Love 'im anytime. Thanks Alan ( )

What can I say about this book? I loved it! Every little bit of it. I don't know much about Alan Cumming, I think the only thing I've seen him in is Tin Man. However, I need him to write more books. He comes across as authentic and just a little eccentric and I love that to bits! ( )

I love Alan Cumming. He is charming and witty and irreverent. And honest. I snagged this audio as soon as I saw it, but waited to dip into it until I could get the print book from the library to follow along since it's a book of stories with accompanying photos. The book came into the library yesterday, and I started listening to this last night. Finished it up this morning, and it is absolutely delightful. If you don't do audio, then it would work just as well in the print format, but I loved having Cumming tell it to me himself. The audiobook does come with a PDF of the photos, so you can still see the photos without getting the actual print book, but I really enjoyed having both at my disposal.

What Cumming has done is to share selfies that he has taken over the years - both with his cellphone and with cameras with timers - and provide the stories that led to the photo. It will surprise you - the photos are both funny and poignant, eclectic and traditional, bizarre and surreal. The stories will make you laugh out loud and cry. My three favorites are:

"Travels With Honey" - a sort of [Travels With Charlie] if Steinbeck had been bisexual, vegan, and Scottish.

"You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams" - the story of his taking his friend Eddie, who is completely obsessed with Oprah to see her being honored by the Elie Wiesel Foundation.

"Head Down, Eyes Up" - a lovely homage to his dog Honey that made me sob. He lost Honey to cancer after fourteen years, and this hit so close to home as we said goodbye to two of our dearest canine friends of fourteen years just a brief six months ago.

I just cannot recommend this collection highly enough - selfie vignettes! Who would have thunk it?! ( )

I treated myself to this book for my birthday as the bookstore organised author talk came bundled with the book. It's a quick and breezy read, with some detours into personal things (and his activism), as he shared snapshots he's taken and the stories (in some cases) behind them. The snapshots aren't great photos, they're more evocative of a moment in time and so work really well with the memories. During the talk Cumming admitted that he's more of a storyteller/entertainer than an actor/writer/photographer/singer - he uses various mediums to connect with people. It's not chronological, I'd recommend "Not My Father's Son" over this one if you want an autobiography from him. But I'll highly recommend seeing him in person, he's super charming and articulate, and his Scottish accented voice is lovely to listen to. :-) ( )