Beverly Hills 90210 Books

Unlike other BH 90210 books, this was not so much a novelization of an existing TV script, but a whole new idea. "The Gang" imagines where they will go after college and high school (note, Drugs, Alcohol and other tragedys do not happen to the extent they did post "high school")

Because it is devoid of the extreme non-monogamy, personal issues and drug/alcohol problems which did eventually surface, it remains a joy for original fans to read. Even though they are not squeaky clean, these young adults try to do the right thing.

Personal bias meant that I liked Dylan's and Brenda's futures the best, although the other stories are tolerable. Because this storyline was not carried over into the small screen, it is still very interesting reading. No matter how many times, I read this one, I discover all kinds of new twists and turns that had been previously overlooked.

Obviously, the script writers must have given permission for Gilden to use their characters, but then delved very far from that plot on the small screen. It's really a shame too, because I strongly suspect this could have sustained the show's ratings for a longer period.

Since it appears to be an "alternate" ending for the show, it would have been interesting to see what the chances of it's sucess would have been if the casting had remained intact and the show had run for more than 10 years. Brenda and Dylan would end up together after she became a world famous actress...etc

Much more than the numerous Fox specials, I think that this was the best tribute (and it was issued way eariler) to BH 90210. Even though it's hard for me to be objective owning the whole series, people who (for whatever reason) can only afford/and or find one novelization should get this one.

I love the show Beverly Hills 90210 and was very disappointed when it ended but this book helped me keep the show alive in my mind. It is a great book where the original cast in high school dream about where their futures will take them. It's a great book and I recommend it to any fan of the show.

This book is very rich in contents which compose of the process to the beginning of the program, explanation of producersf intentions, interviews to actors and actresses playing main casts such as Jason Priestly and Shannen Doherty, the plot of the ninth series, and many photographs. Especially, it is interesting that producers, actors, and actresses talk about the drama in terms of why this drama has become popular. Actors and actresses talk about how they can get their roles and how they see their roles and themselves. I could empathize with real actors and actresses more than characters in the drama. The drama is directed with reality, which is similar to this book. Anyway, this is an indispensable book for everyone who loves the drama.

This is a great book to read if you want something fresh and new from the show. It takes place during the high school years and is NOT based on an actual 90210 episode (much like "Fantasies"). It's a GREAT read if you are a Dylan/Brenda fan like me! The book is hard to find, but I have seen it on eBay many times. Well worth the search!

If you are a true 90210 fan like I, you will appreciate this book because it brings back great memories and it is a good thing to have to look back on. Although it describes the earlier times it is still very good and describes each season so well you can see it. If you are a fan i think you should buy it.

The Beverly Hills, 90210 Guide claims to be 'the ultimate authority that no 90210 fan should be without'. I disagree. I think it's a fairly useful companion to the first three seasons of 90210 but there's no way it's 'the ultimate authority'.

I bought this book for two reasons; I'm a huge fan of the show and I was slightly swayed by the enthusiastic summations of fellow Amazon reviewers. I finished the book within a couple of hours (literally) and am not overly impressed. The signs were ominous when the author began by (stupidly?) confessing that despite finding 90210 one of the most addictive shows, it isn't a favourite. Perhaps if this unauthorised guide had been written by a die-hard fan, the resulting effort would've been infinitely more satisfying.

Even if I'm generous and leave aside the grammatical errors that abound (for example ' and this is a DIRECT quote from the book: 'nothing scared her more than the fact that she [Kelly Taylor] and David [Silver] would be sisters'. SISTERS!!! Errrr, HELLO?), I'm not overwhelmed with the content either.

I thought the character biographies on the slender side until I got a load of the episode summaries; at best they omit telling detail and at worst, they're positively skimpy.

In addition, although the author provides a summary of each episode and the original airdate, said episodes are listed numerically but *not* titled (for example,
'#1 10/4/90 --------- #2 10/11/90' etc).

What self-respecting TV guide omits episode titles? Surely the raison d'être of such a publication is to feed the hunger of obsessed fans with seemingly endless trivia and information about the show? Episode titles are a must! They're a prerequisite! And don't bother looking in the book's foreward or introduction for an explanation of this gross oversight - there isn't one.

I know that the first episode is the pilot, 'Class of Beverly Hills' and that the second episode is titled, 'The Green Room', but what if I didn't know and I'd already spent $7.95 (plus shipping) on this book? Even the most basic 90210 fan website considers episode titles important enough to list but not, it would appear, The Beverly Hills 90210 Guide.

Ah, the irony. Incredulous? You're darn tootin' I am.

And if you think that's bad, get this. Poor research and/or oversights and slight inaccuracies are unforgivable in non-fiction and yet, they're evident here. For example, of Brandon Walsh's third season summer fling with Brooke Alexander the author says, and I quote directly, "They [Steve Sanders and Brooke] also became romantically involved. Unfortunately, when she met Brandon their romance came to an end and she started dating Brandon". That is sooooo untrue! Steve had an unrequited crush on Brooke and for that reason, they *never* became romantically involved.

Tsk, tsk, tsk author - do your homework!

On the positive side ... um ... um ... it's a relatively inexpensive purchase, it does contain a couple of interesting perspectives on the show (literally) and the trivia quiz in Chapter 14 is fun to do. However, be warned; it too contains mistakes.

Recommended (just) for the truly obsessed 90210 fan. Hopefully someone else out there will write a vastly superior guide to all 10 seasons.

Unlike it's later years, the early years of this drama were well written and intriguing. Although the characters had family problems beneath a life of privllege or (in the Walsh case) were symbolic of the viewing audience who were the all knowing outsiders selectively accepting and discarding portions of "the" life, it was a fabulous show.

Ten years later after it's inital debut, 90210 went off the airwaves. This book brought back wonderful memories of "the high school years" by far and away the best segment of the series. Anybody who wanted to see why gen-xers liked the show needs to check this out.

I love Beverly Hills 90210 and this guide is the absolute best... I recommend buying it.

Here is the novelization of the series that started it all. I still have the original set of books at home, and am unwilling to part with them under any circumstances.

Other than the fact there are no commericals to contend with, you can reread this book whenever you want to. Although there are some pictures included, another hidden benifit is the ability to update the characters wardrobe.

As with the orginal, Luke Perry is not in the book, but this is a small price to pay because the writing (while not groundbreaking) is good enough to let people visualize what is unfolding.

Here is the first episodes (as a book!) of Beverly Hills 90210. What a great show, what a great book! This was very sunny, fresh and nice book. Even if you don't like the show, you might like this book. It's a shame that this is out of print ............, because otherwise I might order this right now! This book includes everything... Buy it! If you can! You won't be disappointed!

I read this book awhile ago, and when I read it I was a huge fan of the series. This book is the first book from the first episode of the show. It's about when Brenda and Brandon Walsh move from Minneapolis to Beverly Hills, and their awkwardness in adjusting to the new lifestyle. All of the characters are introduced with the exception of Dylan. It's a good book, but it is strictly from the episode. Whatever wasn't in the show is not in this book. If you never saw that first episode, this is definiely the book to get. For those of you who saw it, this book is just repetition!

Written by: Mel Gilden 171 pages Published by: Harper Paperbacks Reviewed by: LeighAnn Gholson Not in print When I first started reading this book I knew I'd like it. The setting takes place in Beverly Hills. The Walsh family is new in town. They have just moved to a suburb in Beverly from a town in Minnesota. They have arrived at their new school and made a few new friends, (Donna, Kelly, David, Dylan, Steve, and Audrea) and they take the Walshes under their wing. Brenda starts dating Dylan and problems arise. Everyone thinks of Dylan as a wild, out of control guy. Brenda's friend Kelly that is pretty and popular, and for the most part caring, helps to convince Brenda to not let her give up on Dylan. But when Brenda learns of Dylan's past, she has many doubts. This book shows the life of these eight teens and what they have to do to fit in. This book was well written. It was wrote in good detail and made you want to read on, because of suspense and wanting to know more about their lives. I would recommend this book for anyone that's a teenager. Written by:LeighAnn Beverly Hills 90210, No Secrets Gholson

As a devout Brenda/Dylan fan, I really liked this book because it enables the reader to revisit the ideal teen tv couple 24-7 on their own time.

Their romance was a key theme in the 90210 empire for many years, and if you were disappointed that this was later abandoned, this book will bring back some membories. Those who did not watch have a chance to see what made the sparks fly.

While comparatively dry compared to romance novels, the plot lines have their warm romantic moments. As always, pictures are included in the middle of the book, but (since the fashions are now dated) as always, you can imagine "the gang" clothed in contemporary numbers.

I don't know.... I bought the book because I know 2 of Alex's ex-"creatures." There was something wrong with this book. Can't put my finger on it. I believe the previous reviewer who said "believe it or not, the life of Alex's 'girls' was actually much more glamorous" than depicted in the book. All of the people mentioned in the book just weren't described fully, it seems. More multi-dimensionality, please! A couple of the johns the male author describes, whom he has gone to great pains to disguise, I have seen and/or talked to, so I know who he meant to disguise! I guess this is because I am a longtime resident of L.A. (I'm now and always have been just a secretary.) I think the male author took what was potentially a GREAT story and made it, somehow, quasi-boring. A shame, really. I mean, the real story lacked nothing: Fame, incredible wealth, adventure, sex. But he blew it somehow. Plus, no pictures, which always help in a biography. None. Nada. I think I'll go back and ask my girlfriends the REAL jive on this. At least I know it'll be more exciting than this book!

I thought that the idea behind this book would be interesting. I was curious to know about Hollywood & the sex industry. Overall, the book wasn't too bad. There were a few times I thought I was reading an 'erotica' novel. The final 50 or so pages were disappointing. The author slowly brought you up to a climax (no pun intended) and then just dropped off. It's an interesting read but I don't know that I'd recommend it to anyone.

So-called revealing book, but the 'pseudonyms' are only useful to deliver a series of explicit sex scenes.
When a name falls, it is 'Norma Jean Baker'.
Are the following words revealing? : 'Hollywood is the world capital of arrested development.'(p.234)
Perhaps these two last words characterize also the authors.
A waste of time.

Is the United States a modern day version of decadent Imperial Rome just before its collapse? Read this book and draw your own conclusion!

Believe it or not, the life Madam Alex and her girls led was really much more upscale and glamorous than this book portrayed it to be! Madam Alex was a legend in Hollywood, and many big name actresses once worked for her. She gave great dinner parties and the girls often just hung out with the Arab Royalty who were her clients.

This book is not a 90210 guide. It is a great anthropological study of the show phenomenon and it's impact on the female audience. It also investigates the typical issues that young women are concerned with, using the show as the vehicle for honest and unguarded conversation. It brings forward interesting points that every young feminist should be aware of. A great read for a 1990's woman who enjoyed the show and is interested in gender studies.

I am an avid fan of "Beverly Hills 90210," and I thought that this book would be a perfect combination of intellectuality and my love of pop culture. I was sadly mistaken.

This book nearly put me to sleep. Although I thought it was interesting to read scenes that I had viewed myself and read other people's reactions to them, I was quite bored by all of the technical reading in it. I figured it would be more analysis and study rather than just a presentation of the facts. I would definitely NOT recommend this as something that anyone should buy.

THE BOOK EXPLAINS WELL ALL THE ISSUES AND CHARACTER BUILDING DURING YEARS OF THE SHOW. SOME OF THE CHAPTERS ARE HARD TO FINISH BECAUSE THEY GO IN DEEP THOUGHTS ABOUT WOMEN, AND IDENTITY MAKING IT SOUD LIKE A TEXT BOOK, BUT AFTER I FINISH THOSE CHAPTERS I RELAIZED HOW IMPORTANT THEY WERE IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THE SUCESS OF THE SHOW, THE TECNIQUE OF THE WRITERS AND PRODUCERS OF THE SHOW. AS A SHOW BUSINESS LOVER AND WORKER I RECOMEND THE BOOK TO EVERY WOMAN AND TV PROFESSIONAL.

This book about the cast of 90210 is a little disappointing because it is only 35 pages long. It has very few pictures of the cast, and only a couple of pages about each of them. One of the worst things about this book was that the pictures of Brian Austin Green and Jason Priestley are reversed. If you like 90210, this may be a book want to own to add to your collection. However, if you want more information about them and lots of pictures, I wouldn't recommend that you buy this book.