Scrappy Little Nobody

Anna Kendrick

Nov 2016 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this eBook

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 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).

Ratings and reviews

I loved Anna Kendrick in Pitch Perfect and find her Twitter quite amusing, so I was excited to start her memoir Scrappy Little Nobody. The book goes into her life as a child actor, the way theatre and Hollywood shaped her experiences as a child, as a teen, as an adult, and how being an outsider to the process, she was constantly surprised by the things she kept on figuring out. Her tone is a little self-deprecating, a little what-is-going-on-here, and a little this-is-crazy-but-I-love-it. If you like her humor, you will definitely like reading the book. However, I’m not really a reader of non-fiction, and I like to have a good narrative thread to what I read. While her anecdotes and stories are hilarious on their own, when strung together, they feel very disjointed and abrupt. I would have probably been better off reading this slowly, part by part over a long period of time but that’s not how I read, soooo *shrugs* Overall, all I can say that is that it is entertaining and humorous to be sure, but still not a book I thoroughly enjoyed reading. She is awesome at making any story sound intriguing but this could have been edited better to flow well.

I loved every last bit of this book, page after page. This sort of solidified the type of person I knew she was. Scrappy Little Nobody shows a more personal and realistic side of an actress and the types of situations and real complexities of an industry a lot of people don't understand. Scrappy Little Nobody deserves a lot of recognition. It is a must read.

It's a very awesome book. I'm saying this not because i'm a fan of Anna Kendrick. The book let's you connect with Anna. I hope the hard copy will be available in the Philippines though 😊💕

About the author

Born and raised in Portland, Maine, Anna Kendrick made her Broadway debut at the age of twelve in her Tony-nominated performance for the musical High Society. Since her Academy Award–nominated role as Natalie Keener in Up in the Air, she has made numerous theatrical appearances, including starring roles in Into the Woods, the Twilight saga, and the Pitch Perfect film franchise. In 2013, she achieved musical success with the triple-platinum hit song “Cups (When I’m Gone),” featured in Pitch Perfect. She lives in Los Angeles.