Caged Lion
Joseph Pilates and His Legacy

I enjoyed this book - entertaining, interesting, and controversial. I felt that it read and flowed well. If you read the book, The Preface should be read in its entirety. This will place context for the book. I've seen some comments elsewhere (e.g. not on Goodreads) and I strongly feel that in reading......more

This book was more a memoir of Jonathan Steel and an historical account of how Pilates came to be than a biographical sketch of Joseph Pilates. That is not a criticism, more like an unexpected surprise. I have been practicing Pilates for about two years and wanted to know more about its creator. When......more

I have been a student of Pilates for over 10 years and this book provided so much inspiration to continue the journey. I appreciated the personal stories but also the perspective of John Howard Steel as the lifelong Pilates student. The legacy of Clara and Joe was beyond their time but his vision fo......more

This definitely was not the best book I’ve read but it is such an interesting story. I was very intrigued by Joseph Pilates and the history behind it so I enjoyed learning more......more

Shout out John. 3.5 think the story got a bit repetitive at points and strayed. Most of my knowledge of pilates history was pieced together from work and conversations, this provided deeper insight. I appreciated John’s take on the evolution and accessibility to Pilates. As for Joe, he was weird and......more