Berkeley writer Bonnie Tsui, acclaimed for her unique title “Why We Swim,” takes on the human body again in her new book.
“On Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters” (Algonquin Books, 256 pages, $29, April 22, 2025) blends personal narrative, compelling stories and interesting facts and finds, approaching the subject from many angles.
She’s celebrating its publication with readers, family and friends at Green Apple Books in San Francisco’s Sunset on April 22 in conversation with Caroline Paul, her friend and fellow Writers Grotto member. Tsui also will read from the book, answer questions from the audience and sign copies.
“On Muscle” stems from what Tsui did with “Why We Swim,” which Time and NPR named among the best books of 2020.
“It became clear that I wanted to write a book that was in conversation with the body in similar ways, and muscle came up as one of those ideas. I thought, ‘OK, muscle is one of those topics that people think that they think they know about and understand, but do they really?’ So it just seemed like such a rich place to mine in terms of all of the multidisciplinary ways to look at it,” says Tsui, who also wrote “American Chinatown: A People’s History of Five Neighborhoods” and the illustrated children’s book “Sarah and the Big Wave.”
Paul, author of The Gutsy Girl: Escapades for Your Life of Epic Adventure,” says, “I have seen this book since it was just a mere concept. And, honestly, initially I thought, ‘Ah, muscle. OK. Another workout book.’ But it turns out it’s really a book that goes far deeper than that. It’s about how muscle connects us to ourselves and ultimately to the world around us,’”
“It’s classic Bonnie, where her writing takes you much deeper than you think. On an emotional level, it’s a similar journey to ‘Why We Swim,’ where you’re like, ‘Why we swim? I know why we swim,’ and then you’re like, ‘Oh, now I know why we swim,’” Paul adds.
In “On Muscle,” Tsui examines muscle types (cardiac, skeletal, smooth); the discovery of skeletal muscle being an endocrine organ; its influence on cognitive states, and its purposes (e.g., blood flow, motion).
As she did in “Why We Swim,” she interweaves her personal experiences as an athlete. Here, too, she shares how her father, an artist with a black belt in karate, had a lasting influence on her and was a source of inspiration for “On Muscle.”
“He instilled in me, from a young age, that physicality was important, that being a person who moved through the world was important,” she says.
The book also includes perspectives of muscle experts such as Amber Fitzsimmons, professor and chair of the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science at the University of California, San Francisco and quotes from visibly, demonstrably strong female athletes such as Serena Williams and Misty Copeland.
Tsui’s research took her to places like Eugene, Oregon to meet with Kutoven “Ku” Stevens to learn more about his 50-mile Remembrance Run to honor his grandfather and consider running’s larger impact; and to Minnetonka, Minnesota to speak with paraplegic yogi Matthew Sanford about the important role muscle plays in the mind-body connection.
“One thing [Sanford] said that really struck me is that disability is something that can happen suddenly, such as with an accident, or it can happen slowly, over time, when sick or aging. To understand that that is the reality of living in a body, in this world, was really clarifying for me,” Tsui adds.
Her book, she says, is ultimately about the joy stemming from the everyday use of soft tissue.
“Muscle is for everyone. It’s the stuff that animates us in life and moves us around, quite literally and figuratively. To move our muscles and to move through the world is a joyful thing.”
“Bonnie Tsui: ‘On Muscle’ Launch with Caroline Paul” is at 7 p.m. April 22 at Green Apple Books, 1231 Ninth Ave., San Francisco. To RSVP, visit greenapplebooks.com.
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