The Charles Atlas Story

There is only one thing wrong with this book, it's not long enough. Author David Baines probably invested a very great deal of time to uncover precious nuggets of information that make the real life story of Charles Atlas all the most interesting. Who knew that Atlas (real name, Angelo Siciliano) sang in the night clubs in his early twenties to support his mother, or that he labored in a leather factor for years, making ladies leather purses until he became famous as a bodybuilder and strongman? His life story is filled with struggle, poverty, childhood sickness, and discrimination against the Italian community of 1920s Brooklyn. His determination to become a "somebody" through sheer determination fueled his relentless pursuit of physical perfection and Herculean strength. By the time he was 19, Angelo became feared by Brooklyn's street thugs, and regularly saved swimmers from drowning at the famous Dyker beach. His fame as the mail order bodybuilder, Charles Atlas (he changed his name in 1922), inspired many famous people to take his "Dynamic Tension" body building course. Among his millions of happy students were baseball legend Joe Di Maggio, world heavyweight boxing champion Max Baer, Moscow Olympic 100 meter sprint champion Allen Wells, and David Prowse, the original Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies. I hope that one day we will see a movie biography of Charles Atlas on the big screen. He deserves it.

The author made a few mistakes in this booklet with it's poor quality paper. The first one I knew about was that Atlas did not come to America in 1903 but in Feb. 1904 alone with his mother. Also his mother's maiden name was not "Palomeni" (which he says came from a 1940 census), but her name was Fiorelli, as her birth record says. A lot of mistakes were made by census takers! Also several typos, and just not written very well, I'm sure most of these stories can be found in other articles or biographies of Atlas with more detailed information and without some of the authors' embellishments. Definitely not worth the $20.

This reissued book contained 65 pages of text and approximately 22 pages of pictures and blank space, so you’re buying a book that’s about 43 pages long, with rather large font. There’s 3 pages of historical events on WW II that may provide a little context but have nothing to do with Atlas. Conversely, any mention of WW I is omitted. There are lengthy quotes from books by Frederick Tilney and Joe Bonomo. Much of the information is in Gaines and Butler’s volume and sources on the internet. It is not well edited. This work appears to be cobbled together primarily from existing sources. Although the author alludes to stories about Atlas, from people who knew him (perhaps even his children), such references are vague and undocumented. For an introductory primer on Charles Atlas, this book has some value, but there’s not much else here.

The Charles Atlas Story is a right treat! Ever since I was a little kid in the early 80’s reading comic books-Charles Atlas was both an inspiration,and source of mystery to me. At times, I wondered if he was a real person,or as fictional as the comic books I was reading.Over the years I discovered he was a real man,and this book tells more about his story,which is very interesting and inspiring.He truly lived the lifestyle he preached,and inspired countless people to adopt a healthier lifestyle-myself included. For I took to the Atlas Dynamic Tension exercises with serious determination for I was on a quest to build some serious muscle. The book has scores of photos of Atlas,and the breakdown of that famous court case against Atlas. I feel an entire book of letters from his pupils from over the years would make for a very interesting read! There’s loads of information and even on Atlas and World War II etc...... This book is the complete book on the famous Charles Atlas