Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
Alison Bechdel's graphic memoir Fun Home explores her childhood and relationship with her late father, who died in an accident that Bechdel strongly suspects was suicide. A mortician in his family's funeral home — which his children call the "fun home" — Bechdel's father is obsessed with the upkeep of their sprawling, historic house and his library of classic literature. As Bechdel grew up, she became increasingly aware of the disconnect between her parents and the secrets that lurked just under the surface of their family facade. Later, as an adult exploring her own identity as a lesbian, Bechdel learns her father was gay and begins to reexamine his life, marriage, and shocking death. Challenged and banned in multiple U.S. states for its frank discussion of sexuality, Fun Home is an important, powerful memoir.
Author:
Alison Bechdel is an American cartoonist and author. She is best-known for her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For; her graphic memoir Fun Home; and the Bechdel Test, which evaluates gender representation in film and other media.
Excerpt:
image © Alison Bechdel and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006.
Published: 2006
Length: 232 pages
Set in: Pennsylvania, United States