William Giraldi on his memoir “The Hero’s Body”

Guest: William Giraldi

Writer WILLIAM GIRALDI explores the macho male culture that dominated his life growing up in Manville, New Jersey. Yes, Manville, New Jersey.  He was raised in a blue-collar family by his hyper-masculine father who gambled and did high-speed motorcycle racing.  He died in a horrible crash when he was just forty-seven.  As a teen, Giraldi became obsessed with bodybuilding, competing, dieting, taking steroids, and, spending endless hours sculpting his body into his dad’s version of masculinity.  Giraldi explores his relationship with his father, societal notions of manliness, and the world of bodybuilding in his new memoir The Hero’s Body.