Randy, in my humble opinion, without a doubt this is your finest effort in your trio of Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors! I really don’t know what you can possibly do to top this work. There is no doubt that you put a book together better than anyone I have ever seen. Boyer Coe 1969 AAU Mr. […]
Randy, I finished reading the book last night , I always knew what happened at the 1980 – 81 Mr. Olympia, and the controversy that surrounded the contests, but not the fine details. You’ll probably piss off some people, truth always hurts, but history can not be denied and buried in the sidelines. your book is outstanding […]
Great job on “The Comebacks”. Very balanced and fair account, well-written, and gripping! Congratulations. Charles Gaines, Author of Pumping Iron
Couldn’t put it down. Excellent read. Steve Speyrer, Author of Classical Anatomy Bodybuilding
Randy’s latest foray into the world of competitive bodybuilding is both profound and revelatory; a compelling narrative that winning the contest depended more on politics and skullduggeries than the quality of the bodies on the stage. This is required reading for everyone in the bodybuilding community. A breezy read exploring bodybuilding’s two most controversial contests, the 1980 and […]
I have finished reading Randy’s latest book, and will say that he has a wonderful way of organizing various inputs to produce an output of a well-ordered, sensible story line, and that his analysis of 1980 Mr. Olympia, and of the 1981 Mr. Olympia, convinced me that those two events were not only won by the wrong […]
An outstanding history of a particular interesting and popular part of the history of bodybuilding…Randy did a terrific job of research. This, the third, of the monumental three volume series, answers the often asked; who, what, where, when, how, and why, of the history of bodybuilding. Most of these thick books cover the eras in which I […]
Received the following endorsement today: “Muscle Smoke and Mirrors” is well written, comprehensive and thorough. It will stand witness to what took place in the broad scheme of the muscle world and is a great credit to its writer. I have now read the first two volumes with interest and look forward to the third. […]
Randy Roach has written a bodybuilding revelation; a well-documented odyssey through the good, bad, ugly, sex, cheating, conniving, contest rigging, back-stabbing, vote-rigging and characters at the core of modern bodybuilding. A remarkable work and bodybuilding masterpiece fit for the general marketplace.
Terry Strand sent me theseshots of Bob Gajda reading the latest Volume: “Bob Gajda is a huge fan of a huge book: Muscle, Smoke, and Mirrors Volume 2, coming in at 701 pages of fine print by author Randy Roach….here he is reading it today at his physiotherapy clinic, Gajda Health Plus, in Palatine, Illinois. […]