Chemical Pink: A Novel of Obsession, is set in the competitive world of female bodybuilding. Written by Katie Arnoldi, the controversial novel about the world of women’s bodybuilding came out in 2001.
The book is set around a fictional character ‘Aurora Johnson’. Katie talks about the research she did for the book, and says in the interview “I didn’t want anybody to question the accuracy of it – and no one did. The upset was just that I talked.”
You can read the full text of the very interesting interview by Gene X with the author Katie Arnoldi here.
A brief description from Publishers Weekly about the book:
“Young, blonde Aurora arrives from Savannah, Ga. in search of a new life and a new body on the West Coast. Charles spots her on a beach, then tracks her down at the gym where she is training, and the two strike up a bizarre, co-dependent relationship. In exchange for financial support and full-time training, Aurora becomes her mentor’s sexual plaything…
Arnoldi does try to provide an insider’s look at this outlandish corner of the subculture, based on her own experience as a professional bodybuilder”