Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (and Read-a-thon!)

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic is an autobiographical story about Alison Bechdel’s childhood, the death of her father, and how she dealt with the realization that she was gay. There’s even more that she has to deal with, like the circumstances of her father’s death and a particular fact that she learns about him shortly before he dies. But I don’t want to give too much away.

Alison Bechdel’s parents are both English teachers. Her father is also obsessed with restoring old houses, like the Adams Family style mansion the family lives in, and runs the family business – a funeral home. Alison’s childhood, then, is filled with Gothic houses, coffins, and books. Lots and lots of books.


Fun Home moves back and forth in time, from Alison’s childhood to the weeks before and after her father’s death. Her relationship with her father is at the centre of this story. And books are an essential part of their relationship – they are a language they have in common, a means to hint at things that are never openly said.

Fun Home is a story about death and loss, growing up, sexual and gender identity, and of course, books. It’s full of literary allusions, from Greek myths to Charles Adams, Shakespeare, Proust, Fitzgerald or Henry James. Many of these are books I haven’t read, or, in the case of Ulysses, books I happily plan on never reading. But nevertheless, I felt right at home with Fun Home. Even if I'm not familiar with the books in question, I am more than familiar with the process of trying to make sense of yourself, your life and the world in general through literature. Does it always work? I have no idea. But, like Alison Bechdel, this is something I’ve been doing since I was a child. This is how she puts it:

I employ these allusions to James and Fitzgerald not only as descriptive devices, but because my parents are most real to me in fictional terms. And perhaps my cool aesthetic distance itself does more to convey the Arctic climate of our family than any particular literary comparison.

The artwork in Fun Home is both simple and extremely expressive, and it couldn’t suit the story more perfectly. This is an honest, intelligent and sophisticated book. And a very good read.


Other Blog Reviews:
Biblio File
The Hidden Side of a Leaf
Valentina's Room
Farm Lane Books Blog
Jenny's Books
Books & Other Thoughts

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The official sign-up post for the third Read-a-thon is already up. The Read-a-thon will take place on the 18th of October, starting at 5am Pacific Time. Even if you can't participate as a reader, you can still get involved and be a cheerleader for a couple of hours (or even just one). You can also donate prizes and bookmooch points, or help Dewey with the administrative tasks. To find out more, click here.