From the Publisher
I had no idea who the Spice Girls were when we bought this book. My boss brought it up at a meeting, before all the hype, when they had just one little song on the radio. I think it was "Wannabe". When she said, "Who here has heard of the Spice Girls?" some of the editors sort of semi-cheered. A low, nondescript, middling kind of "whooo!" that you might hear at a boring college football game. The kind of cheer people yell when nobody really cares whether or not they win. It was still kind of impressive. It was a business meeting, after all. They don't usually cheer. Anyway, after the meeting I spoke with some of the other assistants - all in their 20's- and none of us had any idea who these girls were. I know it sounds clichéd but when she first mentioned it, I thought she was proposing we do some kind of cookbook. Of course, I got stuck doing all the little things: putting together the contract and photo permissions and talking to the author and stuff like that. I remember there was one photo of Geri that we just couldn't use. Too exposed, you could say. Anyway, It became something of a joke, at my expense. Some of the publicity people started calling me Spice Boy. "So what!", I thought to myself. "I'm still getting paid!" Anyway, it turned out in my favor. Over the next couple of months, as you probably know, people started talking about them at every party or club or just about anywhere. Some people were intrigued by them. Some liked them on this kitschy or campy level. Some people really loved them in a "guilty pleasure" way. Some people hated them in that love-to-hate way, which is really just a different kind of love, right? Anyway, wherever I went people were talking about them, and I had small talk - really good small talk - ready whenever I needed it. After working on the book for so long, I could talk about all of them: their interests, their pasts, their secrets, even their real names. People laughed and thought it was really cool. It was a conversation that I could use anytime or anywhere, and it always worked!
The other funny thing is that everybody - I mean everybody - asked me for a copy of the book when it was finished. Every single person that made fun of me eventually wanted a copy. They all claimed it was for a daughter or a sister or a baby cousin. Most of them were lying, though. I'm sure they were because I would ask them what their kid sister's name was and they would pause for a really long time and then answer "Mel" or "Baby".
-- S. Gutierrez, Assistant editor
From the Inside Flap
GIRL POWER!
After storming America with the might of a hurricane in January, the Spice Girls have become a British force to be reckoned with. After all, this fab five's first hit single, "Wannabe," shot to the top of the charts in thirty-five countries across five continents. Not too shabby for a once-struggling group of unknown artists.
Now here's the unauthorized book that dispels the rumors, squashes the innuendo, and lays it all out on the line. Did Mel B really work as a "private" dancer? Has Emma been known to streak in a hotel? And what happened to Geri's dress at the BRIT Awards? Find out the facts behind the phenomenon--and add a little spice to your life!
