Title: Scrappy Little Nobody
Author: Anna Kendrick
Publisher: Touchstone Books
Publication Date: November 2016
ISBN: 9781501117206
Synopsis from Goodreads:
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).
After listening to Kendrick’s autobiography on audiobook, I’ve really enjoyed her retelling of her experiences growing up and entering the film business where she’s made a name for herself. The audiobook, read by Kendrick herself, is witty, smart, and had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion. Her personal vocalization of the text adds that personal level and really emphasizes her humour. She’s brutally honest at points but takes her own personal awkwardness and the reality of being a “late bloomer” to bring her reader many chuckles. She’s incredibly relatable and I’d think that many readers would really connect with her many anecdotes. She puts a voice to what everyone is thinking in any awkward situation ever. Poor Anna just happens to have faced more awkward situations than most. She is so open and honest in her stories and it’s hysterically funny. So glad I decided to give this one a listen.
Worn Pages and Ink 