On Muscle

“Bonnie Tsui has done something remarkable. Fusing science writing, memoir, and essay, she has written a singular book about the true meanings of strength and flexibility, about our ability to define who we are and who we might be, and about what muscle means to the kind of people who rarely feature in stereotypical stories of strength and fitness. On Muscle is a truly moving ode to the tissues that move us.”
 

“Bonnie Tsui writes with uncommon elegance and warmth—about muscle, yes, but more than that, about movement and joy and the gorgeous, often surprising ways they entwine. On Muscle is literary and deeply personal, but also rigorously researched and powerfully inspiring. It made me want to run, jump, grab my bike, any one of which I would have done had I not at the same time been unable to stop reading.”
 

“Only a seriously skilled storyweaver like Bonnie Tsui can combine science, sociology, and personal experience into a joyfully careening tale about something we all take for granted but none of us really understands. The genius of On Muscle is showing not only how physical strength animates our bodies, but every other aspect of life as well. You’re about to learn more about yourself and your world than you could ever imagine.”

“Bonnie Tsui is a poet of physicality, and this book is an ode—one that explores our literal and metaphoric hearts. It is muscle as memory, muscle as meaning, muscle as magic. I am, in all ways, stronger for reading it.”
 

“Beautifully written and so very smartly conceived, On Muscle takes you places that you expect it to and places that you don’t. It’s like Bonnie Tsui’s splendid Why We Swim that way. Yes, there are bodybuilders and barbells in these pages, but Tsui is more concerned with the meaning of strength, the interplay of brain and brawn, and the importance and glory of motion in life. Her book is about being alive.”
 

“Bonnie Tsui’s beautiful and entertaining storytelling made me forget I was absorbing essential knowledge. On Muscle left me with a new appreciation for the mind-body connection and a better understanding of my place in the world.”
 

Praise for Why We Swim

"A beautifully written love letter to water and a fascinating story. I was enchanted.”
—Rebecca Skloot, bestselling author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

“Tsui endears herself to the reader . . . Her universal query is also one of self, and her articulations of what she learns are moving."
—The New York Times Book Review

"Tsui’s history of the human relationship with water is compelling and profound, in writing so fluid it mimics the flow of her subject . . . It captivated me from start to finish."
—BuzzFeed 
 
“Magnificent. Only a truly great story can hold my attention and Why We Swim had me nailed to the chair . . . I love this book."
—Christopher McDougall, bestselling author of Born to Run and Natural Born Heroes

“Why We Swim is a gorgeous hybrid of a book. You won't regret diving in.”
—Carl Zimmer, author of She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity
 
“Bonnie Tsui captures the joy, peril and utility of swimming, within her family and across civilizations . . . The breadth of her reporting and grace of her writing make the elements of Why We Swim move harmoniously as one."
—The San Francisco Chronicle

“Fascinating.”
—Booklist, starred review