BOOK REVIEW: Fun Home

A while back I reviewed a book titled FUN HOME by Alison Bechdel in a newspaper column (and, unfortunately, not on my blog). I had originally picked it up because I knew Alison’s mother, a talented and fascinating woman. To put it mildly,the book was not at all what I expected.

Sub-titled A Family Tragicomic, FUN HOME is a graphic novel (hence the “comic” in “tragicomic”) that tells the coming of age story of Alison and her rather unorthodox family. The father was an English teacher who was also the  town’s funeral director; the mother also taught English and was active in local theater.

Alison knew from an early age that she was gay but did not find out that she had this in common with her father until she was in college, shortly before his questionable death.

The book is is brilliantly done. It is hard not to get caught up in the family dynamics and the artwork is especially well done. Although the story is told in cartoon fashion drawings, one portrait of the mother is beautifully executed. I was really impressed when I read FUN HOME.

Now to the present: No matter what is on my schedule, life gets put on hold the night of the Tony Awards. I knew that FUN HOME had been made into a musical and had been nominated for an award. It was almost with personal pride that I watched the show win five awards including Best Actor in a Musical (Michael Cerveris) and, in my opinion the top prize, Best Original Musical.

FUN HOME is also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. (We could have titled this post “Local Girl Does Extremely Well”. ) Alison’s most recent book is Are You My Mother; A Comic Drama. Also a  collection of her comic strips has been published, The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For, taken from twenty five years of the popular strip.

PS. You young women may be familiar with the Bechdel Test, a test to determine how women relate through conversation in movies. Check this year’s winners and losers.