Mercurial is a word often used of Cumming; and the quicksilver quality of his personality and career is fully and sometimes brilliantly reflected in this memoir, which charts the ups and downs of his private life against the backdrop of a breathtakingly successful and varied working life ... The truth about Cumming, though, is that this fun-seeking surface of his life is only part of the story; and his mercurial energy also embraces journeys into a deeper and more authoritative place, where he writes thrillingly, and in a much more organised and forceful style, about the intellectual and moral journeys involved in the best of his work ... At 56, in other words, Alan Cumming, comes across as a man of real intellectual and moral substance, who often – for his own good reasons – presents himself as a bit of a showbiz airhead ... We see him in the finest chapters of this book, and in the quality of their prose. And if the next phase of Cummings’s journey involves working that substantial self into an ever more harmonious union with his trademark qualities of lightness and wit, that will be good news for his readers; and for his millions of fans around the globe.

It’s easy to see why he’s so popular: Cumming is delightful company, urbane, self-deprecating and mischievously funny, not above a dishy anecdote or a throwaway dirty pun ... With winning resilience and buoyancy, Cumming revisits a stretch of his young adult life book-ended by two marriages ... It’s a common phenomenon in show-business memoirs that after a performer finds fame, he suddenly has less to write about, splitting the book in half between a hardscrabble Horatio Alger tale and a contented catalog of successive triumphs. By telling his story in two separate volumes, Cumming has made that tonal shift feel less awkward. But the suspense that drove the narrative of Not My Father’s Son is mostly absent from Baggage. This book is less structured, an episodic and sometimes rambling collection of reflections on fame and self-discovery, with a modicum of gossip thrown in for good measure ... Cumming’s second marriage, to the American illustrator Grant Shaffer, is narrated only very briefly in the book’s final pages. Though Cumming has been a prominent figure in L.G.B.T.Q. activism since he came out as bisexual in 1998, the book de-emphasizes this angle, eliding that much-publicized revelation altogether. As a reader, I would have liked a more extended reflection on what it has meant to Cumming to see himself become a queer icon as the world changed around him ... Still, as he takes his leave of us in the epilogue, the 56-year-old Cumming remains the irresistible 'cheeky chappie' who has survived horrific trauma to become a beloved show-business institution, and a perhaps unlikely fount of wisdom.

In general, I'm not one for celebrity memoirs, but "Baggage" captivated me from the very first sentence ... at turns, heartbreaking, infuriating, hilarious and tender. All written in Cumming's chatty, confessional and rather adorable voice (lots of exclamation points), which makes it particularly painful when he writes about the sadistic abuse of his father, of whom he was terrified. And who, my God, later in life he confronted ... There are no apologies here, even as Cumming writes about his drug use, infidelity and a whole host of tragic-from-the-get-go relationships. And it's that unabashed, contented tone that makes this book remarkable. He wasn't always happy, not by a long shot, and he tells us so with courage. But he is happy now, and that makes all the difference.

... the actor’s diverting new memoir reads as if Cumming is across the table, reeling off piquant and revelatory personal anecdotes over a meal and a couple of bottles of prosecco. Told in an exuberant voice, with ample humor, delightful asides and exclamation points, Baggage: Tales From a Fully Packed Life serves up reminiscences that are both intimate and glittery ... brims with incidents that are objectively trivial, but so colorful and wryly recalled that they’re entertaining.

Whether you’re an Alan Cumming superfan or more like, Who? there is something for you to enjoy in the actor’s second memoir, Baggage: Tales From a Fully Packed Life. It is indeed fully packed with reflective writing about his extraordinary life, hard-won wisdom and plenty of Hollywood gossip ... Celebrity memoirs can be a literary crapshoot, but Cumming is a truly gifted writer ... umming is able to pivot from sassy and self-effacing to sensitive and serious, perhaps because he embodies all those qualities himself, but what radiates the strongest is his confidence. Throughout all the stories in Baggage, he never seems like he’s trying to prove anything—but after a 40-year career, what does he really have to prove? Even if the author were not a celeb, Baggage would be a worthy read for anyone who has triumphed over a difficult childhood.

Cumming’s memoir includes many delicious theater and Hollywood stories—featuring the likes of Liza Minnelli, Gore Vidal, Walter Cronkite, Parker Posey, and Jessica Lange—juxtaposed with insight into a wildly diverse spectrum of theater, television, and film projects. There are especially fun details of Cumming’s Tony Award–winning performance as the androgynous emcee in the late ’90s Cabaret revival ... Cumming is an exceedingly talented, witty, brave soul; his poignant book is a testament to his willingness to wrestle with demons and move forward ... This second act is sure to be another hit in Cumming’s career; readers will be left hoping for a third memoir.

Cumming returns with a series of revealing and witty reflections on coming to terms with his demons rather than conquering them ... Though confronting his father about his abusiveness was transformative, Cumming resists the narrative that everything was magically solved ... Engaging and often funny, this surprisingly deep work beguiles with its sharp observations and earnest life lessons.

... wise, pensive, sometimes chatty ... 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.