EXECUTIVE GUIDE TO FITNESS Brian Budd and Val Clery. Toronto, Van Nostrand Reinhold, c1982. 223pp, cloth, $16.95. ISBN 0-7706-0005-0. Grades 12 and up. Reviewed by Michael Freeman. Volume 10 Number 4. 1982 November. The basic problem with this book is two-fold: the elitist implication of the cover design and title and the complete lack of any spark of ingenuity to separate it from the great hordes of how-to fitness books spawned by the Participaction campaigns. The "executive" slant tends to defeat its own purpose as there seems no apparent reason why bosses should be more in need of a fitness primer than their employees. Except for a brief bow in the introduction to the heavy demands placed on the modem executive and a rather lengthy section on choosing a suitable fitness centre, the material has no specific relevance to business people. The sections on anatomy, diet, and exercise, perhaps interesting in their own right, are very general in nature; similar information can be found in less expensive formats or even in free government pamphlets. The innumerable illustrations of stretching positions and resistance exercises featuring the super-fit Brian Budd seem designed more for the voyeur than for the student of fitness. Several of the positions and exercises would prove difficult, if not dangerous for the novice, and should probably have been omitted entirely from the text. The concluding chapters on preparation for individual sports, equipment, and injuries are oversimplified to the point of insult. A complex Fitness Institute self-testing procedure seems added almost as an afterthought, perhaps in a final attempt to give scientific validity to the mainly subjective sections that precede it. Not recommended. Michael Freeman, Downsview S. S., Downsview, ON.