Mar.)