Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

Bechdel, A. (2006). Fun home: A family tragicomic. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
ISBN: 9780618477944 | hardback | 232 p. | $19.95 USD

Cover image courtesy of goodreads.com

Annotation:   This autobiography of Alison Bechdel, from birth to young adulthood in the 1960s and ‘70s, examines her relationship with her parents and the events that shaped herself and her family.

Book Review:  Alison Bechdel’s memoir is set against the backdrop of the family business—a funeral home the family calls “Fun Home.”  While taking us back to her childhood days of playing with funeral procession flags and chair trolleys, Bechdel focuses on her issues with her father and coming to terms with being a lesbian.  Her father, a high school English teacher who moonlighted as the funeral home’s director, is described as eccentric, unpredictable, angry, and distant from his children.  As a child, Bechdel felt he loved renovating their big, historic home more than his children.  But reasons for this become clearer as the book unfolds to reveal he was a closeted gay man who was having affairs with male students.  Bechdel’s knowledge of this is unknown when she decides to tell her parents about her sexuality; shortly after which her father dies of a possible suicide.  When her mother reveals all, Bechdel is left to consider who her father truly was and to understand herself with these new truths. 

This memoir, formatted as a graphic novel, examines the father-daughter relationship.  However, it also touches on the realization that parents are human, capable of making mistakes and having lives to themselves that may not revolve around their children.  This book is appealing because it’s brutally honest without being judgmental.  Bechdel can at times be pessimistic, but she presents her feelings and childhood objectively; letting readers come to conclusions on their own.  Because of this, Fun Home would be a valuable addition for young adult collections, with a skew toward older teens. Harking back to Bechdel’s honesty, some of the pictures presented are explicit, depicting the author in sexual acts.  I would be careful of having the book out and open while waiting in the doctor’s office like I did!  If you enjoy Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, then check out her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For.

Recommended for ages 16 and up.

My favorite thing(s) about the book: 
The format and author’s honesty.

Favorite character:
Alison

First sentence:  
"Like many fathers, mine could occasionally be prevailed on for a spot of ‘Airplane.’”

Awards/Honors:

ALA Notable Books - Nonfiction: 2007

Eisner Awards: Best Reality-Based Work

Lambda Literary Awards: Biography / Autobiography

New York Times Notable Books - Nonfiction: 2006

Publishing Triangle Award for Lesbian Nonfiction: 2007

Rainbow Lists - Young Adult Nonfiction: 2008

Stonewall Book Awards: Israel Fishman Nonfiction Award

Learn More:
Learn more about the author at her website or follow her blog.

Discover the writing and illustration process of Alison Bechdel.