Not My Father’s Son by Alan Cumming
4 stars
Before reading this book, I wasn’t all that familiar with Alan Cumming’s work as an actor, but the little that I had seen has been incredibly impressive. Besides the fact that he’s Scottish and I could listen to his accent all day and never grow tired of it, I find him fascinating in general. Cumming hosted an author panel during BookExpo America this year (watch the video), but since I wasn’t able to attend myself, a friend was kind enough to bring me back an advance copy of Cumming’s book.
Not My Father’s Son, is not a typical celebrity memoir. It doesn’t go through his life chronologically in the traditional way, and there’s not a whole lot of information about his most notable performances (while they are briefly mentioned, he doesn’t go into detail). Cumming’s memoir is told through an incredibly unique structure: short stories from his childhood and then reflections on those experiences as an adult from a different perspective. It focuses mainly on two areas of his life: his relationship with his abusive father, and his search for more information about his maternal grandfather. Much of the memoir revolves around Cumming’s journey on the BBC celebrity genealogy show “Who Do You Think You Are?,” the revelations and aftermath of what he discovers throughout that journey.
The fact that Cumming chose to focus on just a few stories in his life and then reflect on them gives the reader a glimpse into a deeply personal part of his life. I must give Cumming huge credit for sharing such intimate stories that are obviously very painful, eye-opening and cathartic. Even though he lived through these experiences while they actually happened, and then again when the BBC television show aired, he still had the courage to share his story with the world in writing.
Although this is an incredibly entertaining memoir, uniquely structured to show the reader the more intimate parts of Cumming’s life, I still crave that superficial information about him as a celebrity. I want to know just how he got his start in acting, what it was like to be in Macbeth and star as Emcee in Cabaret (and winning a Tony for it) and about his role on The Good Wife. I want to know about his personal life, his marriage to a woman for eight years and what life is like now that he is married to a man. I truly appreciate and respect the angle Cumming chose for this book, but I admit I was expecting something a little different. Fingers crossed that he’ll write another and I’ll get all of my questions answered!
After reading this book, I now feel I know Alan Cumming more intimately. It’s not hard to see what a brilliant and sensitive gentleman he is, and the fact that he is willing to share such personal stories with the world is remarkably brave. Anyone interested in a unique, witty and entertaining story about a celebrity should pick up Alan Cumming’s Not My Father’s Son.
Not My Father’s Son will be published on October 7, 2014 by It Books/HarperCollins. I received an advanced copy of the book from the publisher at BookExpo America.
