Scrappy Little Nobody: Anna Kendrick (A book written by a musician)

This was my first foray into the world of memoirs, and I think I liked it. I'll admit that it took me a long time to get into it. A memoir, at least this memoir, is like reading someone's journal. They edit the journal and only include the stories they think are important, but you're nonetheless reading someone's journal.

A friend told me the other day that having to listen to someone's dreams from the previous night is the worst thing you can do to a person. All dreams are are "had to be there" moments. And I feel this is very true for Kendrick's life. Most of the stories are "had to be there" stories, and clearly, I wasn't there. I chuckled at a few of her tales, but for the most part, I kept asking myself, "Why am I reading this?" or "Why was it necessary to include this story?"

This is a very minor complaint, but I was also bummed that she didn't include anything from The Last Five Years which is my favorite of her works that I've seen. When I decided to read the book, I was excited to hear her take on that musical, but she didn't really give her take on anything she was in, which I guess makes sense because that's not the point I guess?

Which does lead me to another question: What is the point of this memoir? Is it supposed to lead to some earth shattering revelation in it's readers? Are we supposed to feel good about ourselves in the end because now we know that Anna Kendrick is a completely normal, down-to-earth human being? Are we just supposed to laugh a few times? Is there a lesson? Or is it just pointless? I'd like to hear from Kendrick herself as to why she wrote the book. Was it just another way for her to make money, or did she have a grander purpose in writing? Perhaps she has said as much somewhere, and if so, please direct me there. I'm very curious.

It took me two weeks to get through this, not because it was long but because I had to convince myself to keep going every time I thought about it. And that's because, again, I didn't understand why I was reading it. I was reading someone's reflection on their life, and this person is only 33, so really, she hasn't lived much life. Maybe I'm missing the entire point of memoirs (very possible as this is my first). I won't give up on the genre because there are a lot of people I want to read a memoir about. Anna Kendrick just isn't one of those people. I chose to read this because I needed to fulfill a category for my reading challenge: a book written by a musician, and someone suggested this. 

The book itself was well-written and had some fun pictures sporadically placed throughout, which was a nice addition. Aside from having to convince myself to keep reading, it was a very easy read. It just wasn't a fun read, as I thought it would be.