73 pages 2 hours read

Alison Bechdel

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

Nonfiction | Graphic Memoir | Adult | Published in 2006

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Introduction

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

  • Genre: Nonfiction; graphic memoir
  • Originally Published: 2006
  • Reading Level/Interest: College/Adult
  • Structure/Length: 7 chapters; approx. 232 pages
  • Central Concern: Alison Bechdel comes out as a lesbian in college. Not long after, she learns her father is also gay. When he dies a few weeks later, he leaves a mystery for Alison to resolve.
  • Potential Sensitivity Issues: Death of a parent; homophobia; lesbophobia; parental mistreatment; pedophilia; suicide; graphic sex              

Alison Bechdel, Author

  • Bio: Born in 1960; American cartoonist; studied studio arts and art history at Oberlin College; came out as a lesbian at 19; her sexuality and gender non-conformity often influence her work; began a comic strip called Dykes to Watch Out For in 1983; came to critical and commercial success with the publication of Fun Home; invited to sit on the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary in 2006; Mellon Residential Fellow for Arts and Practice at the University of Chicago in 2012; MacArthur “Genius” Award recipient in 2014; known for creating the Bechdel test; Vermont’s third Cartoonist Laureate as of 2017; lives in Bolton, Vermont
  • Other Works: The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For (2008); Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama (2012); The Secret to Superhuman Strength (2021)
  • Awards: Eisner Award (2007); Stonewall Book Award (2007)