Fun home a family tragicomic by alison bechdel

It focuses specifically on her parents, helen and bruce, and their role in her life. Bechdel didnt tell her mother and brothers about her book until a year into working on it because she didnt want to be inhibited by how they might respond to her family tragicomic. The importance of literature in fun home otherwomenswords. The subtitle of fun home a family tragicomic captures a number of aspects of the book. Nov 19, 2011 alison bechdel s graphic novel, fun home, takes place during her childhood and mainly revolves around alison s strange relationship with her father, bruce bechdel. 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. It was not until college that alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that.

Nov 10, 2011 one meaning to fun home plays itself out on page 36 where we learn that the family refers to the family funeral business as the fun home rather then funeral home. It was not until college that alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that her father was also gay. A family tragicomic, an awesome graphic novel by american cartoonist alison bechdel. Aug 26, 2015 this years choice was fun home, an acclaimed 2006 graphic memoir by alison bechdel. Sep 16, 2016 described by the times of london as a profound and important book fun home. It chronicles the authors childhood and youth in rural pennsylvania, united states, focusing on her complex relationship with her father. However, o n a much deeper level, fun home displays bechdel s utterly humorous and light hearted way of looking at her own difficult life, a common way of coping. A family tragicomic by alison bechdel 2007, paperback, new edition at the best online prices at ebay. This breakout book by alison bechdel takes its place alongside the unnerving, memorable, darkly. Paperback, spanish 11292016 prebound 612007 paperback 1012006. The name of the book fun home is the nickname for the bechdel s family business which happens to be a funeral home.

The first edition of the novel was published in june 8th 2006, and was written by alison bechdel. Bruce bechdel was an english teacher and director of the town funeral home, which alison and her family referred to as the fun home. Some see fun home as having been a turning point for graphic novels. Alison bechdel s cult following for her early comic strip dykes to watch out for expanded wildly for her family memoirs, the bestselling graphic memoir fun home, adapted into a tony awardwinning musical, and are you my mother.

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. It has won several award and was nominated for 2007 eisner awards. Its like reading someones diary, because essentially it is someones diary, but this has to be the most painstakingly artful diary ever created. A memoir that sees itself as a kind of fiction, fun home. Bechdel has been named a macarthur fellow and cartoonist laureate of vermont, among many other honors. Some might also mistake it as an exploration of the homosexual problem, but both alisons story and the unveiling of her own homosexual inclination merely serve to round out the portrait of bruce the author has chosen to sculpt. 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. While this contrast between openness and repression in the book is specifically related to sexuality and genderidentity, the book is also a powerful portrayal of the impact of repression more generally, the way that. Bechdel s memoir offers a graphic narrative of uncommon richness, depth, literary resonance and psychological complexity. A family tragicomic is a graphic novel memoir by american cartoonist alison bechdel.

Jun 08, 2006 alison bechdels comicform autobiography fun home. Alison bechdel is the author of the bestselling memoir fun home. A family tragicomic begins and ends with strong textual and visual images of her father. A family tragicomic ebook written by alison bechdel. Fun home is alison bechdel s graphic memoir of her life growing up.

After the death of her father, which was either an accident or a suicide, and after learning that he was queer, alison bechdel decides to retrace. Throughout fun home, alison bechdel s exploration into her own lesbian sexuality is juxtaposed with her father bruce s repressed gay or bisexual orientation. Alison bechdel s graphic novel, fun home, takes place during her childhood and mainly revolves around alison s strange relationship with her father, bruce bechdel. A family tragicomic illustrates the plight of a lesbian growing up in a household filled with secrets in every nook and cranny. Fun home creator alison bechdel on turning a tragic childhood.

In this book, bechdel chronicles, in graphic illustrations, her own life experiences especially during her childhood and teenage days. 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. Student protests alison bechdels fun home artnet news. Fun home is what she and her brothers called the family owned funeral home her dad ran. 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. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. A family tragicomic is an autobiographical graphic novel by american comic writer and artist alison bechdel. This allusion is inundated into the mind of the reader early on in the story and sets the framework for the foundation of the intended characterization of alisons father. The book has successfully gained critical acclaims and also some controversy. A family tragicomic, by alison bechdel, is published by jonathan cape, price. Putting the fun back in funeral and spicing it with tenderness, grit and regret, alison bechdel s 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. Described by the times of london as a profound and important book fun home.

A family tragicomic is a graphic novel memoir of the authors childhood, particularly focused on her relationship with her closeted gay father bruce. In this groundbreaking, bestselling graphic memoir, alison bechdel charts her fraught relationship with her late father. Buy fun home a family tragicomic by alison bechdel 9780224080514 2006 from. Alison bechdel grapples with the legacy of her father, a closeted gay man who was the town undertaker. A family tragicomic grabs you from the first page and never lets go. A family tragicomic, by alison bechdel the new york. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers.

Throughout fun home, bechdel refers to her father as a dedalus five times within the first 12 pages of the book. She discovers she is a lesbian at age 19 and, soon after, learns that her father is gay. Its a fatherdaughter tale perfectly suited to the graphic memoir form. Particularly revealing is a snapshot of a certain letter from father to daughter, because his indecipherable handwriting means all the reader has is. Like marjane satrapis persepolis, its a story exhilaratingly suited to graphic memoir form. 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. Jun 05, 2007 fun home delivers the tragedy in bechdels 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. 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. In alison bechdel s autobiographical graphic novel fun home.

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 title could possibly also take after the fact alison s father. Young alison bechdel lives in pennsylvania with helen, bruce, and her little brothers christian and john. Subtitled a family tragicomic, fun home is the story of bruce bechdel, alison bechdels father. A family tragicomic is a memoir about bechdel s family that deals with, among other subjects, her. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 232 pages and is available in paperback format. Mourning and melancholia in alison bechdels fun home.

The main characters of this sequential art, graphic novels story are. Putting the fun back in funeral and spicing it with tenderness, grit and regret, alison bechdels memoir fun home. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. 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 is a 2006 graphic memoir by the american cartoonist alison bechdel, author of the comic strip dykes to watch out for. 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.

The book addresses themes of sexual orientation, gender roles, suicide, emotional abuse, dysfunctional family. Jun 18, 2006 if the theoretical value of a picture is still holding steady at a thousand words, then alison bechdel s slim yet proustian graphic memoir, fun home, must be the most ingeniously compact, hyper. Fun home summary from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Fun home is what she and her brothers called the familyowned funeral home her dad ran. The subtitle, a family tragicomic, reveals the tone of the story for the audience by insinuating the existence of adversary in bechdels family dynamics. A family tragicomic, by alison bechdel, is published by. Bruce and helen had been living in europe, but the. Fun home themes from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. In this graphic memoir, alison bechdel charts her fraught relationship. A family tragicomic by alison bechdel librarything. This breakout book by alison bechdel is a darkly funny family tale, pitchperfectly illustrated with bechdel s sweetly gothic drawings. A family tragicomic is a graphic memoir by alison bechdel. The notion of the family unit and individual identity becomes fragmented and reimagined through numerous allusions to canonical modernist.

Fun home creator alison bechdel on turning a tragic. The subtitle, a family tragicomic, reveals the tone of the story for the audience by insinuating the existence of adversary in bechdel s family. A family tragicomic explores the absurdities of alison bechdel s upbringing while simultaneously delivering them as. 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. In alison bechdel s fun home, the story is crafted through a lens of intertextuality between the characteristics of people in her life and those in great literary works such as james joyces ulysses. Bechdel builds the narrative around the tragic event of her fathers death. 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 this book takes its place alongside the unnerving, memorable, darkly funny family memoirs of augusten burroughs and mary karr. The story jumps back and forth in time with a main focus on bechdel s relationship with her father, his early death that alison.

A family tragicomic 2006, alison bechdel centers her narrative around gradual, episodic, natural convergence that transpires in tricky reverse narration that impels our entwined stories 203, 232. Bruce and helen had been living in europe, but the death of. Fun home is alison bechdels graphic memoir of her life growing up. Bruce bechdel, alison s father, around whom the memoir centers. But she made sure to show it to them at various stages. The notion of the family unit and individual identity becomes fragmented and reimagined through numerous allusions to.

Equal parts kunstlerroman, psychoanalytic case study, and literary criticism, alison bechdel s graphic memoir, fun home. Much like how joyces ulysses is a story dependent upon a framing of intertextuality between his work and homers odyssey, bechdel s fun home has a method of storytelling. A family tragicomic explores the absurdities of alison bechdel s upbringing while simultaneously delivering them as exquisite truths. A family tragicomic is a brilliant graphic novel by alison bechdel, an american comic author and artist. First published in 2006, this graphic novel has received highly positive acclaim from critics. Instead of reading the subjects thoughts and experiences, the graphic novel places readers in the scenes as the beholder, allowing for a look at both the subjectivity of the narrator and the cultural forces that have shaped her. This years choice was fun home, an acclaimed 2006 graphic memoir by alison bechdel. A family tragicomic is a graphic novel memoir of the authors childhood, particularly focused on her relationship with her closeted. One of the most eagerly anticipated graphic memoirs of recent years, fun home is a darkly funny family tale, pitchperfectly illustrated with alison bechdel s sweetly gothic drawings. 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.