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Baggage : tales from a fully packed life / Alan Cumming.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Edinburgh, Scotland : Canongate Books, 2021Description: 270 pages : ; illustrations ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 1838856633
  • 9781838856632
  • 1838856641
  • 9781838856649
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Summary: 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 prioritise 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.
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Biographies Davis (Central) Library Biographies Biographies B CUMM Available T00842889
Biographies Mobile Library Biographies Biographies B CUMM Available T00845659
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A joyous and poignant book about the world of professional acting, the messiness of life and how every experience - good or bad - shapes who you are, from the New York Times bestselling author of Not My Father's Son

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 prioritise 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 provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Actor Cumming (Not My Father's Son) returns with a series of revealing and witty reflections on coming to terms with his demons rather than conquering them. He lays out the truth as he sees it: "I believe the second you feel you have triumphed or overcome something, anything... you have merely decided to stop being vigilant and embraced denial as your modus operandi." Growing up with a sadistic father and navigating the oft-bizarre situations that came with fame were just a fraction of the ups and downs that comprised Cumming's personal and professional life. Though confronting his father about his abusiveness was transformative, Cumming resists the narrative that everything was magically solved; there were misguided decisions (including rushing into doomed romantic relationships), drug usage ("Ecstasy was my self-prescribed anti-anxiety medication"), and interventions that failed. But compassion trounces nihilism as Cumming looks back at his past with hard-earned wisdom and acceptance. "If life has taught me anything, it's that change is a given.... The sooner we embrace its possibility the sooner we can really start living." Engaging and often funny, this surprisingly deep work beguiles with its sharp observations and earnest life lessons. Agent: Luke Janklow, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Oct.)

Kirkus Book Review

The acclaimed actor reflects on overcoming a painful past to make room for a fruitful future. In his moving debut memoir, Not My Father's Son (2014), Scottish actor and activist Cumming (b. 1965) urgently confessed to growing up in a sadistically abusive family and how that experience hobbled his adult life, suppressing his emotional maturity and limiting his capacity for happiness. In this wise, pensive, sometimes chatty book, the author examines how he has been able to embrace the painful memories embedded in his "splintered psyche" in order to move forward and face further challenges along the way. He shares stories of his strained eight-year heterosexual marriage and his deep dive into early theater roles to fill the void. From there, Cumming nonchronologically glances further back into his childhood and his burgeoning love of performance and drama school. In the 1990s, British theater gave way to glittery feature film junkets and side character roles in Hollywood; he includes an expanded memory about his work with Stanley Kubrick and Tom Cruise in Eyes Wide Shut. Cumming came out in the late 1990s after a momentous Tony Award--winning performance in Cabaret and a greatly anticipated relocation to New York City. The book's midsection is aflutter with Hollywood anecdotes of stars, dalliances, and heartbreaks over men as well as the breathless first encounter with his husband, Grant. Thoughtful, candid revelations join with intimate confessions while Cumming's witty repartee never falters. Regardless of his traumatic past, the memoir lifts the veil on a happier man who has "transcended and bloomed." With heartfelt anecdotes and an honest perspective, Cumming shares the struggles and joys of a fulfilling life while making peace with the baggage of a troubled past. Cathartic and revelatory, Cumming's memoir will fascinate fans and those who relate to his internal struggle. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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