Glass Box

A New York Times 'New Nonfiction Everyone Will Be Talking About in 2026' selectionAn eye-opening and wildly entertaining book about the multimillion-dollar fitness phenomenon CrossFit and its mercurial founder, Greg Glassman—from an investigative journalist and regular contributor to the New York Times.How did an upstart workout regimen, begun out of commercial gyms in Santa Cruz in the ‘90s, become one of the most popular and polarizing fitness platforms in the world? And who, exactly, is the person responsible for its success?The Glass Box is a page-turning and upsetting look at CrossFit—one of the most popular fitness programs in the world—and at its divisive founder, Greg Glassman. Written by veteran journalist Calum Marsh, it is both a thorough history of a company’s rise and an eagle-eyed examination of what happens when a visionary idea marches headlong toward global expansion.CrossFit is a phenomenon, and its studios and methods are now ubiquitous. But the company’s culture of unapologetic machismo, and the sometimes reckless behavior of Glassman and his cronies, repeatedly put the brand, and its founder, in the hot seat—until one careless mistake too many brought the empire crashing down.

Calum Marsh is a writer, reporter, and editor who specializes in art, culture, and sports. A regular contributor to The New York Times, his writing has also appeared in The New Yorker, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Playboy, Esquire, GQ, The New Republic, and New York Magazine, among others. He was a long-time critic with The Village Voice and served as the managing editor of Sharp, Canada’s leading men’s magazine. His long-form profiles and interviews have appeared in The Times (UK), Vulture, and elsewhere. His criticism has appeared in Pitchfork, The AV Club, GameSpot, IGN, Sight and Sound, and Film Comment.