Shirtless!: The Hollywood Male Physique

by Donald F. Reuter

Tired of waiting for the scene when he takes it off? Then feast your eyes on Shirtless!, featuring more than 175 images of the best bare-chested men in Hollywood. Shirtless! tracks the muscular development of the male movie star with many never-before-seen photos. Here are all the favorite heroes of American cinema including silent-era heartthrob Rudolph Valentino, a swimsuit-clad Cary Grant from the thirties, barrel-chested Bob Mitchum at the height of forties patriotism, the fifties rebel James Dean, the hip and hirsute Sean Connery from the sixties, seventies stud Jan-Michael Vincent, eighties superman Arnold Schwarzenegger, the nineties sculpted Rupert Everett, and uberbabe Chris Klein beginning the new century. You'll also find some unexpected displays of male flesh and rediscover classic hunk films that are worth another look. An irreverent, indulgent, and informative visual journey through the world of movie muscle, Shirtless! will leave you breathless.

Genres: Nonfiction

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 6, 2001

Reviews

[Miguel Vega · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this for free at the LFL. Saw no point in it.

[Michael Kutan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Very incisive about trends in Hollywood films.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was much better than the last book of this type that I read.In this book the author knew the correct formula for a book such as this-Pull together a group of stunning photographs of handsome men, give only the basic facts about the actor and their career with a sprinkling of commentary and let that be it. The last book I read in this genre went on and on about gay politics, gay culture and gay identity and it was tedious.I'm sure those subjects have their place but that wasn't what I bought the book for and wanted to read about although I suppose I'm not the target audience.Even though the author of this book is gay and writes from a gay perspective he does so with a light touch and never made me feel that as a straight woman, I was excluded from enjoying it.Very nice job.