Sunday, November 05, 2006

What I'm Reading -- Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel


Fun Home is a memoir in graphic novel form. Bechdel wrote and illustrated this powerful book about her childhood. Fun Home really centers on Bechdel’s father who was an English teacher, ran a small town funeral parlor and obsessed over the old mansion they lived in. Growing up, the author feels secondary to the house her father is so passionate about. As she learns more about her father, she realizes their lives are parallel to each other. His hidden relationships with other men are comparable to Bechdel’s sexuality that she slowly reveals to her parents. This is a fairly long graphic novel, though the author packs it with information the reader needs. Bechdel illustrates the comic with simple drawings and just a touch of color. This is a very raw telling of a girl growing up under some tough emotional circumstances. Fun Home is a bit heavy, but quite good.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I've been meaning to read this, but it'll now have to wait until after the Cybils. Things are begining to stack up...