Baggage: Tales From a Fully Packed Life

Baggage: Tales From a Fully Packed Life is the follow up to Alan Cumming's previous memoir Not My Father's Son which took readers through Cumming's horrific childhood at the hands of his abusive father. It was an emotional read and one of my all-time favourite memoirs. Yup, it was that amazing. This new book picks up his life story as he begins his career as a stage actor, Hollywood movie star and simply a young man trying to figure out his way in life and love.

Cumming is an engaging, charming storyteller. He is frank, funny, and humble as he tells the story of his ups and downs as a celebrity with funny anecdotes, often with his famous friends (wee gripe - I wish he had dished a bit about his time on The Good Wife - a role that I loved him in!). And although this book is more focused on his life on stage, he also shares his personal life - loves, losses, marriages, his pride in his Scots heritage and his experiences in Hollywood as an openly queer actor. 

I had borrowed both the print and eAudiobook from my public library and although I enjoyed the pictures in the hardcover, I opted to listen to Alan tell his story in the audiobook. I get all swoony for a Scots accent and always prefer having the author read their memoir to me. I loved his easy-going, conversational tone and Cumming once again proves he is a compelling writer who skillfully balances emotional aspects with humour. 

This was a great memoir, but I'll admit that I liked his first memoir a bit more. If you're looking to pick this book up, I strongly recommend reading Not My Father's Son first so you understand more about Cumming's childhood and how and why it continues to permeate his adult life. 

This memoir is a blend of Hollywood who's who, an honest portrayal of his struggles and successes with a hearty dose of humourous anecdotes as Alan Cumming (no 's' at the end, if you please!) describes his life in and out of Hollywood.

My Rating: 4 stars

Author: Alan Cumming

Genre: Memoir, LGBTQ+

Type and Source: eAudiobook from public library

Narrator: Alan Cumming

Run Time: 8 hours, 37 minutes

Publisher: HarperAudio

First Published: Oct 26, 2021

Opening Lines: Whenever anyone asks me 

how I am, I always reply, "Still alive!"

Book Description from GoodReads: There is absolutely no logical reason why I am here. The life trajectory my nationality and class and circumstances portended for me was not even remotely close to the one I now navigate. But logic is a science and living is an art.

The release I felt in writing my first memoir, Not My Father's Son, was matched only by how my speaking out empowered so many to engage with their own trauma. I was reminded of the power of my words and the absolute duty of authenticity.

But...

No one ever fully recovers from their past. There is no cure for it. You just learn to manage and prioritize it. I believe the second you feel you have triumphed or overcome something - 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.

Ironically maybe, much of Baggage chronicles my life in Hollywood and how, since I recovered from a nervous breakdown at 28, work has repeatedly whisked me away from personal calamities to sets and stages around the world. It is also about marriage(s): starting with the break-up of my first (to a woman) and ending with the ascension to my second (to a man) with many kissed toads in between! But in everything, each failed relationship or encounter with a legend (Liza! X Men! Gore Vidal! Kubrick! Spice Girls!), in every bad decision or moment of sensual joy I have endeavored to show what I have learned and how I've become who I am today: a happy, flawed, vulnerable, fearless middle-aged man, with a lot of baggage.