Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • Baggage

  • Tales from a Fully Packed Life
  • By: Alan Cumming
  • Narrated by: Alan Cumming
  • Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (176 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Baggage

By: Alan Cumming
Narrated by: Alan Cumming
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £23.99

Buy Now for £23.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

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 best-selling author of Not My Father’s Son.

'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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Alan Cumming (P)2021 Canongate Books
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams cover art
Oh Miriam! cover art
This Much Is True cover art
Cultural Amnesia cover art
Love from the Pink Palace cover art
My Sh-t Life So Far cover art
Master of Ceremonies cover art
Record Play Pause cover art
Wild Card cover art
Jerome Robbins, by Himself cover art
I Was Better Last Night cover art
Rising to the Surface cover art
Caught with My Pants Down and Other Tales from a Life in Hollywood cover art
You Can't Be Serious cover art
The Noticer cover art
Mike Nichols cover art

What listeners say about Baggage

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    138
  • 4 Stars
    27
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    135
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    120
  • 4 Stars
    23
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A must!

Loved it. What a story! Just about to download Not My Fathers Son. Carry on being you Alan! You are ‘The best’! 😊

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fabulous!

Alan is a one-off and his writing is as good as his acting. This is so touching and thoughtful a listen. Cannot recommend highly enough!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

Brilliant second memoir from one of my very favourite actors. Alan details his ongoing fight to save Tonka, an adult chimpanzee who starred with him in the film 'Buddy', from terrible conditions at a base for retired showbuisness animals. Petition in the link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/~/article-4580370/index.html

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wow! the force of nature that's Alan Cumming.

I wanted to know what this Alan Cumming. bloke was all about. He's same age as me, and came from Scotland like me (I'm Loch Lomond). We both had abusive fathers, and both ended up in the arts and entertainment industry. Though he did rather better than me ... Well, his book is fantastic, I identify so much, and like so many before me I'm now a fan. Thank you for the light you shine. x

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Lives, lives and demons laid bare!

I loved this book! All the better that Allan Cumming read it... Interesting life!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love memoir

I enjoyed hearing Alan's tales and musings from his celebrity life, as well as his personal life, fascinating man.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

From start to finish this was a great listen.

Alan Cumming has lived such an interesting life, formed friendships with superstars and and won awards aplenty however his story is told with both humour and humility.

If you merely quite like Alan Cumming (as I did before listening to this) you’ll come away a committed fan. Several times while listening I was left thinking how much fun it would be to spend an evening in his company.

One of the best audiobooks I’ve listened to. Buy it!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Incredibly funny sad honest and insightful journey - loved this book

Loved this book - so engaging with some extreme highs and lows. The author narrates the book this amazing and heartfelt account - less harrowing than Not My Fathers Son - although I would give that 5 stars too!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Powerful and uplifting

Absolutely loved this book and it was all the better for hearing Alan's own voice narrating it. Honest and frank, yet also careful not to fully identify others in his life, I feel honoured to have been invited into his thoughts.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

a pure delight

Alan has wrapped his view of the world into a presentation of fun and song.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!