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Audiobook read by the author.
In general I am not a big fan of celebrity memoirs, but Cumming’s memoir of a childhood living with an abusive father, and how he came to terms with the abuse, faced his past and overcame it is well worth reading.
The key event was his agreement to participate in a TV show that searches the celebrity’s genealogic past. He knew there might be some family secrets unearthed – the kind of stuff reality television lives for – so he decided to do some searching on his own ...more
In general I am not a big fan of celebrity memoirs, but Cumming’s memoir of a childhood living with an abusive father, and how he came to terms with the abuse, faced his past and overcame it is well worth reading.
The key event was his agreement to participate in a TV show that searches the celebrity’s genealogic past. He knew there might be some family secrets unearthed – the kind of stuff reality television lives for – so he decided to do some searching on his own ...more
In “Not My Father’s Son” actor Alan Cumming tells two stories; one about his father and one about his maternal grandfather. Cumming grew up in the Scottish highlands of Panmure where he was terrorized by his unpredictable and violent father. There's a horrific passage about his father holding him down and shaving his head with a rusty old razor, like he was an animal being shorn. In spite of his mother's love and support, Cumming writes, “there is not one memory from our childhoods that is not c
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I have always enjoyed Alan Cumming’s work. In interviews he appears honest, intelligent, effervescent and with hidden depth. This book blew me away, especially hearing him read his story. I knew of his advocacy and his strength to be an early “out” artist but to hear him tell of his struggles and moving beyond them was inspiring. Even if you are not a fan of his work you may relate to the boy he was and the man he has become. Highly recommend.
I'd read some great reviews on this book, so decided to read it for an autobiography/memoir challenge, even though I wouldn't consider myself a fan of his. It was ok. He's clearly an actor, not a writer - I found it quite like reading a high school essay. Perhaps it works better as an audiobook.
In all honesty, the book just wasn't that interesting.
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In all honesty, the book just wasn't that interesting.
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The interesting story of Alan Cumming's mid-life journey to put the ghosts of his past to rest. And a couple of horrific ghosts they are. His own psychotically abusive father and the adventure-seeking lost soul who was his maternal grandfather. What creates the tension, as Cumming says himself, is the parallel path the two individual stories take despite the fact that his grandfather was long dead before he was even born.
The story was interesting enough but it had the added element of learning h ...more
The story was interesting enough but it had the added element of learning h ...more
I think I could be a little bit in love with Alan Cumming after listening to him read his book. How anyone could have gone through what he did while growing up, and come out of it with such grace, wit, and positive attitude is beyond me. I've enjoyed him as an actor, and now I admire him as a person.
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Apr 11, 2018
Erin
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
biography
Apr 25, 2017
Reed
marked it as to-read
Oct 19, 2022
Cilla
marked it as to-read
Apr 25, 2025
Janet Wagner
marked it as to-read
