Scan barcode
Reviews
Didn't We Almost Have It All: The Genius, Shame, and Audacity of Whitney Houston by Gerrick Kennedy
bargainsleuth's review
5.0
For this and other book reviews, visit www.bargain-sleuth.com.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Whitney Houston within the context of the times in which she lived. I’ve long had all her albums, and recently added Whitney Houston’s Greatest Hits DVD (Amazon) to my collection, which was produced in 2000. Whitney’s music and her videos were part of the soundtrack to my childhood and college years.
Ever since Whitney Houston died, most of the press has focused on the negative of Whitney’s life. Didn’t We Almost Have it All tries to balance that out by focusing on the positives of her life as well. Whitney had a lot to overcome, despite having a voice from God and incredible physical beauty. Her career as a black woman in a 1980’s MTV world that rarely played artists of color just shows how she broke barriers that paved the way for the others that followed.
Not only did Whitney have to fight the white establishment to get air play, she had to fight her own people because her music was pop and not “black” enough for some people like the Reverend Al Sharpton, who called her “White-ney Houston.” Despite those and a myriad of other obstacles, Whitney’s talent overcame those troubles and became a superstar.
The book doesn’t shy away from the dark side of Whitney’s life. The accusations that came out after her death that she was sexually abused by a family member, that her older brothers got her into drugs at a young age, the troubled relationship with her husband, Bobby Brown, no stone is left unturned. Whitney was a flawed woman in an unkind business industry that was unrelenting with it’s pressures on a young woman who lacked understanding family and friends. Her family was part of the problem, if you ask me, always hanging on and asking Whitney for more.
Even though we know all the sad truths of Whitney’s life now, it was still a nice ride down memory lane, with a 21st century context. I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy from NetGalley and Abrams Press in exchange for my honest review.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Whitney Houston within the context of the times in which she lived. I’ve long had all her albums, and recently added Whitney Houston’s Greatest Hits DVD (Amazon) to my collection, which was produced in 2000. Whitney’s music and her videos were part of the soundtrack to my childhood and college years.
Ever since Whitney Houston died, most of the press has focused on the negative of Whitney’s life. Didn’t We Almost Have it All tries to balance that out by focusing on the positives of her life as well. Whitney had a lot to overcome, despite having a voice from God and incredible physical beauty. Her career as a black woman in a 1980’s MTV world that rarely played artists of color just shows how she broke barriers that paved the way for the others that followed.
Not only did Whitney have to fight the white establishment to get air play, she had to fight her own people because her music was pop and not “black” enough for some people like the Reverend Al Sharpton, who called her “White-ney Houston.” Despite those and a myriad of other obstacles, Whitney’s talent overcame those troubles and became a superstar.
The book doesn’t shy away from the dark side of Whitney’s life. The accusations that came out after her death that she was sexually abused by a family member, that her older brothers got her into drugs at a young age, the troubled relationship with her husband, Bobby Brown, no stone is left unturned. Whitney was a flawed woman in an unkind business industry that was unrelenting with it’s pressures on a young woman who lacked understanding family and friends. Her family was part of the problem, if you ask me, always hanging on and asking Whitney for more.
Even though we know all the sad truths of Whitney’s life now, it was still a nice ride down memory lane, with a 21st century context. I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy from NetGalley and Abrams Press in exchange for my honest review.
gaviaroma's review
informative
sad
fast-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, and Homophobia
Minor: Child abuse
earthseeddetroit's review
4.0
Didn't We Almost Have It All: In Defense of Whitney Houston
By Gerrick Kennedy
“A candid exploration of the genius, shame, and celebrity of Whitney Houston a decade after her passing.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I just finished reading this book and I am giving it four stars. I think that the author did a really good job of pointing out clearly the toll that the American public takes on celebrities. The liberties that we take with their lives, their business, their weaknesses and vulnerabilities… how its “never enough” for the public.
Whitney Houston was criticized relentlessly for not being Black enough in her representation during her music, not being straight enough when questions arose regarding her sexuality, not being sexy enough, a d then not being diva enough or wholesome when the masks slipped. Her family did a number on her by criticizing her as well and unfortunately was the source of some of the abuses that lead to her tragic demise.
In a lot of these celebrity memoirs, apparent is how much we love a good train wreck. Like the scent of blood after an injury in a shark infested pool, here comes the feeding frenzy. Making her the butt of jokes, putting her life on display, Taking advantage of her addictions for public entertainment and public consumption, a habit which is just as much our addiction as hers was to crack cocaine.
I feel like the author handled her very sensitively in this book but also gave all of the nitty-gritty.
I do not want to go see the interviews, or the performances or the photographs that are referenced. I knew some of this about her past but a lot of this I did not know the details of and I did not realize she actually entered the game with a demon on her back.
This book does make me want to listen to her music more and celebrate the glorious talent that she had. The voice that we wrung out of her until she was a dry whisper.
This book did get a little repetitive sometimes. The author’s choice of words, phrases, and references to certain points in her history reoccurred frequently. I don’t know if that’s because each chapter was meant to be like an essay unto itself or if that’s just the style of his writing, he does have a journalism background so I’m not sure.
But again, I appreciate this look into her life even though it was at times hard to watch. Whitney Houston influenced so many younger women singers of that day and continues to inspire. Everyone wants to sound like Whitney! Everyone wants “The Voice.”
It’s crazy how at the same time we said it wasn’t enough.
My heart breaks for the way life happened to her and her progeny. And again it gives me so much disappointing insight to us as a whole and the twisted arena of fame. Although we do love a good comeback story. We also really like to watch car crashes and train wrecks so much that we egg it on and encourage the destruction.
By Gerrick Kennedy
“A candid exploration of the genius, shame, and celebrity of Whitney Houston a decade after her passing.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I just finished reading this book and I am giving it four stars. I think that the author did a really good job of pointing out clearly the toll that the American public takes on celebrities. The liberties that we take with their lives, their business, their weaknesses and vulnerabilities… how its “never enough” for the public.
Whitney Houston was criticized relentlessly for not being Black enough in her representation during her music, not being straight enough when questions arose regarding her sexuality, not being sexy enough, a d then not being diva enough or wholesome when the masks slipped. Her family did a number on her by criticizing her as well and unfortunately was the source of some of the abuses that lead to her tragic demise.
In a lot of these celebrity memoirs, apparent is how much we love a good train wreck. Like the scent of blood after an injury in a shark infested pool, here comes the feeding frenzy. Making her the butt of jokes, putting her life on display, Taking advantage of her addictions for public entertainment and public consumption, a habit which is just as much our addiction as hers was to crack cocaine.
I feel like the author handled her very sensitively in this book but also gave all of the nitty-gritty.
I do not want to go see the interviews, or the performances or the photographs that are referenced. I knew some of this about her past but a lot of this I did not know the details of and I did not realize she actually entered the game with a demon on her back.
This book does make me want to listen to her music more and celebrate the glorious talent that she had. The voice that we wrung out of her until she was a dry whisper.
This book did get a little repetitive sometimes. The author’s choice of words, phrases, and references to certain points in her history reoccurred frequently. I don’t know if that’s because each chapter was meant to be like an essay unto itself or if that’s just the style of his writing, he does have a journalism background so I’m not sure.
But again, I appreciate this look into her life even though it was at times hard to watch. Whitney Houston influenced so many younger women singers of that day and continues to inspire. Everyone wants to sound like Whitney! Everyone wants “The Voice.”
It’s crazy how at the same time we said it wasn’t enough.
My heart breaks for the way life happened to her and her progeny. And again it gives me so much disappointing insight to us as a whole and the twisted arena of fame. Although we do love a good comeback story. We also really like to watch car crashes and train wrecks so much that we egg it on and encourage the destruction.
yvettepo's review
2.0
I love a celebrity bio/memoir, and I love Whitney Houston. Having seen the 2018 documentary about her life, I knew quite a bit going in, but it was interesting to hear more about how her family groomed her and the background surrounding her success. However, this writing style just wasn’t for me. I could not get past the bad editing, unnecessarily long paragraphs, meandering timelines, inconsistencies in the writer’s own memory of her, and his assumptions about what Whitney was feeling throughout different events in her life. I could tell he loved Whitney, but it ended up being a detriment to the writing of her life in a satisfactory way
torrie_reads's review against another edition
5.0
Thoughts
We all know that Whitney Houston's story is tragic, but this book was really a gut punch. Garrick Kennedy points out that if she had survived a decade longer things could have been different.
We know so much more about trauma and addiction. We also give a lot more grace to people who struggle with it. And nobody extended grace to Houston. She was mocked and ridiculed in magazines and papers. There was always a camera in her face trying to catch her at her worst.
This breaks my heart. After reading this I had the same feeling you get after watching Selena. That hurt from someone dying when it seems like it could have been avoided. Someone dying before showing all of their potential.
I don't know y'all this just really broke my heart.
We all know that Whitney Houston's story is tragic, but this book was really a gut punch. Garrick Kennedy points out that if she had survived a decade longer things could have been different.
We know so much more about trauma and addiction. We also give a lot more grace to people who struggle with it. And nobody extended grace to Houston. She was mocked and ridiculed in magazines and papers. There was always a camera in her face trying to catch her at her worst.
This breaks my heart. After reading this I had the same feeling you get after watching Selena. That hurt from someone dying when it seems like it could have been avoided. Someone dying before showing all of their potential.
I don't know y'all this just really broke my heart.
mellomellomello's review
Whitney deserved so much better. From the industry and from the rest of us demanding entertainment. May she rest in the perfect peace she never had in life.