Didn't We Almost Have It All - In Defense of Whitney Houston Book

RELEASE DATE - 25 MAY 2023

A candid exploration of the genius, shame, and celebrity of Whitney Houston a decade after her passing―now in paperback!

In the decade since Whitney Houston’s passing, the world has mourned her death as a once–in–a–generation talent and queen of the pop charts. Didn’t We Almost Have It All is an exploration of Whitney’s life as a woman in the spotlight. This is the story of Whitney’s whole life, told with grace and honesty.

Gerrick Kennedy deftly peels back the layers of Whitney’s story and pulls the narrative apart into the key elements that informed her life―growing up in a famous family; her relationships with Robyn Crawford and Bobby Brown; her connection to her own Blackness and the Black community; her drug addiction; and, finally, shame.

Kennedy takes readers back to a time when someone like Whitney could not simply be and explains the myriad ways in which her fame could not protect her. A sweeping look at Whitney’s life, Didn’t We Almost Have It All contextualises her struggles against the backdrop of tabloid culture, mental health stigmas, and racial divisions in America.

It explores how and why we lost a beloved icon far too soon.

"A decade after Houston's death, journalist Gerrick Kennedy celebrates the music legend's triumphs in a judgment-free exploration of her life following a foreword by Brandy."
InStyle

"A candid exploration of Houston's talent, dysfunction and fame beyond the tabloid headlines...It seriously considers her impact on music, pop culture, race and the author's own life as a queer Black man."
Los Angeles Times

"A collection of unsparing, deeply personal essays on the singer's life and career that arrives 10 years after her death...Kennedy's book, unlike so many before it, is not a gossipy biography but a collection of often powerful meditations on Whitney's life and the culture that failed her".
The Washington Post

"By contextualising her career, this book is far from a simple biography or tell-all, and feels like, what Wills described as 'a collective apology' to a beloved icon."
The Grio

"In this stirring work, journalist Kennedy reexamines 'all that Whitney was and all that she was never able to be'...the author both celebrates the legendary singer's inimitable talent and offers a rousing critique of oppressive systems still at work today. This is a must-read for fans.
Publishers Weekly, *starred* review