gr8reader's review against another edition
4.0
Surprising, compelling, sad...... At times it read like a suspense novel..... Only you knew it was a try story. Looked the "flipping" back and forth between his childhood and the current time when he was writing the book. The Revelations were remarkable. Hope that Alan, his Mom and brother have healed.
realfemshady's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
kimberwitch's review
5.0
I don't read many memoirs or autobiographies, but I enjoy watching Alan Cumming in anything he works on. This memoir is written in such a way as to make the reader feel like you are privy to the deeply intimate and honest thoughts of the author. He holds nothing back in describing the abuse he endured from his father and paints a vivid picture of his daily, childhood life. Ultimately, this is a survivor's story, a story of rising from the ashes, embracing the experiences that form us, embracing ourselves, releasing guilt and letting go.
I loved this book. It gave me a deeper appreciation of Alan himself, his craft, and his willingness/braveness to share such darkness from his life.
I loved this book. It gave me a deeper appreciation of Alan himself, his craft, and his willingness/braveness to share such darkness from his life.
mandylovestoread's review
5.0
What a great books, read by Alan himself talking about his childhood and his time on Who Do You Think You Are. Emotional, at times funny and honest.
likecymbeline's review
5.0
I spend a lot of time at my library moving around my non-fiction and trying to get it out the door. Everyone says that they like fiction, but I don't think they realise that non-fiction books aren't just lists of facts and dates. I came across this book in the course of librarying, and read synopsis, the praise. I pulled it down again a couple of days later and read the first page, then closed it quickly and put it back. I would need to read it all at once, not in stolen glances. A couple of days later, even though I had other books on the go I felt I needed to finish first, I said fuck it because I knew I couldn't resist and wanted to read this. I read the first 220 pages in one night, long past when I should have been sleeping, and cleared the last part of it the following night.
Cumming's story is highly emotional, evoking the inhuman chill of being brought up in abuse, and highly well-crafted. We flip between "now and then" as we work our way through familial and personal mysteries. Part of the reason I couldn't stop reading was because I wanted to know so badly what Alan would find out next. I sometimes felt it was cruel of him to withhold from me what he must already know, but he lays out so many of the "present" events as they happened to him, forcing the reader to understand a modicum of the apprehensive anxiety he was stuck with for days and weeks.
I thought for some reason that because it was by a celebrity it would be some sort of "how I got famous memoir," which I had no interest in, but I could not have been more misguided.
Cumming's story is highly emotional, evoking the inhuman chill of being brought up in abuse, and highly well-crafted. We flip between "now and then" as we work our way through familial and personal mysteries. Part of the reason I couldn't stop reading was because I wanted to know so badly what Alan would find out next. I sometimes felt it was cruel of him to withhold from me what he must already know, but he lays out so many of the "present" events as they happened to him, forcing the reader to understand a modicum of the apprehensive anxiety he was stuck with for days and weeks.
I thought for some reason that because it was by a celebrity it would be some sort of "how I got famous memoir," which I had no interest in, but I could not have been more misguided.
grammy1013's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Mental illness
readbookswithbecca's review against another edition
4.0
Great story! Not your regular celebrity memoir.