Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life
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- Create Date：2021-10-27 18:21:02
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Alan Cumming
- ISBN：0062435787
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Summary
An intimate look at the making of a man， an actor， an advocate--and most importantly--a happy human being。 A wonderful book that is funny， honest， fearless， and generous in its vulnerability。 --Douglas Stuart， Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain
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。
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。
Reviews
Mardi
，
[Review of uncorrected page proofs]An open， honest， revealing excursion with one of my favorite actors （I even like his "creepy" characters）。 We seem to spend much of the book on planes or missing planes。 It feels very much like the story your row mate would tell you on a long flight when neither of you can sleep。Cumming questions the nature and faultiness of memory with the benefit/curse of having much of his life stored on the web for all to see。 He is gentle with people from his past， droppin [Review of uncorrected page proofs]An open， honest， revealing excursion with one of my favorite actors （I even like his "creepy" characters）。 We seem to spend much of the book on planes or missing planes。 It feels very much like the story your row mate would tell you on a long flight when neither of you can sleep。Cumming questions the nature and faultiness of memory with the benefit/curse of having much of his life stored on the web for all to see。 He is gentle with people from his past， dropping names of people he's worked with but protecting friends and past lovers。 There's none of the meanness or cattiness one might expect of a celebrity memoir。 This book is a lighter read than his previous memoir， "Not My Father's Son"。 Though， I recommend that one， too。 "Baggage" also serves as a chronology of Cumming's work and I thought several times as I was reading， 'I hope that's streaming！' 。。。more
Erik
，
Baggage is Alan Cumming's memoir about being himself， an actor in the 90s and early aughts。Cumming was a young boy in Scotland when he realized he had a knack for acting that could take him beyond the stages of Edinburgh and Glasgow。 His recounting of his acting experiences takes him from the stages of London - where he learned to embrace his Scottishness - to the stages of New York's Broadway。 On Broadway he became a breakaway star as the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret and eventually would bec Baggage is Alan Cumming's memoir about being himself， an actor in the 90s and early aughts。Cumming was a young boy in Scotland when he realized he had a knack for acting that could take him beyond the stages of Edinburgh and Glasgow。 His recounting of his acting experiences takes him from the stages of London - where he learned to embrace his Scottishness - to the stages of New York's Broadway。 On Broadway he became a breakaway star as the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret and eventually would become a regular in a number of Hollywood films。Alan Cumming always seemed to me to be an edgy， interesting， and unique queer figure。 But this book made me realize that he thinks far higher of himself than is warranted。 Much of Baggage is Cumming going on about how famous he is 。 。 。 over and over again。 There are nuggets of the book where Cumming explores the people that populate his life - Gore Vidal， Liza Minelli， and his partner - where this annoying self-indulgence disappears。 But far too much of the book is the product of self-promotion to make this memoir memorable。 。。。more
Lois
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