Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic was published in 2006 to great critical acclaim. The praise was not undeserved: the story of Bechdel’s relationship with her troubled father, set against the backdrop of her childhood and young adulthood as a lesbian, is wonderfully wrought. Reading the book is to be reminded of the sort of conversation you might have with a stranger who shares intimate memories with sudden frankness: “There’s no proof, actually, that my father killed himself . . .” Bechdel’s family is secretive and unhappy, so we are surprised to be given such an exquisitely honest look at them.