Alan Cumming's Reading List

“I would play her as a man, not in drag or anything,” says the Tony-winning actor Alan Cumming, whose new memoir is “Baggage.” “Once you’ve played everything in ‘Macbeth’ (like I have) there are slim pickings in terms of great, complicated, messed-up Scots left to play!”

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By the Book: Alan Cumming (2021)

NYT By the Book column (2021-10-28).

Source: www.nytimes.com

The Politics of the Family

R. D. Laing · Buy on Amazon

"His belief that madness or mental illness is not something to be locked away and hidden but that it is potentially a shamanic experience with much to teach us is fascinating to me."

My Autobiography

Charlie Chaplin · Buy on Amazon

"I loved finding out more about him. Did you know he used to vacation in Nairn in Scotland?"

Starbook

Ben Okri · Buy on Amazon

"I also love the mythical, fablelike quality of his stories. There is something very comforting and ancient about them. I can't wait to get sucked into this one."

Shuggie Bain

Douglas Stuart · 2020 · Buy on Amazon

"It was beautiful. Heartbreaking and awful and all the worst of humanity right next to the most touching and tender moments and then the biggest belly laughs. It made me miss home actually."

After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie

Jean Rhys · Buy on Amazon

"I think this one is so brilliant. It feels very autobiographical ... Like "Shuggie Bain" it feels like you are experiencing this person's life, not just observing them."

The Catcher in the Rye

J. D. Salinger · 1951 · Buy on Amazon

"both feel that you are inside someone's head and so I think that idea of being completely lost, completely overwhelmed and immersed in a role was fueled very much by reading them."

The Trick Is to Keep Breathing

Janice Galloway · Buy on Amazon

"both feel that you are inside someone's head and so I think that idea of being completely lost, completely overwhelmed and immersed in a role was fueled very much by reading them."

Favorite books (2023)

Favorite books recommended by Alan Cumming, as compiled by radicalreads.com. Source article: https://radicalreads.com/alan-cumming-favorite-books/.

Source: radicalreads.com

The Blind Assassin

Margaret Atwood (also rec’d by Elena Ferrante ) · Buy on Amazon

"Margaret Atwood is so clever and brilliant, just reading her book and keeping up with it made me feel like a genius. But to engage a reader emotionally over so many different storylines is awe-inspiring."

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