Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

Alison Bechdel had an unusual childhood, raised by intellectuals in a very small town where they helped run the family funeral home, sometimes called “fun home”. She recreates her childhood in comics form, based on her own extensive journals but with incisive hindsight. She pays special attention to her father, a very flawed, closeted queer man, who died in an accident (or possibly suicide) shortly after Alison came out as a lesbian in college.

I understood going in that this was a pioneer of graphic memoirs and was prepared to appreciate it in that context, but even by today's standards Fun Home is a piece of art. The simple drawings never distract from the story she's telling, and she is open about her attempt to bring her father show more to life through the illustrations. I especially enjoyed the narration, through captions, which made it feel like Alison was showing me a story instead of expecting me to get lost in the illustrations, which I find hard to do. The story itself is very moving, and as a memoir alone it’s incredibly adept. If you’ve been putting this one off, don’t forget about it, because it really holds up. show less

I’m a fan of Bechdel’s comic “Dykes to Watch Out For,” so I don’t know why I waited so long to read this highly acclaimed memoir. It certainly deserves the accolades. It’s a moving and heartfelt contemplation of Bechdel’s relationship with her father, primarily. Her father died while she was in college, just after she came out as a lesbian, and it’s not clear whether his death was an accident or a suicide. The puzzle of her father’s own sexuality, his relationship with his family, how he felt about his closeted life in their small town running the family business (a funeral home, a.k.a. “fun home”) are all examined this way and that, as Bechdel clearly tries to make sense of her fraught relationship with him. show more It’s frank, funny, and tragic in turns. For a graphic novel (of which I don’t read many and about which I think I have some prejudices) it’s surprisingly literary, and I have to admire Bechdel’s honesty. show less

This was a fascinating graphic novel, though the subject matter is dark. The author deals honestly with her family's myriad of issues. From her father's affairs to her own struggle with her sexality, Bechdel never shies from the issue. I loved the continuous references to classic works of literature throughout the book. The author sees her own struggle mirrored in various books and finds solace in those comparisons. In the end I felt like some of the portrayals were a bit alienating. Their home life was so strange and she seems to skirt around the cavalier attitude her parents had towards child-rearing.

Bechdel’s memoir offers a graphic narrative of uncommon richness, depth, literary resonance and psychological complexity.

Though Bechdel (known for her syndicated “Dykes to Watch Out For” strip and collections) takes her formal cues from comic books, she receives more inspiration from the likes of Proust and Joyce as she attempts to unravel the knots of her family’s twisted emotional history. At the core of this compelling narrative is her relationship with her father, a literary-minded high-school teacher who restores and runs the familial funeral parlor. (It is also the family’s residence and the “fun home” of the title.) Beneath his icy reserve and fussy perfectionism, he is a barely closeted homosexual and a suspected show more pedophile, an imposing but distant presence to his young daughter, who finds that their main bond is a shared literary sensibility. As she comes of age as an artist and comes to terms with her own sexual identity, Bechdel must also deal with the dissolution of her parents’ marriage and, soon afterward, her father’s death. Was it an accident or was it suicide? How did her father’s sexuality shape her own? Rather than proceeding in chronological fashion, the memoir keeps circling back to this central relationship and familial tragedy, an obsession that the artist can never quite resolve or shake. The results are painfully honest, occasionally funny and penetratingly insightful. Feminists, lesbians and fans of underground comics will enthusiastically embrace this major advance in Bechdel’s work, which should significantly extend both her renown and her readership.

Though this will likely be stocked with graphic novels, it shares as much in spirit with the work of Mary Karr, Tobias Wolff and other contemporary memoirists of considerable literary accomplishment.

-Kirkus Review show less

5Q, 4P
I love this novel! Alison Bechdel is so refreshingly honest in her writing, holding nothing back even when describing her own insecurities and faults. I don't know if Bechdel's beliefs of her father's final moments are true, but what's important is that she came to understand him and herself through his actions, which is more than what many children can say of their relationships with their parents. It is difficult to recognize our parents as separate from us, but Bechdel has reached inside herself to understand and let go of the pain she built up around her father. This book speaks to those who struggle to let go, and allows readers to learn from both her and her father's experience. It is better to be who you are and live with show more the consequences than die never having been yourself. show less

Is there anyone you know who doesn't have a lot of respect for 'comic books' and their creators? Hand them a copy of "Fun Home", and when they're finished, defy them to tell you that Alison Bechdel's story could have been rendered in any format that would possibly be more sublime than that of her graphic novel.

In fact, I'm tempted to defy anyone to give this graphic novel less than 5 stars. Go on, I dare you. Jaw-dropping illustrations that readily evoke emotion and thoughtful consideration, an arc of literary symmetry that shimmers through the family's biography, and a subject matter that would send lesser humans to a darkened corner to rock themselves and suck their thumbs. Told and drawn with humor, love, rage and dignity. show more Amazing.

The staggering talent of the author - in both word and illustration - is more than up to the task of telling her family's heartbreaking story. I think perhaps the word "poignant" was created for the sole purpose of describing this book. Did "poignant" exist before "Fun Home"? I'm not sure.

Definitely not a book for youngsters or the easily offended - but if you've read even the simplest of summaries regarding the book, you already knew that. Read it if you can. show less

I don't often read graphic novels/memoirs, but for years I've heard about how good this is. In fact, I thought I had already read it, because in my mind, I had somehow confused Alison Bechdel and Roz Chast, and somehow thought Can We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, which I have read, was this book. I now know better.

I loved this graphic memoir about growing up with a father who is a closeted homosexual and a mother who is deeply unhappy, as well a coming to terms with her own sexuality. The drawings are wonderfully expressive, though simple, and convey so much. The text is exquisite, true, and abounds with literary references for us bibliophiles. The book deserves all the hype. If you are one of the few who hasn't experienced this show more yet, READ It.

5 stars show less