This years choice was fun home, an acclaimed 2006 graphic memoir by alison bechdel. Like marjane satrapis persepolis, its a story exhilaratingly suited to graphic memoir form. Prior to its publication, bechdel was best known for her longrunning cult comic strip, dykes to watch out for, which followed a series of diverse characters between 1983 and 2008. Alison bechdel biography, birth date, birth place and pictures. Alison bechdel is the author of the bestselling memoir fun home. Alison says the discomfort caused by the pressure to her stomach was well worth the rare physical contact. Alison bechdel has 48 books on goodreads with 334367 ratings. A family tragicomic ebook written by alison bechdel. A family tragicomic is a graphic memoir by alison bechdel tracing her journey from young girl to young adult as she comes to grips with her own lesbian sexuality, her father bruce s most likely suicide, and his secret homosexuality or bisexuality that he kept hidden throughout his life while having affairs with underage boys. In february of 2004 bechdel married amy rubin, her longtime partner, in san francisco, but the california supreme court later vacated their marriage. The name of the book fun home is the nickname for the bechdel s family business which happens to be a funeral home. The main characters of this sequential art, graphic novels story are. On a deeper level, it evokes the way that the memoir treats death as both tragically lifealternating and as comedic, in.
Alison bechdel s fun home and michel foucaults repressive hypothesis the valley of the shadow of text. Fun home a family tragicomic is the latest work from the highly skilled, insightful, neurotic and wryhumored pen of alison bechdel, best known for her dykes to watch out for comic strip. One of the longestrunning queer comic strips, dykes to watch out for is over 20 years old, has. The subtitle, a family tragicomic, reveals the tone of the story for the audience by insinuating the existence of adversary in bechdels family dynamics. One of the most eagerly anticipated graphic memoirs of recent years, fun home is a darkly funny family tale, pitchperfectly illustrated with alison bechdels sweetly gothic drawings. Alison bechdel reflects on the impact of learning that her father was a closeted gay man having affairs with teen boys while discovering her own sexuality as a lesbian woman.
This graphic novel memoir is a perfect format for her story, with words and line drawings perfectly showing her complicated relationship with her father, who almost always. Here is the heart of the comic in the tragicomic parts of this bookas children, alison and her siblings manage to truly have fun in a funeral home. Fun home, subtitled a family tragicomic, is a 2006 graphic memoir by the american writer alison bechdel, author of the comic strip dykes to watch out for. First published in 2006, this graphic novel has received highly positive acclaim from critics. It focuses specifically on her parents, helen and bruce, and their role in her life. Fun home is alison bechdels graphic memoir of her life growing up. She tells oliver burkeman of her crazy and compulsive attempt to make sense of his story in a graphic novel. Bruce bechdel was an english teacher and director of the town funeral home, which alison and her family referred to as the fun home. A family tragicomic by alison bechdel 9780618871711.
A family tragicomic alison bechdel houghton mifflin need an expert. Young alison bechdel lives in pennsylvania with helen, bruce, and her little brothers christian and john. Meet alison s father, a historic preservation expert and obsessive restorer of the family s victorian house, a thirdgeneration funeral home director, a high school english teacher, an icily distant parent, and a closeted homosexual who, as it turns out, is involved with male students and a family babysitter. The theme of death and the tragicomic in fun home from. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 232 pages and is available in paperback format. A family tragicomic is a graphic novel memoir of the authors childhood, particularly focused on her relationship with her closeted gay father bruce. Jun 08, 2006 alison bechdels comicform autobiography fun home. A family tragicomic reprint by alison bechdel isbn. Instead it led to terrible upset, she tells emma brockes. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read fun home.
A family tragicomic, an awesome graphic novel by american cartoonist alison bechdel. I bought it after discovering the musical of the same name and it is a great addition to the information i had gained through experiencing the musical. First, it captures the fact that the story of bruce in the memoir is a tragedy told in the format of a graphic novel a comic. The book has successfully gained critical acclaims and also some controversy. The importance of literature in fun home otherwomenswords. One of the longestrunning queer comic strips, dykes to watch out for is over 20 years old, has been syndicated in hundreds of papers, released in over. The subtitle of fun home a family tragicomic captures a number of aspects of the book. A family tragicomic by alison bechdel librarything. Fun home delivers the tragedy in bechdel s life with comedic aplomb, illustrating key scenes from her childhood and adolescence in a cartoon style that harks back to the comics that came before. Bechdel s memoir offers a graphic narrative of uncommon richness, depth, literary resonance and psychological complexity. The graphic memoir fun home starts with the adult alison bechdel narrating over images of her childhood. A family tragicomic book by alison bechdel thriftbooks. A family tragicomic, by alison bechdel the new york. The title could possibly also take after the fact alison s father was a tyrant in the household and is simply a sarcastic title to show how it was the exact opposite from being fun.
Alison bechdel this book takes its place alongside the unnerving, memorable, darkly funny family memoirs of augusten burroughs and mary karr. In life and in death, alison bechdel s father was a mystery even to his family. Oct 16, 2006 in life and in death, alison bechdel s father was a mystery even to his family. Bruce and helen had been living in europe, but the death of. Bechdel writes, my brothers and i had lots of chores at fun home, but also many interesting opportunities for play 37. The comic memoir is a unique take on her life and gives you a real insight to the troubles her childhood held. A family tragicomedy, alison bechdel books, jadore. A family tragicomic by alison bechdel and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The title of camuss book, a happy death, relates directly to the subtitle of fun home, a family tragicomic. Bechdel s rich language and precise images combine to create a lush piece of work a memoir where. Bechdel builds the narrative around the tragic event of her fathers death. Sep 20, 2011 the subtitle of the book is a family tragicomic. They separated in 2006, the same year that bechdel s bestselling graphic memoir about her relationship with her father, fun home.
As alison grows older and realizes that she is a lesbian, she and bruce are both forced to confront how his repression may have affected her own selfimage and the. A family tragicomic houghton mifflin, 2006 im somewhat impressed that i somehow managed to read one of the new york times notable books of 2006 while its still 2006, and before they named it as a notable book. A family tragicomic is a graphic memoir by alison bechdel tracing her journey from young girl to young adult as she comes to grips with her own lesbian sexuality, her father bruce s most likely suicide, and his secret homosexuality or bisexuality that he kept hidden throughout his life while having affairs with underage boys the memoir starts with alison as a young girl. Jun 08, 2006 bechdels memoir offers a graphic narrative of uncommon richness, depth, literary resonance and psychological complexity. Bechdels rich language and precise images combine to create a lush piece of work a memoir where.
Library board hears complaints about booksdecision scheduled for oct. Fun home is not a book about what happened but, rather, about ideas on what. Young alison bechdel lives in pennsylvania with helen, bruce. In this groundbreaking, bestselling graphic memoir, alison bechdel charts her fraught relationship with her late father. Its like reading someones diary, because essentially it is someones diary, but this has to be the most painstakingly artful diary ever created. 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. Nov 30, 2008 alison bechdel hoped that fun home, her very personal graphic memoir, would heal her family s wounds.
Fun home ebook by alison bechdel 9780547347004 rakuten kobo. Distant and exacting, bruce bechdel was an english teacher and director of the town funeral home, which alison and her family referred to as the fun home. This great graphic novel, first published in 2006, has received many praises by critics and won some awards. 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 familys twisted emotional. Paperback, spanish 11292016 prebound 612007 paperback 1012006. A family tragicomic grabs you from the first page and never lets go. Fun home is alison bechdel s graphic memoir of her life growing up. Its a fatherdaughter tale perfectly suited to the graphic memoir form.
Her family owns a funeral home in a small town so her father works as an english teacher, her mother an actress. A fresh and brilliantly told memoir from a cult favorite comic artist, marked by gothic twists, a family funeral home, sexual angst, and great books. See services,in classifieds alison bechdel when sun 79, 4. A family tragicomic by bechdel, alison and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. A family tragicomic is a graphic memoir by alison bechdel.
Fun home summary from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Alison bechdel notes that, despite the camus title, there is nothing particularly happy about the death in the book, just as the death of brucethough treated with absurd humor at timesis more ironic than truly funny, more. Putting the fun back in funeral and spicing it with tenderness, grit and regret, alison bechdels memoir fun home. Fun home is what she and her brothers called the family owned funeral home her dad ran. Bechdels childhood, her fathers death and their shared. The book addresses themes of sexual orientation, gender roles, suicide, emotional abuse, dysfunctional family. The book addresses themes of sexual orientation, gender roles, suicide, emotional abuse, dysfunctional family life, and the role of literature in understanding oneself and ones family. Rather than becoming bogged down in the morbid functions of the various items around the funeral home, the kids are able to see the goofy. This breakout book by alison bechdel takes its place alongside the unnerving, memorable, darkly funny family memoirs of augusten burroughs and mary karr. A family tragicomic begins and ends with strong textual and visual images of her father.
This breakout book by alison bechdel is a darkly funny family tale, pitchperfectly illustrated with bechdels. This breakout book by alison bechdel is a darkly funny family tale, pitchperfectly illustrated with bechdels sweetly gothic drawings. Jun 05, 2007 distant and exacting, bruce bechdel was an english teacher and director of the town funeral home, which alison and her family referred to as the fun home. A family tragicomic, frames the development of a lesbian identity through the strategic use of visual and verbal representation of memories, interpretive acts, and the use of specific literary texts as transitional objects bookish and nostalgic, alison the narrator weaves.
In this first chapter, bechdel introduces her father and recollects her relationship with him in her childhood. The story jumps back and forth in time with a main focus on bechdel s relationship with her father, his early death that alison presumes. The word interesting is an understatement because the children were playing with the accouterment for a funeral, including capsules of smelling salts intended for people who swooned from grief. In this groundbreaking, bestselling graphic memoir, alison bechdel charts her. Welcome to one of the most literate autobiographies in comics, as well as one of the most fascinating, candid and revealing, in which bechdel first sets out her dysfunctional family life in all its bizarre artifice before intertwining her personal development with her fathers past to explore what. A fresh and brilliantly told memoir from a cult favorite comic artist. The first edition of the novel was published in june 8th 2006, and was written by alison bechdel. It chronicles the authors childhood and youth in rural pennsylvania, united states, focusing on her complex relationship with her father. A family tragicomic is a graphic novel memoir by american cartoonist alison bechdel. Particularly revealing is a snapshot of a certain letter from father to daughter, because his indecipherable handwriting means all the reader has is. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. A book like fun home, which blends the visually light style of a graphic novel with the emotionally challenging landscape of bechdels youth is just one more lens we can peer through, accepting, hopefully, both the hard truth and her compassion on the other side. Originally best known for the longrunning comic strip dykes to watch out for, she came to critical and commercial success in 2006 with her graphic memoir fun home, which was subsequently adapted as a musical and won a tony award for best musical in 2015. Alison bechdel, born september 10, 1960 in lock haven, pennsylvania, united states is an american cartoonist.
Fun home is an entertaining and poignant autobiography of bechdels childhood. A family tragicomic is an engrossing memoir that does the graphic novel format proud. A family tragicomic is a 2006 graphic memoir by the american cartoonist alison bechdel, author of the comic strip dykes to watch out for. This book takes its place alongside the unnerving, memorable, darkly funny family memoirs of augusten burroughs and mary karr. Fun home is what she and her brothers called the familyowned funeral home her dad ran. A family tragicomic, she uses literary allusions as a way to assist her in illustrating the strained relationship between herself and her father, as well as every other relationship in her life. Fun home project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks read. I also mentioned maus by art spiegelman as being awesome. A family tragicomic is comicstrip artist alison bechdel s memoir of her youth and her relationship with her father. In alison bechdel s autobiographical graphic novel fun home. It was not until college that alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that her father was also gay. Equal parts kunstlerroman, psychoanalytic case study, and literary criticism, alison bechdel s graphic memoir, fun home. In her hands, personal history becomes a work of amazing subtlety and power, written with controlled force and enlivened with humor, rich literary allusion, and heartbreaking detail.
Sep 16, 2016 described by the times of london as a profound and important book fun home. Old father, old artificer page 1 from alison bechdel s fun home. Originally best known for the longrunning comic strip dykes to watch out for, in 2006 she became a bestselling and critically acclaimed author with her graphic memoir fun home. Fun home study guide from litcharts the creators of. A family tragicomic is an autobiographical graphic novel by american comic writer and artist alison bechdel. The books first full drawing on the title page of chapter one is, in fact, a recreation of an old photograph of the enigmatic man. As alison grows older and realizes that she is a lesbian, she and bruce are both forced to confront how his repression may have affected her own selfimage and the way that she dealt with her sexuality. Its a fatherdaughter tale pitchperfectly illustrated with bechdel s sweetly gothic drawings and like marjane satrapis persepolis a story exhilaratingly suited to the graphic memoir form. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of fun home by alison bechdel.
A family tragicomic is a memoir about bechdel s family. This breakout book by alison bechdel is a darkly funny family tale, pitchperfectly illustrated with bechdel s sweetly gothic drawings. A family tragicomic illustrates the plight of a lesbian growing up in a household filled with secrets in every nook and cranny. The first panel shows alison approaching her father bruce, who is lying on the floor and puts his feet in the middle of her chest to launch her in the air for a game of airplane. Distant and exacting, bruce bechdel was an english teacher and director of the town funeral.
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