Body Culture

Kennedy, author of Beef It!, Hardcover Bodybuilding and Reps!, praises this Canadian import that in format and content mirrors his own glossy bestsellers. There are lots of photos, a glib text and a pervasive sexiness that has a cheap, calculated feel. Yet there's a difference between Kennedy's works and Body Culture. While Kennedy hypes heavily muscled bodies, chiropractor Turner and gym owner and dancer Green combine aerobics, stretching and exercises with weights to create a ""holistic'' system that is supposed to help both sexes turn drab bodies into stylishly lean objects of desire. Nonetheless, readers snared by the rippling torso and peek-a-boo derriere flashed on the cover will have to take the implicit promise on faith, since the guidance offered consists mainly of platitudes. (November)