Customer Reviews
Insightful Read - By: Maz man, 03 Dec 2007 
A very good biography covering right through Arnold's life from his childhood & bodybuilding days, right up to his present day role as the Governor of California. I'm very glad I brought it
Fascinating insight in to the life of a driven man - By: Russell Finn, 22 Apr 2007 
This is a well written, easy to read book about an interesting man. It includes some B&W photos & a comprehensive index. The author is clearly an admirer but the tonein never sycophantic. It covers his life from birth to about 2005 when he became the governor of California.
Arnold comes across as a driven man, applying himself firstin body-building, thenin the world Hollywood films, & nowin politics. There's a bit where several bodybuilders come to Arnold for advice, & as well as giving them astute observations, he praises each of them with "If I had your body, I would be Mr Olympia". These bodybuilders are later upset when they find out that he told them all the same thing, but the one of them (Frank Zane) got the point - "The fact is that Arnold could have won Olympia with a number of different bodies because of his attitude - it was all his attitude".
I recommend this book, even if you're not interestedin bodybuilding.
Interesting insight - By: Darren Bell, 10 Mar 2007 A very full & interesting book on a very determined man. The book covers Arnolds life from his Austrian beginnings to his governership of california via his love of bodybuilding.
Arnolds determination was forgedin the fire of hardcore bodybuilding gyms & his relentless pursuit of his goals makes for a fascinating read. Arnold could simply change things to suit his own unusual style using his extremely powerful presence, which could very well take him to the very topin American politics.
I found the book very easy to read & almost inspiring at times. If you like 'Arnie' & want to know more about the real him, then read this.
Certainly don't judge THIS book by the cover! - By: K. W. Buxton, 04 Jun 2006 
While I am possibly shooting myselfin the foot by saying so; I will admit to being a fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger & his movies. Thus, it was predominantly the documenting of his movie career that drew me to this book.
You will notice that I have given it 2 stars. The first one goes to the author: because you can't fault him! With every page you read, it is evident that this guy REALLY did his homework surrounding the personal & public life of the Austrian action hero. The second star, I give for the sections of content about his movies. As a movie geek myself, this is what I was most interested in. His rise is again well documented & makes for interesting reading.
However, this book is still far from 'Fantastic'. I haven't read many biographies; but I can say that because it is a 'bio' & not an 'auto-bio', it is often a very dry & quite struggling read. It's just writtenin such a way that makes it very hard for you to WANT to turn the page. I only read it to the end, just so I could say I had. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have bothered. Especially since the final third of the book is filled to the hilton with political jargon. Yes, I know it's to be expected, because politics is now a big part of his life. But if you're anything like me without any kind of political brain; the last portion of the book will have your mindin a haze.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not dismissing the book completely; but for me, it was a great dissapointment which left me hoping that Arnold's life story will never again see pen & paper.
