Behind the Bell [Hardcover]

Dustin Diamond (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 2009

For the first-time, Diamond presents the inside story of the young cast from Saved by the Bell that the viewing public thought were so lucky . . .Learn the dark, behind-the-scenes story of the cast and crew's extreme lifestyle: sex, drugs, and wild partiesPost-Bell, discover how Diamond used his natural comedic talents to overcome being typecast as a child actor and how he reinvented himself through stand-up comedy and reality TVWorking in Hollywood might represent an American Dream, but for many youngsters it is a true nightmare. Dustin Diamond is best known for his character Samuel "Screech" Powers in the late '80s and '90s on the long-running American TV teen sitcom Saved by the Bell (SBTB). Diamond's new book gives readers the disheartening story of an ex-child star. Dustin faced serious challenges moving his career beyond his comic role as the smart, funny, and endearing nerd of Bayside High School on the show that made him an audience favorite. Through his eyes, we uncover Hollywood's myths.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A tell-all account of Dustin Diamond's life as Samuel "Screech" Powers on the TV show Saved by the Bell, including sexual escapades among cast+crew

About the Author

Dustin Diamond is an American actor, reality TV star, musician and stand-up comedian. He originally won fame for his comedic role as Samuel "Screech" Powers on the television show Saved by the Bell. He recently appeared on VH1's Celebrity Fit Club.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 311 pages
• Publisher: Transit Publishing, Inc. (September 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0981239692
• ISBN-13: 978-0981239699
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #112,841 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

156 of 162 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars It's the worst book I've ever read, November 16, 2009

By 

Carrie Dunham-LaGree "nomadreader" (Des Moines, Iowa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Behind the Bell (Hardcover)

It's the worst book I've ever read. Ever.

Despite the book itself being horrible, there clearly was no editor. The grammar was appallingly bad. The former copy editor in me wanted to take a red pen to it even though it was a library book. Words were misspelled. He used idiotic words such as douchenozzle to make a point. He also writes moronic, vague sentences, then follows them with the sentence "What I mean to say is this." (Say what you mean! Use your words!) The literary violations extend beyond letting the author have artistic control. The most egregious error: when the word horses**t needed a hypen to split it onto two lines, the hyphen appeared between the s and the h. Yes, horses-hit. How does that even happen in the post-typewriter world?

When I could get past the cringing from his complete misuse of me, myself and I, as well as that, which who and whom, the memoir was unnecessarily mean and condescending to every other human being in the world, past, present and future. Diamond showed no perspective, decency or rationality. He writes off people he met as a child. Yes, I understand you thought Fred Savage was spoiled when he was eight. Does it mean he still is? Perhaps, but none of us can stand the scrutiny of the actions of our eight-year-old selves. He boasted about his own sexual exploits while deriding others for it. Although he is ridiculously misogynistic, he seems to hold sexual adventure against everyone but himself. Yes, this derision includes the women he slept with; he's incredibly hateful to them.

I finished the book, but it was uncomfortable to read. I'm not a prudish person, but it was hard to read the words of someone so clearly unable to let go of his hatred for so many people, places, situations and things. Diamond needs therapy. He needs an editor. He needs a fact checker. Mostly, he needs to find something to enjoy. He needs to find some sense of meaning in his life. It was uncomfortable to read because he's a human being.

47 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Awful, February 27, 2010

By 

MCM (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Behind the Bell (Hardcover)

This is basically a few hundred pages of Screech trying to convince the reader that he is cool.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 20 Years Ago, February 16, 2010

By 

swimgym1285 (calabasas, ca) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Behind the Bell (Hardcover)

Dustin Diamond is obviously an incredibly bitter guy, about stuff that happened around 20 years ago. Although I'm sure some of it is true, and the other cast members were rude to him, after reading this book, who wouldn't be?! Dustin is clearly not a guy in it to make friends. He seems to hate Mario Lopez and Tiffani Thiessen the most. Interestingly, Tiffani is the one who probably went on to achieve the highest amount of success - not surprisingly, Dustin has nothing good at all to say about her. In the case of Tiffani and Elizabeth especially, these girls were teenagers when the show was around, I don't think anyone should be judged forever based on their high school years, and I don't think a guy in his 30's should be dissecting the behavior of teenage girls the way Dustin does. Tiffani is 36 years old now, I don't think that Dustin's opinion of her as a 16 year old has any relevence whatsoever, and it certainly doesn't change my own favorable view of her. Dustin calls Tiffani a slut, and then goes on to detail the fact that he has slept with thousands of girls and hooked up on "every bed on the SBTB set"... cool? Good for you buddy. Tiffani is on a hit USA show, married and pregnant, what are you doing Dustin?

I gave the book 2 stars because it is always interesting for me to hear what a castmate of one of my favorite shows has to say about it, but the only interesting parts for me are about the show and they are few and far between. He talks ALOT about being drunk and hooking up at Disneyland - stuff that I couldn't care less about. To sum it up, Dustin hates Mario for being mean and self-absorbed, is jealous of and hates Tiffani for being a "princess" and a "slut," thinks that Elizabeth is pathetic, hated Mark-Paul ("the golden boy") but thinks he later redeemed himself, and thinks Lark is bizarre and was abused. He also thinks he was typecast (duh), his parents took most of his money, and he doesn't think the entertainment industry is good for kids - I just saved you $20.