Review | Scrappy Little Nobody

The Book: Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick

Date Published: November 15, 2016

Dates Read: April 24-29, 2019

Current Goodreads Rating: 3.90/5

I am a big fan of memoirs, but I've noticed in the past few years that memoirs of celebrities are pretty hit or miss. I think it really depends on how seriously they take themselves. A few years ago I read Mindy Kaling's second memoir Why Not Me? and I hated it. While Kaling's first memoir Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) was pretty funny and didn't take itself too seriously, her second book was a little too whiny for my tastes. Sure, you have to get up early and stay up late, but you have to do that to film your popular TV show. Yeah, you have to spend a lot of time forcing yourself into beautiful dresses that you don't actually own and it can get really uncomfortable sitting in hair and make up while other people make you beautiful, but also you have a team of people who make you beautiful. Sorry, but I just don't sympathize with you.

Kendrick's book is a little different. I will concede that she talks about a lot of the same things: she discusses her experiences filming Up in the Air and Pitch Perfect, and she talks about her stress of performing at the Academy Awards with Neil Patrick Harris, but she doesn't tell these stories to make her audience pity her. Honestly, my read of the situation was more 'Can you believe that this is something that I, a socially awkward human being, has to deal with?'

Honestly the best part of memoirs are the childhood photos everyone includes.

That paragraph makes it sound like Kendrick and Kaling are saying the same things and maybe they are and I'm just being unfairly biased towards Mindy Kaling. That is something that is unfortunately valid in this current society. Regardless, I stick by my opinion. I found Kendrick's stories more down to earth. She talks about her beginnings on Broadway as a child and how, even early on, she realized the importance of taking mental health breaks. As her career progresses, she writes about dating while acting as well as cautioning women to not feel like they need to stroke their man's ego in order to have a happy relationship. She writes about the crazy 180 between her appearance on the red carpet verses the cheap Ikea dresser and bed frame falling apart in her small apartment back home. Kendrick realizes how ridiculous her life is and, because of it, doesn't take herself too seriously.

Fame isn't all fun and games. One of my favorite chapters isn't even about the hilarity of navigating fame and social anxiety. Towards the middle of the book Kendrick talks about her experience with filming and a family emergency. Though she didn't have a super close relationship with her grandmother, her grandmother's death was something that really shook her and she does a great job relaying that in her writing. In a whirlwind of 48 hours, Kendrick finishes filming a happy scene in Pitch Perfect, flies down to Florida for her grandmother's funeral, films a quick walk on role for another project, and flies back to set, all while dealing with the grief of losing a loved one. She manages to sneak some morbidly funny quips within this otherwise somber chapter and I found it one of the best examples of voice I've read in awhile. We've all dealt with death one way or another and we all deal with that loss in our own unique and, sometimes, weird ways. Kendrick, like me, is someone who uses humor as a way to deal with tense, terrible, and tragic situations.

Women can be funny. They can also be sexy. Another great aspect of Kendrick's book is her take on sex and love. Society is stupid. This has been proven in a wide variety of ways. Society also hates when women take control of their sexuality. Anna Kendrick does not give a fuck. In a section dedicated only to boys, love, and sex, Kendrick talks about her not so smooth navigation through puberty, fame, and introduction to men who actually want to have sex with her. She talks about toxic relationships she had with men while she was growing into her own person and even offers her past self advice for what she should have done. Honestly, I think every pre-teen girl needs to read this section for herself so she knows what to keep an eye out for as they grow up. If a man tells you how to compliment him after you finish doing the horizontal tango you should ditch him for someone with a little bit more of a backbone. Also I bet the sex wasn't that great so you're better off anyways.

Overall I found that I would try and sneak chapters in during any break I could find because I just wanted to read more about Kendrick's life and learn more life tips from someone who I honestly identify with on a personality level. I may not be able to belt Broadway tunes, but I understand navigating social events as a socially awkward person. I may not have the experience of flying from a movie set to a funeral, but I have dealt with the loss of my grandfather and not truly being able to understand the sadness that comes with that until it's almost overwhelming. Kendrick and Kaling may have lives that I'll never have (and, at this point in my life, I think I'm ok with that), but looking through that window into the life of a celebrity is always fascinating. As long as they don't take themselves too seriously.

Long Story Short:

• Celebrities are weird and sometimes they're people too.

• Ladies, be sexy! Gentlemen, let your ladies be sexy!

• If nothing else, don't take your life too seriously.

My Rating: 5/5

Up Next: Becoming by Michelle Obama