This was a Christmas gift from Sarah. A used book store find for her. With a forward from Ben Weider and written by Joe Weider. Published in 1983, it is a picture and word history of the first 18 years of the Mr. Olympia competition. It features some of the history of the formation of the contest. It has some breakdowns of several of the contests, starting with the years of 3-5 competitors a year and through the growth of the event. It has some typical Weider schilling, of course. Joe might be the best salesman the sport has seen still.

It is not super in depth on the athletes, but it has nuggets. It covers the Sergio years, the Arnold years, the Zane years and wraps up with the 1982 contest. And it has a ton of photos, mostly black and white.

I was five when this book was published, so this was not my era of following the sport. Of course, I’ve seen Pumping Iron a couple of dozen times, and that one was in here. It does not have any of the Haney era. I came in during the Yates era.

This was a quick fun read. Well worth it for some nostalgia. Thanks babe.