A review by thndrkat
Didn't We Almost Have It All: The Genius, Shame, and Audacity of Whitney Houston by Gerrick Kennedy
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This engaging and thought-provoking book is less of a traditional biography and more of a series of essays on various themes related to Whitney Houston's life and music; the cultural and systemic forces that shaped, influenced, and hurt her; and her wide, broad, and deep impact on multiple musical artists and genres. It speaks to and about the consumers of her music rather than painting a full picture of her personality, both out of respect for her humanity and out of necessity given her untimely death.
Kennedy, a Black writer who covered Houston as a music reporter during her lifetime, does a lot of soul-searching related to how the Black community and reporters in general talked about her and what that meant in terms of societal compassion, tolerance, and understanding of addiction and abuse.
While I don't identify as a member of the "we" that Kennedy often refers to, as someone who was alive at the time and listened to her hits on the radio as a kid, I could still relate to his musings and regrets. Given the book's structure, the writing is at times repetitive, but it still kept me hooked right to the end.
Kennedy, a Black writer who covered Houston as a music reporter during her lifetime, does a lot of soul-searching related to how the Black community and reporters in general talked about her and what that meant in terms of societal compassion, tolerance, and understanding of addiction and abuse.
While I don't identify as a member of the "we" that Kennedy often refers to, as someone who was alive at the time and listened to her hits on the radio as a kid, I could still relate to his musings and regrets. Given the book's structure, the writing is at times repetitive, but it still kept me hooked right to the end.