"Remarkable . . . A singular book about the true meanings of strength and flexibility, about our ability to define who we are and who we might be."
--Ed Yong, New York Times bestselling author of An Immense World and I Contain Multitudes
In On Muscle, Bonnie Tsui brings her signature blend of science, culture, immersive reporting, and personal narrative to examine not just what muscles are but what they mean to us. Cardiac, smooth, skeletal--these three different types of muscle in our bodies make our hearts beat; push food through our intestines, blood through our vessels, babies out the uterus; attach to our bones and allow for motion. Tsui also traces how muscles have defined beauty--and how they have distorted it--through the ages, and how they play an essential role in our physical and mental health.
Tsui introduces us to the first female weightlifter to pick up the famed Scottish Dinnie Stones, then takes us on a 50-mile run through the Nevada desert that follows the path of escape from a Native boarding school--and gives the concept of endurance new meaning. She travels to Oslo, where cutting-edge research reveals how muscles help us bounce back after injury and illness, an important aspect of longevity. She jumps into the action with a historic Double Dutch club in Washington, D.C., to explain anew what Charles Darwin meant by the brain-body connection. Woven throughout are stories of Tsui's childhood with her Chinese immigrant artist dad--a black belt in karate--who schools her from a young age in a kind of quirky, in-house Muscle Academy.
On Muscle shows us the poetry in the physical, and the surprising ways muscle can reveal what we're capable of.
"Only a seriously skilled storyweaver like Bonnie Tsui can combine science, sociology, and personal experience into a joyfully careening tale about something we all take for granted but none of us really understands. The genius of On Muscle is showing not only how physical strength animates our bodies, but every other aspect of life as well. You're about to learn more about yourself and your world than you could ever imagine."
--Christopher McDougall, New York Times bestselling author of Born to Run "A beautifully written love letter to water and a fascinating story. I was enchanted."
--Rebecca Skloot, bestselling author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
"Tsui endears herself to the reader . . . Her universal query is also one of self, and her articulations of what she learns are moving."
--The New York Times Book Review
"Tsui's history of the human relationship with water is compelling and profound, in writing so fluid it mimics the flow of her subject . . . It captivated me from start to finish."
--BuzzFeed
"Magnificent. Only a truly great story can hold my attention and Why We Swim had me nailed to the chair . . . I love this book."
--Christopher McDougall, bestselling author of Born to Run and Natural Born Heroes
"Why We Swim is a gorgeous hybrid of a book. You won't regret diving in."
--Carl Zimmer, author of She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity
"Bonnie Tsui captures the joy, peril and utility of swimming, within her family and across civilizations . . . The breadth of her reporting and grace of her writing make the elements of Why We Swim move harmoniously as one."
--The San Francisco Chronicle
"Fascinating."
--Booklist, starred review
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