Fun Home

Memoirs are becoming a huge hit in the graphic novel genre. After Maus, Persepolis and Blankets, Alison Bechdel's Fun Home is the next big thing. The subtitle: A Family Tragicomic says it all really.

Fun Home (Bechdel's nickname for the funeral home her father owned) tells the story of Alison growing up in a supposedly conventional home with a strict father who loves interior design, flowers and young men, a mother who only has eyes for Oscar Wilde and her two “normal” brothers.

From an early age onwards, Alison feels that she's not the girly girl her overcompensating father wants her to be. It takes her several years to come to terms with these feelings and when she's at college, she finally embraces her sexuality.

Fun Home chronicles her confusing childhood, her father's double life and their relationship which is filled with uncomfortable silences but eventually leads to understanding aided by a mutual love for James Joyce.

Alison Bechdel's epic odyssey to make peace with and come to terms with the reasons behind her father's death is dark, funny and very touching. Her drawings are beautiful and add depth and detail to her voyage of self discovery. Fun Home is an exceptional memoir and a visual treat.