Bigger, Stronger, Faster

Raised in the mundanity of middle America (otherwise known as Poughkeepsie, New York), the tubby and insecure Chris Bell grew up idolising the superhuman physiques of great American heroes such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Hulk Hogan. But when he learnt that his idols used performance-enhancing drugs to help build their impressively muscular builds, the adolescent Bell was flummoxed: how could these men--who spout endless diatribes about "working hard" and "playing by the rules"--justify cheating? Aided by the case studies of his steroid-using brothers and equipped with competing arguments about the evils and benefits of the drugs, Bell examines the paradoxical nature of American society, in which the ideal is to "play fair" and yet to "win at any cost."

"A thoughtful, informative and thoroughly entertaining examination of the role of performance-enhancing drugs in modern life..." - Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic