Publisher: Touchstone Books
Publishing Date: November 15th, 2016
Page Count: 275
Source: Local Library
Format: Hardcover
Description from Goodreads.com:
A 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 Perfect, Up in the Air, Twilight, 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).
Review:
I guess I will start by saying that I don't normally read memoirs/autobiographies for fun. I only ever read them for assignments. It all kind of started when Tina Fey came out with her Bossy Pants and everyone loved it, because of how inspiring and hilarious it was. So, when Amy Poehler came out with Yes Please and made an audiobook of it, I knew I had to listen! Well, I listened to about 6% of it. It was SUPER funny and super interesting, but then I got busy and never went back to it. Now, fast forward to when I heard that Anna Kendrick was going to come out with a memoir. I knew that I HAD to read this. She is HILARIOUS and I loved her Twitter account so, I knew if she was the one actually writing it, I would enjoy it. It turns out she was the one actually writing it so I grabbed it from my library as soon as I could.
I'll be honest, I held off on starting it for awhile. Like I had it check out for three weeks and didn't start reading it until it was due in 3 days and I couldn't renew it, because 500 other people wanted it next. So, I finally started it and I...was...HOOKED! It was so authentically Anna. Trust me, I know her so well (haha). But I mean, I could honestly hear her voice in my head while I was reading it. It didn't feel staged, made up, or even like she was trying too hard. She was just being herself, laying it all out there. I felt like I was listening to Anna speak straight to me. It was so real, and interesting, and of course, very, very funny!
I'm sure Bossy Pants was great (but I haven't read it yet), I started Yes Please and it was fantastic (but I never finished), but Scrappy Little Nobody was just out of this world to me. I could relate so much, and what I couldn't relate to (you know being a red carpet movie star) was still SUPER interesting and eye opening. I highly recommend that you get your hands on this book and read it. When you finish it and are even more in love with Anna Kendrick than you thought possible, come back and thank me!
Overall:
I absolutely loved this. I didn't think I could love Anna Kendrick any more than I already do, but SURPRISE I can. This felt so honest and raw that I could honestly hear Anna's voice in my head while I was reading it. I really felt like I was listening to an audiobook. There were so many interesting things about her career, and life, but also super eye opening stuff about being a movie star that I never knew. This is the first memoir I have read from start to finish and I can't believe I didn't read it sooner. It was seriously AMAZING! I highly recommend picking this one up. Now, off to read Tina Fey's, Amy Poehler's, and Lauren Graham.
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 5/5
**The books cover, description, and info was all found on Goodreads. A link back has been provided. All other work and ideas are of my own creation. This book was borrowed from my local library.**
