Good Girl, Bad Girl: An Insider's Biography of Whitney Houston

Good Girl, Bad Girl: An Insider's Biography of Whitney Houston by Ammons, Kevin. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9781559723794.

Whitney Houston is a show-business phenomenon and one of Hollywoods most sought after black actresses. Here is the first ever behind-the-scenes book about Whitney. It is written by Kevin Ammons, who has spent a great deal of time with Whitney. He knows that beneath her glamorous image lies a troubled woman who has let success go to her head. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Whitney first sang in public at age twelve with her mother, Cissy, at the New Hope Baptist Church. Soon after, Cissy let her daughter sing with her in her cabaret act. But when it became clear that the audience would rather see and hear the beautiful young Whitney than Cissy, Mom swiftly put a stop to her daughters appearances. As a teenager, Whitney began modeling for magazines like Mademoiselle, Cosmopolitan, and Glamour. At eighteen she signed her first record contract. Not long after, her record sales skyrocketed to 80 million worldwide. As Whitneys fame and fortune grew, so did her demands. She browbeat and cowed her employees. And she once stunned a roomful of HBO executives who were waiting to breakfast with her by sending an implacable message: "You hired me to sing for you - not eat with you." Whitney, who calls her staff the Royal Family, keeps them in line with the admonition "Remember who the goose is that lays the golden egg." Despite her incredible fame, fortune, talent, and beauty, Whitney suffers from low self-esteem and takes out her anger on those closest to her.