Description

‘No one ever fully recovers from their past. There is no cure for it. You just learn to manage and prioritise it. I believe the second you feel you have triumphed or overcome something, anything – an abuse, an injury to the body or the mind, an addiction, a character flaw, a habit, a person – you have merely decided to stop being vigilant and embraced denial as your modus operandi. And that is what this book is about, and for: to remind you not to buy in to the Hollywood ending.’

Baggage chronicles the actor’s life in Hollywood and the ways in which work has repeatedly whisked him away from personal calamities to sets and stages around the world. Taking us through the highs and lows of his career, his struggle with mental health, each failed relationship or encounter with a legend (Liza! X-Men! Gore Vidal! Kubrick! Spice Girls!), every bad decision or moment of sensual joy, Cumming shows how every experience – good or bad – has shaped who he is today: a happy, flawed, vulnerable, fearless middle-aged man, with a lot of baggage. Startlingly honest, both poignant and joyous, Baggage shines a light on how to embrace the complicated messiness of life.

Publisher Review

An intimate look at the making of a man, an actor, an advocate and - most importantly - a happy human being. Cumming is a natural raconteur, and this feels like a private conversation between the author and the reader. A wonderful book that is funny, honest, fearless and generous in its vulnerability -- DOUGLAS STUART It seems fundamentally unfair that Alan Cumming is, in addition to being a fine actor and a wicked performer, such a hell of a good writer. But he is. He's observant, honest, often trenchantly funny, always emotionally honest. He's an international treasure -- NEIL GAIMAN Everything that makes Alan Cumming so engaging as a person and a performer - his cleverness, kindness, charm, wildness and, above all, authenticity - shines from every page of this wonderful, witty and wise book -- NIGELLA LAWSON I could not love this man or this book more. Alan writes with such unvarnished truth and a humour that can only come from a brilliant mind, rapier wit and resilience from emotionally painful life experiences. This book - like Alan is off the page - is full of insight, compassion, intellect and wisdom. This is the best Baggage to have -- MONICA LEWINSKY Praise for Not My Father's Son: Equal parts memoir, whodunnit and manual for living, Not My Father's Son is a beautifully written, honest look at the forces of blood and bone that make us what we are, and how we make ourselves. I was completely sucked in -- NEIL GAIMAN Powerful . . . the result is both heart-breaking and brave . . . A thoroughly gripping read, one that keeps its biggest revelation until the very end * * Sunday Times * * What a shattering, compelling and extraordinary story Alan Cumming has to tell. And he does so with such style and grace . . . Beautifully and cunningly structured, Not My Father's Son is one of the most memorable, heart-stopping autobiographies I have ever read -- STEPHEN FRY A poignant chronicle of damage sustained in youth and his recovery * * Observer * * Cumming's bravery is breathtaking . . . this is a brave book, airing fundamental agonies of the human condition with as light a touch as is possibly possible * * Sunday Express * * In beautiful, honest, arresting prose, he offers a tale you'll never forget. A real diamond of a book -- ANDREW O'HAGAN