Black Diamond: The Unauthorized Biography of Kiss [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Dale Sherman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Dale Sherman's] diligence and attention to detail is remarkable, making Black Diamond the bible for the KISS army."  —Ken Sharp, The Rock Report

"A straight forward, no holds barred, factual presentation of KISS."  —Shock Me

"The best KISS book I have ever read."  —KISS News Network

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
Book and CD. KISS has been around for nearly a quarter of a century. BLACK DIAMOND peels back the myths and stories for fans, non-fans and the curious alike. Eight years in the making, here is the real and complete history of the band from before it was even called KISS to the triumphant return of the original line-up to the concert staged in 1996. More so, it is a look at the hanging world of rock music from the early 1970s to the present day and what it takes for a band to stay on top. Includes an exclusive interview compact disc with ex-KISS drummer.

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Product Details Paperback: 248 pages Publisher: Collectors Guide Publishing Inc; Second Edition edition (April 1997) Language: English ISBN-10: 1896522351 ISBN-13: 978-1896522357 Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches Shipping Weight: 12 ounces Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,276,667 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Look Inside This Book

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	63% buy the item featured on this page: Black Diamond: The Unauthorized Biography of Kiss 4.0 out of 5 stars (27)
	12% buy KISS: Behind the Mask - Official Authorized Biogrphy 4.3 out of 5 stars (52) $10.85
	10% buy Sealed With a Kiss 5.0 out of 5 stars (19) $50.62
	9% buy Kiss Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History 4.9 out of 5 stars (31) $19.77

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Customer Reviews

27 Reviews 5 star:  (10) 4 star:  (10) 3 star:  (4) 2 star:  (2) 1 star:  (1)           Average Customer Review 4.0 out of 5 stars (27 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 6 of 6 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book, Good Info, Good Read, January 23, 2000 By A Customer I thought the book was very good. It's information was unparalleled, and the background on each member of the band was a real bonus for the reader. For a big KISS fan like myself, it made for a great read, and developed well, wasn't slow and boring. Good job Dale. 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars On par with Kiss & Sell, April 3, 2001 By  Greekfreak (Pusan Korea (South)) - See all my reviews I was pleasantly surprised by this book--it's written from a fan's perspective, but it's still well-balanced; it would have been easy for it to have gone the other way (adulation). Essentially it's the history of the band as told by various members of the group at various points in time via various interview (tired of the word 'various yet?) sources. It may bother some that Sherman never bothered to index the pages, but that's a minor complaint. My only real complaint is the lack of input from Vinnie Vincent, Mark St. John, Eric Singer, and Bruce Kulick; all off whom had valid opinions about the band, but were given little or no emphasis at all. Much better than Kiss & Tell, and as good as Kiss & Sell (however different), and well worth the money you spend on it. Especially for an unauthorised biography. I especially liked the massive amounts of contradiction amongst the band members concerning specific albums and tunes. I seriously doubt that Gene Simmons' upcoming book will be as honest as this one. Maybe the whole truth will never be discovered, but this book is a step in the right direction. 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Great Detail and Trivia, But Linguistically Flawed, December 3, 2006 By  erictheb "erictheb" (Boston) - See all my reviews Dale Sherman has written an engaging biography chock full of fascinating, little-known trivia, which succeeds in answering many questions fans such as myself may have had about the band. Many times I was caught thinking "Ah-haaa! So that's why..." This is in fact Sherman's intention, as stated in the Introduction. In fact, his dedication to trivia minutae is on occasion distracting and sometimes leads the reader onto unnecessary tangents. The main problem I have with the book, besides the cheesy cover (Where's the band??) is the weakness in writing style. This may be the fault of the book's editor. There are countless instances of run-on sentences, dangling particles, awkward syntax and sentence structure, grammatical errors, words used out of context or with wrong meaning, and other frustrating language snafus. I do not claim to be an English professor, but there were many occasions when I had to read a sentence over again, shake my head, and think, "Why didn't he write that sentence this way, or use this word instead, or use this verb tense/form?", etc. It often distracted me from the narrative, making for a sometimes uncomfortable read where I was fearing the next grammatical flub, which always eventually came. Luckily, he uses quotes liberally from the band and others, and it is in fact these quotes which lack the syntax errors and are easiest to read! Otherwise, this is definitely a decent edition to the Kiss library and hopefully future editions will be better edited and thus easier to read.		Most Recent Customer Reviews 3.0 out of 5 stars Good info, not as well written as I'd like Good information included in this book, however, there are a number of grammatical errors which slow down reading. Read more Published 26 days ago by Tigger 4.0 out of 5 stars A good read amongst all the KISS books out there! Black Diamond is a good read for die-hard KISS fans only. It's up there on my top ten list for an all KISS book. Read more Published on February 7, 2004 by Craven Moorehead 1.0 out of 5 stars Not Worth A Dime Nothing in this book is new. If you read enough articles on the band you would have the exact same information provided by Dale Sherman, who happens to be just an average writer... Read more Published on February 1, 2004 2.0 out of 5 stars GREAT TRY BUT... The small type letters alone are a pain in the a..., but the author really tried to write a good unauthorized bio. Read more Published on September 6, 2001 by Pitchulo Dun Dun 2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing This book was pretty disappointing overall. There have been much better KISS bios out there like "KISS & SELL". Read more Published on October 19, 2000 by Amazonian 5.0 out of 5 stars The best book about KISS I ever read. Great book. Read a lot about KISS in Black Diamond I did not know about the band. I have read other books about KISS,but they were not as informative or went in to such detail as... Read more Published on August 8, 1999 by Patrick Hankinson 5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding work! Mr. Dale wrote a fine book. It covers all aspects of Kiss career, including business deals, musicians, recording sales, always remembering that they were dedicated professional... Read more Published on July 20, 1999 5.0 out of 5 stars Dale is the man! Excellent book! It's like sitting & talking to a fan. Gets to the point & avoids fluff! Dig it. Published on July 5, 1999 5.0 out of 5 stars The most detailed book on KISS ever. This book is an absolute must for KISS fans!I love this book!I have several book on KISS and none have gone into such detail as Black Diamond.! Read more Published on May 24, 1999 by Daniel E. Stwalley 4.0 out of 5 stars Superb book with a lot of details for the die hard Kiss fan This is a superb book with a lot of details in the history of the greatest rock group ever. The covering of Kiss in the 70's is extremly informative and gives the impression of... Read more Published on May 11, 1999 Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Collectors Guide Publishing Inc; Second Edition edition (April 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1896522351
• ISBN-13: 978-1896522357
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,276,667 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book, Good Info, Good Read, January 23, 2000

By A Customer

I thought the book was very good. It's information was unparalleled, and the background on each member of the band was a real bonus for the reader. For a big KISS fan like myself, it made for a great read, and developed well, wasn't slow and boring. Good job Dale.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars On par with Kiss & Sell, April 3, 2001

By	Greekfreak (Pusan Korea (South)) - See all my reviews

I was pleasantly surprised by this book--it's written from a fan's perspective, but it's still well-balanced; it would have been easy for it to have gone the other way (adulation).

Essentially it's the history of the band as told by various members of the group at various points in time via various interview (tired of the word 'various yet?) sources. It may bother some that Sherman never bothered to index the pages, but that's a minor complaint. My only real complaint is the lack of input from Vinnie Vincent, Mark St. John, Eric Singer, and Bruce Kulick; all off whom had valid opinions about the band, but were given little or no emphasis at all.

Much better than Kiss & Tell, and as good as Kiss & Sell (however different), and well worth the money you spend on it. Especially for an unauthorised biography. I especially liked the massive amounts of contradiction amongst the band members concerning specific albums and tunes.

I seriously doubt that Gene Simmons' upcoming book will be as honest as this one. Maybe the whole truth will never be discovered, but this book is a step in the right direction.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Detail and Trivia, But Linguistically Flawed, December 3, 2006

By	erictheb "erictheb" (Boston) - See all my reviews

Dale Sherman has written an engaging biography chock full of fascinating, little-known trivia, which succeeds in answering many questions fans such as myself may have had about the band. Many times I was caught thinking "Ah-haaa! So that's why..." This is in fact Sherman's intention, as stated in the Introduction. In fact, his dedication to trivia minutae is on occasion distracting and sometimes leads the reader onto unnecessary tangents.

The main problem I have with the book, besides the cheesy cover (Where's the band??) is the weakness in writing style. This may be the fault of the book's editor. There are countless instances of run-on sentences, dangling particles, awkward syntax and sentence structure, grammatical errors, words used out of context or with wrong meaning, and other frustrating language snafus. I do not claim to be an English professor, but there were many occasions when I had to read a sentence over again, shake my head, and think, "Why didn't he write that sentence this way, or use this word instead, or use this verb tense/form?", etc. It often distracted me from the narrative, making for a sometimes uncomfortable read where I was fearing the next grammatical flub, which always eventually came. Luckily, he uses quotes liberally from the band and others, and it is in fact these quotes which lack the syntax errors and are easiest to read!

Otherwise, this is definitely a decent edition to the Kiss library and hopefully future editions will be better edited and thus easier to read.