Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors – Volume III – Book 1

— Genuine ‘bird’s eye view’ of the many machinations behind the scenes of the Mr Olympia

Randy, on reading Volume III, book I, many aspects of the events of the infamous 1980 Mr Olympia contest became clear. I had tunnel vision at the time; I was the director of The Comeback at the time, and I shot one of the six cameras used at the Opera House, in Sydney. I very much appreciate the insightful way you dealt with The Comeback in your book; legitimately, you could have been much more critical! Your book is a genuine 'bird's eye view' of the many machinations behind the scenes of the Mr Olympia and gives a detailed look at the world behind the magnificent humans standing on the stage. Thank you.

Kit Laughlin
Director of "The Comeback"

— Grand opus!

Randy, It is clear that you, only you are the author of this grand opus!

"Dr. Gerhard Schönberger" 

— An excellent piece of research and analysis.

I just finished reading your latest volume on "The Comebacks." Well done--an excellent piece of research and analysis. You've not only fine-tuned what I've written about Arnold but added a lot more, especially about the whole Franco fiasco. I appreciate all your hard work and look forward to your next segment of volume three.

John D. Fair,
Author of MuscleTownUSA and Mr. America: The Tragic History of an American Icon

— Nothing compares to these three volumes

Hi Randy, I just want to point out how much I enjoyed reading the three volumes of MS&M.
Upon seeing that the 3rd volume wasn't even listed on Goodreads, I had to contact them and make sure they list it in their library. Needless to say, now it appears on Goodreads search list and I've left a genuine 5 star review for the book. More people need to be aware of the existence of such a wonderful piece of writing.

I have read numerous books on the history of the sport, but nothing compares to these three volumes.

Sasho Ognenovsk

— Brings the bigger-than-life soap opera to a new level of appreciation

If you think government conspiracies are hogwash brainchilds of those with too much time on their hands and wild imaginations, or perhaps exaggerations of a cover-up that never needed to be hidden in the first place, one merely has to look into the world of bodybuilding to know that fact can be stranger than fiction. The number and degree of political scandals and schemes concealing the Weider Empire and its "athletes" give testament that if such utter chaos and backstabbing can occur within such a small underground cult, then there must be secret forces lingering behind the Kennedy assassination, government (HAARP) control of the weather, and animal mutations on Plum Island.

Randy Roach is the quintessential investigator into the dark, bizarre and fascinating realm of physique training and competition, and his work over the course of the Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors anthology has left me up many a night not wanting to put the books down. His latest effort brings the bigger-than-life soap opera to a new level of appreciation, since although I've read bits and pieces of controversy surrounding the comebacks of Arnold and Franco, never have I read with such interest and zeal as with this book.

Arnold certainly is both iconic and of a different ilk, achieving success through manipulation and charismatic mind-games as much as good business sense (it can be argued they are one in the same to some degree), and it would not come as a surprise that he weaseled his way to a 7th Mr. Olympia crown in 1980, and later had some influence in garnering a win for his buddy Franco in 1981. Nonetheless, it is difficult not to think wow, huh, and holy smokes (and mirrors) when reading the detailed account of how all the political pieces fit together to shift opinion beyond mere speculation and evidence and into the territory of PROOF. And it would be difficult to argue "reasonable doubt" in Arnold or Franco's favor after reading this book.

Mr. Roach had fully intended to make Volume III as one full-length tome of various aspects covering physical culture from 1980 to present, but was capable of appropriating nearly 200-pages just on the very subject of the comeback scandals. Consequently, the immense amount of work it must have taken to achieve the level of detail certainly encouraged and demanded its own book on the subject.

More importantly, Mr. Roach did so in a captivating manner that brought intrigue to the tables as though it were a detective novel uncovering facts that I suspect most of us did not know information based on first-hand accounts of individuals and associates involved in the contests promotion, photographers, magazine writers, Mr. Olympia competitors, et. al. In effect, what this book discloses are the comments, reports and facets kept out of the magazines and media the stuff that makes fact stranger than fiction. Excellent work and I cannot wait for the remaining books of Volume III to come to life.

Brian Johnston
Industry entrepreneur

— Randy Roach leaves no stone unturned in this blockbuster publication

If you enjoyed Vol 1 and Vol II of "Muscle, Smoke and Mirrors", Vol III Book 1 will astound you. Everyone who has ever wondered what actually transpired at the controversial 1980 Mr Olympia contest in Sydney, Australia will have their questions answered by the people involved. Randy Roach leaves no stone unturned in this blockbuster publication. His raw comments about what went on "behind the scenes" are all backed up by dates and names of everyone he has interviewed by telephone or email. The readers will find themselves reading these masterpieces over and over again. Old timers like myself (80 years of age) will love it and I would urge anyone regardless of age to add all of Randy's works to their bookshelves. These books will become collectors' items in the years to come.

George Coates
San Diego

— Boyer Coe: Finest Effort

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. America

— John Kiiha: Truth Always Hurts

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 and will open up a lot of eyes on how the IFBB was run. 

John "Osmo" Kiiha, Publisher of Iron Master magazine

— Truly fantastic job in the research and writing

Randy, you have done a truly fantastic job in the research and writing of not only this book but the other two as well. You are a true Master Craftsman. Thank you for including me in the book it was a great honour.

-Peter McCarthy

— Charles Gaines: Well-Written And Gripping!

Great job on “The Comebacks”. Very balanced and fair account, well-written, and gripping! Congratulations.

Charles Gaines, Author of Pumping Iron

— Steve Speyrer: Excellent Read

Couldn't put it down. Excellent read.

 

Steve Speyrer, Author of Classical Anatomy Bodybuilding

— Ken Sprague: Profound And Relevatory

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 '81 Olympias. This reader left the book with the conclusion that bodybuilding's biggest star twice orchestrated a big "fix".  Randy hit the nail on the head with his arguments and supporting material.

Ken Sprague Former owner of Gold's Gym

— Joe Roark: Excellent Book About A Tragic Period In Bodybuilding

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 men (Schwarzenegger and Columbu) but that other placings also were thereby skewed. I had known before that neither man deserved the win but Randy's presentation is the best I have seen all these later years now that the posing oil has dried.

[Indeed, after Arnold won in 1980, I showed a back shot of three men to my wife, who knows as much as bodybuilding as I do planning a moon landing, asking her, 'which of these three men has the least developed back muscles?'. She looked at the photo and pointing said, 'that guy'. She was pointing to Arnold. But somehow, veteran judges could not see what my wife discerned in mere seconds?]

Also thoroughly disheartening were the attitudes that Arnold and Franco seemed to have that the IFBB contest world was their plaything and they had the ability, by their very participation, to win well past their primes and monkey wrench the temporary future after doing so.

It is an excellent book about a very sad, tragic, period in bodybuilding history."

Joe Roark, Veteran Historian

— Bill Hinbern: Terrific Job Of Research

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 lived. I have known the author, Randy Roach, for several years. His research is NOT limited to just pouring over books, magazines, newspapers, the internet, etc. He interviewed hundreds of people, including myself, for the TRUTH.

Therefore, I can honestly say, unequivocally, the accuracy of the exhaustive research is profound. I believe these classic works should be on the bookshelf of EVERY serious student and trainee of The Iron Game. Yes, I recommend them that highly!"

Bill Hinbern World Famous Weight Training Authority Author, Collector and Publisher of Strongman Memorabilia, Books, Courses, etc. www.superstrengthtraining.com