“It’s partly because they’re graphic novels and I have to draw them. “My books take me a long time,” she says, noting that her previous memoirs, “Fun Home” and “Are You My Mother?” were six- or seven-year projects. The cartoonist, author and 2014 MacArthur Fellowship winner says her love of physical activity drives this latest graphic memoir, “The Secret to Superhuman Strength,” which is out from HMH Books on May 4.īechdel estimates that it took about eight years to complete the new book. “but, somehow, in April, it just seems like a bit of an insult.” “I ran in the snow all winter,” says Bechdel by phone. A storm had deposited several inches of snow outside her home in northern Vermont. GradeSaver, 25 February 2015 Web.Alison Bechdel was planning to go for a run following this interview, but now she wasn’t so sure that was going to happen. Next Section Character List Previous Section About Fun Home Buy Study Guide How To Cite in MLA Format Meghan Joyce Tozer. As a result, Fun Home follows Bechdel's journey as she tries to unpack and understand the depth of Bruce's closeted life and his motivations, especially as they relate to her own. She laments that he died before she could properly speak to him about his sexuality and his subsequent shame.
Bechdel suspects that her father's death was a suicide, highlighting several specific facts and incidents as evidence. Two weeks later, Bruce Bechdel is dead, having been hit by a Sunbeam Bread truck while crossing the street.
Not too long after Alison's revelation, Helen tells her daughter that she has asked Bruce for a divorce. She is shocked to learn that Bruce was engaged in sexual relationships with his gardener and the children's babysitter, and that her mother has always been aware of his infidelity. Soon after coming out, Alison learns from her mother that Bruce has always carried on affairs with men and boys. She comes out at as a lesbian at the age of 19, while she is in college. Bruce's volatile moods fill the Bechdels' home with uncertainty and tension.Īt a young age, Alison feels as though she wants to dress like a boy and during puberty, she discovers that she is attracted to women.
Meanwhile, his relationship with his children and his wife is frosty and sometimes violent. Bruce meticulously cares for and improves upon the family's old Gothic revival mansion. Bruce and Helen had been living in Europe, but the death of Bruce's father forced them to return stateside to take over the Bechdels' funeral home business (which is the inspiration for the memoir's title). Young Alison Bechdel lives in Pennsylvania with Helen, Bruce, and her little brothers Christian and John. Bechdel builds the narrative around the tragic event of her father's death. It focuses specifically on her parents, Helen and Bruce, and their role in her life. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic is a graphic memoir by Alison Bechdel.
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