On Muscle - by Bonnie Tsui (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

From the bestselling author of Why We Swim comes a mind-expanding exploration of muscle that will change the way you think about what moves us through the world.

"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.

Review Quotes

"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 holistic view of muscle, exploring not only its role in brute strength but the way it animates our entire existence, from our hearts to physical affection to the goosebumps that appear on our skin."--New York Times

"A philosophy of strength and a literary work of art."--San Francisco Chronicle

"Bonnie Tsui set out to uncover the secrets of muscle. What she found was surprising, with the organ capable of delivering health, longevity, and--most importantly--joy."
--The Independent

"Explores the cultural symbolism of muscles and how they provide a way to think about who is allowed to be strong."
--Vox

"Part of a new equilibrium in physical culture: muscular intellectualism."--Wall Street Journal

"Tsui displays the journalistic prowess and love for sport that made 2020's Why We Swim a bestseller as she considers how muscle powers and supports us via fascinating interviews, experiential research, and scientific exploration of the mind-body connection."
--Bookpage, starred review

"We know muscles move us but, as Bonnie Tsui reveals, it's in ways we never imagined."
--The Guardian

"On Muscle shouts with Tsui's own enthusiasm, awe, and respect for the human body's prime movers. . . . a blend of human interest story, personal narrative, and science to show muscles' awesome beauty and ability. Tsui's glorious accomplishment with the book is in capturing unsuspecting audiences; turning a subject most people barely consider into a whole-scale story of human experience via physical metaphor."--Lithub

"A fitting follow-up to Why We Swim, On Muscle cements Tsui as an authority on science, culture, and curiosity."--Alta (Monthly Reading Recommendation)

"Beautifully written and so very smartly conceived, On Muscle takes you places that you expect it to and places that you don't. It's like Bonnie Tsui's splendid Why We Swim that way. Yes, there are bodybuilders and barbells in these pages, but Tsui is more concerned with the meaning of strength, the interplay of brain and brawn, and the importance and glory of motion in life. Her book is about being alive."
--Frank Bruni, New York Times bestselling author of The Beauty of Dusk and The Age of Grievance

"Bonnie Tsui has done something remarkable. Fusing science writing, memoir, and essay, she has written a singular book about the true meanings of strength and flexibility, about our ability to define who we are and who we might be, and about what muscle means to the kind of people who rarely feature in stereotypical stories of strength and fitness. On Muscle is a truly moving ode to the tissues that move us."
--Ed Yong, New York Times bestselling author of I Contain Multitudes and An Immense World

"Bonnie Tsui is a poet of physicality, and this book is an ode--one that explores our literal and metaphoric hearts. It is muscle as memory, muscle as meaning, muscle as magic. I am, in all ways, stronger for reading it."
--Peggy Orenstein, New York Times bestselling author of Girls & Sex and Boys & Sex

"Bonnie Tsui melds scientific fact with memoir and storytelling, weaving a thoughtful reflection on muscle as the stuff that allows us to weather hard things with grace. Like a long bike ride on a beautiful day, it was so lovely I didn't want it to end."--Pien Huang, KUOW, NPR

"Bonnie Tsui writes with uncommon elegance and warmth--about muscle, yes, but more than that, about movement and joy and the gorgeous, often surprising ways they entwine. On Muscle is literary and deeply personal, but also rigorously researched and powerfully inspiring. It made me want to run, jump, grab my bike, any one of which I would have done had I not at the same time been unable to stop reading."
--Mary Roach, New York Times bestselling author of Stiff, Gulp, and Fuzz

"Bonnie Tsui's beautiful and entertaining storytelling made me forget I was absorbing essential knowledge. On Muscle left me with a new appreciation for the mind-body connection and a better understanding of my place in the world."
--Des Linden, New York Times bestselling author of Choosing to Run

"Tsui's contemplation of muscle focuses attention on the many ways this tissue connects us to others, the world, and ourselves."--Booklist

"Undeniably fascinating... An easily digestible, reliably entertaining appreciation of muscle, 'the vivid engine of our lives.'"--Kirkus Reviews

Named a Most Anticipated Read of the Season/Year by the TIME, Amazon, Alta, San Francisco Chronicle, Next Big Idea Club, Zibby Owens, and Literary Hub

Praise for Why We Swim

"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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About the Author

Bonnie Tsui is a longtime contributor to The New York Times and the bestselling author of Why We Swim, a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice and a Time magazine and NPR Best Book of the Year; it is currently being translated into ten languages. Tsui is also the author of American Chinatown, which won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and Sarah and the Big Wave, a children's book about the first woman to surf Mavericks and a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection. Her work has been recognized and supported by Harvard University, the National Press Foundation, the Mesa Refuge, and the Best American Essays series. She lives, swims, and surfs in the Bay Area, and her website is bonnietsui.com.