Monday 1 September 2014

Strong and Hard Women: Good News!

It's nice to be back, and it's particularly nice to be back with news that Dr Tanya Bunsell's ethnographic study of female bodybuilders, Strong and Hard Women, reviewed by FMS back in May 2013, is now available in paperback.

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Although the author herself has told us that she is "still not comfortable about the pricing", the paperback is currently retailing at a slightly more wallet-friendly price of around £27 on Amazon at the time of writing (with the Kindle version slightly cheaper) compared to the £70 you would have had to fork out for the original hardback.

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It was never a given that there would be a paperback edition, its publication very much dependent on the book's "success". Part of that success was the book being shortlisted by a panel of experts for the BBC's Ethnography Award, and as a result it was given a glowing review on the BBC Radio 4 programme Thinking Allowed.

UK readers can listen to the show on the BBC (from just after the nine-minute mark) although I'm not sure if non-UK readers will be able to access it. If you can, though, you'll be treated to a round table of academics not only complimenting Dr Bunsell's work (it's a "classic" ethnography, says one), but also the FBBs themselves! And, if you are at all curious as to what Dr Bunsell sounds like (I know I was!) then there is also the bonus that you get to hear her reading a short extract from the book as well.

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And, to coincide with the paperback coming out, the book has been reviewed (favourably) in the prestigious Times Higher Education, although we imagine that Dr Bunsell's favourite review of her work is still the one we published on FMS!

You might also want to read the interview Dr Bunsell kindly agreed to do with us (and which contains a number of extracts from the book) on FMS passim.

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But, most of all, BUY it! Firstly, you won't regret doing so, and secondly, you'll also be doing your bit to show there is a market for serious books on the subject of female bodybuilders and female bodybuilding, which can only be a good thing.

Our sincere thanks and congratulations to Dr Bunsell!

Enjoy! And BUY!!!

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