[close] He could tear phone books in half, bend iron bars into giant Us, and pull a 145,000-pound train with his bare hands. But Charles Atlas wasn't always one of America's most famous strong men. Once upon a time, he was a "97-pound weakling" who was picked on by neighborhood bullies.

Using her trademark humor, Meghan McCarthy brings to life the story of Charles Atlas, the man who would become "the World's Most Perfectly Developed Man" and, with his fitness campaign, inspired the entire nation to get in shape, eat right, and take charge of our lives.