Social Media Icons

Friday, January 22, 2021

Review: Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick

Scrappy Little Nobody 
by Anna Kendrick

Publisher: Gallery Books
Publish Date: August 22, 2017 (first published November 15, 2016)
Paperback
304 Pages
Standalone
Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

The New York Times bestselling collection of humorous autobiographical essays by the Academy Award nominated actress and star of Up in the Air and Pitch Perfect.

Even before she made a name for herself on the silver screen starring in films like Pitch PerfectUp in the AirTwilight, and Into the Woods, Anna Kendrick was unusually small, weird, and “10 percent defiant.”

At the ripe age of thirteen, she had already resolved to “keep the crazy inside my head where it belonged. Forever. But here’s the thing about crazy: It. Wants. Out.” In Scrappy Little Nobody, she invites readers inside her brain, sharing extraordinary and charmingly ordinary stories with candor and winningly wry observations.

With her razor-sharp wit, Anna recounts the absurdities she’s experienced on her way to and from the heart of pop culture as only she can—from her unusual path to the performing arts (Vanilla Ice and baggy neon pants may have played a role) to her double life as a middle-school student who also starred on Broadway to her initial “dating experiments” (including only liking boys who didn’t like her back) to reviewing a binder full of butt doubles to her struggle to live like an adult woman instead of a perpetual “man-child.”

Enter Anna’s world and follow her rise from “scrappy little nobody” to somebody who dazzles on the stage, the screen, and now the page—with an electric, singular voice, at once familiar and surprising, sharp and sweet, funny and serious (well, not that serious).

My Review:


I picked up this book in an airport once a few years ago and then promptly put it in my bag and then on my shelf, and never thought of it again.  Oops.  When I noticed she narrated her audiobook, I decided it was time - and what could be better than listening to an author narrate her own memoir?  Especially one as funny as Anna?

Well....... honestly, this wasn't my favorite.  It was fun to learn about her life and while a lot of it was relatable in the social anxiety and inner thought monologues, I did find her a bit whiny.  I appreciate sarcastic humor and she has this in full... but over six hours of it.. it's a bit much.  It's like having a friend who keeps talking and just won't stop... which isn't always a bad thing but here I found myself rolling my eyes quite a bit.  You know that one episode in Big Bang Theory where Raj and Howard go to the goth bar and that one girl ends everything she says with, "Not that anybody cares..."  Kinda like that.

Contrary to what I'm saying, I actually really like Kendrick - her interviews are always fun, she's insanely talented and she seems like the kinda girl I'd go out and have drinks with.  I didn't like her in Twilight but to be fair, I didn't like anyone in that movie... except for Cam Gigandet .. that baseball scene where he's floating/walking through the field... MEOW.  But back to Anna - I love the Pitch Perfect movies and I feel like her role in there seemed very similar to how she may actually be in real life.  But what do I know?

Overall this was a fun listen and I'd love to be Anna's friend.. but in scrappy little doses.

★★★

No comments

Leave a Comment