Mike Mentzer

by John Little

ISBN: 9781770417847

Published: 2025-05-20

Bodybuilding’s foremost nonconformist and strikingly handsome intellectual, Mike Mentzer, rose to the top of his sport despite opposition from industry insiders like rival Schwarzenegger. Written by his close friend of two decades, Mike Mentzer: American Odysseus chronicles Mentzer’s journey in a fiercely competitive world to become one of the most iconic bodybuilders of all time. REBEL. PHILOSOPHER. BODYBUILDING ICON. Mike Mentzer was a strikingly handsome man with a brilliant mind and a “perfect” physique — the first bodybuilder to receive a perfect score in both amateur and professional competitions. In the late ’70s, Mentzer rose to the very top of his sport (despite the efforts made by industry power brokers, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger), was featured in GQ magazine, and profiled on national television. But he was also a man who wrestled with mental illness his entire life and ended up living on the streets and being sent to prison. Just when it seemed his career was over,...