''Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic'' is a 2006

graphic Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture, ...

memoir by the American cartoonist

Alison Bechdel Alison Bechdel ( ; born September 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist. Originally known for the long-running comic strip ''Dykes to Watch Out For'', she came to critical and commercial success in 2006 with her graphic memoir ''Fun Home'', whi ...

, author of the comic strip ''

Dykes to Watch Out For ''Dykes to Watch Out For'' (sometimes ''DTWOF'') was a weekly comic strip by Alison Bechdel. The strip, which ran from 1983 to 2008, was one of the earliest ongoing representations of lesbians in popular culture and has been called "as import ...

''. It chronicles the author's childhood and youth in rural

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, United States, focusing on her complex relationship with her father. The book addresses themes of

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

gender role A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cent ...

s, suicide, emotional abuse,

dysfunctional family A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often child neglect or abuse and sometimes even all of the above on the part of individual parents occur continuously and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such ...

life, and the role of literature in understanding oneself and one's family. Writing and illustrating ''Fun Home'' took seven years, in part because of Bechdel's laborious artistic process, which includes photographing herself in poses for each human figure. Print edition only. ''Fun Home'' has been the subject of numerous academic publications in areas such as biography studies and cultural studies as part of a larger turn towards serious academic investment in the study of comics/

sequential art In comics studies, sequential art is a term proposed by comics artist Will EisnerWill Eisner, ''Comics and Sequential Art'', Poorhouse Press, 1990 (1st ed.: 1985), p. 5. to describe art forms that use images deployed in a specific order for the pur ...

. ''Fun Home'' has been both a popular and critical success, and spent two weeks on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list. In '' The New York Times Sunday Book Review'',

Sean Wilsey Sean Patrick Wilsey (born May 21, 1970) is the author of the memoir '' Oh the Glory of It All'', published by Penguin in 2005. Born and raised in San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and Co ...

called it "a pioneering work, pushing two genres (comics and memoir) in multiple new directions." Several publications named ''Fun Home'' as one of the best books of 2006; it was also included in several lists of the best books of the 2000s. It was nominated for several awards, including the

Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work The Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work is an award for "creative achievement" in non-fiction American comic books. Winners and nominees Notes {{reflist, group=note References Category Category, plural categories, may refer to: ...

). A French translation of ''Fun Home'' was serialized in the newspaper '' Libération''; the book was an official selection of the

Angoulême International Comics Festival The Angoulême International Comics Festival (french: Festival international de la bande dessinée d'Angoulême) is the second largest comics festival in Europe after the Lucca Comics & Games in Italy, and the third biggest in the world after ...

and has been the subject of an academic conference in France. ''Fun Home'' also generated controversy, being challenged and removed from libraries due to its contents. In 2013, a musical adaptation of ''Fun Home'' at

The Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...

enjoyed multiple extensions to its run, with book and lyrics written by Obie Award-winning playwright

Lisa Kron Elizabeth S. "Lisa" Kron (born May 20, 1961) is an American actress and playwright. She is best known for writing the lyrics and book to the musical ''Fun Home'' for which she won both the Tony Award for Best Original Score and the Tony Award fo ...

, and score composed by

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

-nominated

Jeanine Tesori Jeanine Tesori (known earlier in her career as Jeanine Levenson) is an American composer and musical arranger best known for her work in the theater. She is the most prolific and honored female theatrical composer in history, with five Broadway m ...

. The production, directed by Sam Gold, was called "the first mainstream musical about a young lesbian." As a musical theatre piece, ''Fun Home'' was a finalist for the 2014

Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...

, while winning the

Lucille Lortel Award The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatre ...

for Outstanding Musical, the

New York Drama Critics' Circle The New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of 22 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines and wire services based in the New York City metropolitan area. The organization is best known for its annual awards for excellence in theater.Jone ...

Award for Best Musical, and the Obie Award for Musical Theater. The Broadway production opened in April 2015 and earned an even dozen nominations for the

69th Tony Awards The 69th Annual Tony Awards were held on June 7, 2015, to recognize achievement in Broadway productions during the 2014–15 season. The ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and broadcast live by CBS.Gioia, Michael"This Year ...

, winning the

Tony Award for Best Musical The Tony Award for Best Musical is given annually to the best new Broadway musical, as determined by Tony Award voters. The award is one of the ceremony's longest-standing awards, having been presented each year since 1949. The award goes to the ...

Background

Bechdel states that her motivation for writing ''Fun Home'' was to reflect on why things turned out the way they did in her life. She reflects on her father's untimely death and whether Alison would have made different choices if she were in his position. This motivation is present throughout as she contrasts Bruce's artifice in hiding things with Alison's free and open self. The process of writing ''Fun Home'' required many references to literary works and archives to both accurately write and draw the scenes. As Bechdel wrote the book, she would reread the sources of her literary references, and this attention to detail in her references led to the development of each chapter having a different literary focus. On the process of writing the book, Bechdel says, "It was such a huge project: six or seven years of drawing and excavating. It was sort of like living in a trance." ''Fun Home'' is drawn in black

line art Line art or line drawing is any image that consists of distinct straight lines or curves placed against a background (usually plain), without gradations in shade (darkness) or hue (color) to represent two-dimensional or three-dimensional objec ...

with a gray-blue ink

wash WASH (or Watsan, WaSH) is an acronym that stands for "water, sanitation and hygiene". It is used widely by non-governmental organizations and aid agencies in developing countries. The purposes of providing access to WASH services include achievi ...

. Sean Wilsey wrote that ''Fun Home''s panels "combine the detail and technical proficiency of R. Crumb with a seriousness, emotional complexity and innovation completely its own." Writing in the ''Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide'', Diane Ellen Hamer contrasted "Bechdel's habit of drawing her characters very simply and yet distinctly" with "the attention to detail that she devotes to the background, those TV shows and posters on the wall, not to mention the intricacies of the funeral home as a recurring backdrop." Bechdel told an interviewer for ''

The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing r ...

'' that the richness of each panel of ''Fun Home'' was very deliberate: Bechdel wrote and illustrated ''Fun Home'' over a seven-year period. Her meticulous artistic process made the task of illustration slow. She began each page by creating a framework in

Adobe Illustrator Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor and design program developed and marketed by Adobe Inc. Originally designed for the Apple Macintosh, development of Adobe Illustrator began in 1985. Along with Creative Cloud (Adobe's shift to month ...

, on which she placed the text and drew rough figures. She used extensive photo reference and, for many panels, posed for each human figure herself, using a

digital camera A digital camera is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film. Digital cameras are now widely incorporated into mobile devices ...

to record her poses. Bechdel also used photo reference for background elements. For example, to illustrate a panel depicting fireworks seen from a

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

rooftop on July 4, 1976, she used

Google Images Google Images (previously Google Image Search) is a search engine owned by Google that allows users to search the World Wide Web for images. It was introduced on July 12, 2001 due to a demand for pictures of the green Versace dress of Jennifer ...

to find a photograph of the New York skyline taken from that particular building in that period. She also painstakingly copied by hand many family photographs, letters, local maps and excerpts from her own childhood journal, incorporating these images into her narrative. After using the reference material to draw a tight framework for the page, Bechdel copied the line art illustration onto plate finish Bristol board for the final inked page, which she then scanned into her computer. The gray-blue ink wash for each page was drawn on a separate page of watercolor paper, and combined with the inked image using

Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in raster ...

. Bechdel chose the bluish wash color for its flexibility, and because it had "a bleak, elegiac quality" which suited the subject matter. Bechdel attributes this detailed creative process to her "barely controlled obsessive-compulsive disorder".

Plot summary

The narrative of ''Fun Home'' is non-linear and recursive. Incidents are told and re-told in the light of new information or themes. Bechdel describes the structure of ''Fun Home'' as a

labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by t ...

, "going over the same material, but starting from the outside and spiraling in to the center of the story." In an essay on memoirs and truth in the

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and ...

'' PMLA'',

Nancy K. Miller Nancy K. Miller (born 21 February 1941) is an American literary scholar, feminist theorist and memoirist. Currently a Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the CUNY Graduate Center, Miller is the author of several boo ...

explains that as Bechdel revisits scenes and themes "she re-creates memories in which the force of attachment generates the structure of the memoir itself." Additionally, the memoir derives its structure from

allusion Allusion is a figure of speech, in which an object or circumstance from unrelated context is referred to covertly or indirectly. It is left to the audience to make the direct connection. Where the connection is directly and explicitly stated (as ...

s to various works of literature,

Greek myth A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of d ...

and visual arts; the events of Bechdel's family life during her childhood and adolescence are presented through this allusive lens. Miller notes that the narratives of the referenced literary texts "provide clues, both true and false, to the mysteries of family relations." The memoir focuses on Bechdel's family, and is centered on her relationship with her father, Bruce. Bruce was a

funeral director A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as ...

and high school

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

teacher in Beech Creek, where Alison and her siblings grew up. The book's title comes from the family nickname for the

funeral home A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral. Services ...

, the family business in which Bruce grew up and later worked; the phrase also refers ironically to Bruce's tyrannical domestic rule. Bruce's two occupations are reflected in ''Fun Home''s focus on death and literature. In the beginning of the book, the memoir exhibits Bruce's obsession with restoring the family's Victorian home. His obsessive need to restore the house is connected to his emotional distance from his family, which he expressed in coldness and occasional bouts of abusive rage. This emotional distance, in turn, is connected with his being a closeted homosexual. Bruce had homosexual relationships in the military and with his high school students; some of those students were also family friends and babysitters. At the age of 44, two weeks after his wife requested a divorce, he stepped into the path of an oncoming

Sunbeam Bread Sunbeam Bread is a franchised brand of white bread, rolls, and other baked goods owned by the Quality Bakers of America cooperative. The bread products are produced and distributed by regional bakeries. History The brand was launched in 1942 and ...

truck and was killed. Although the evidence is equivocal, Alison concludes that her father died by suicide. The story also deals with Alison's own struggle with her sexual identity, reaching a catharsis in the realization that she is a lesbian and her coming out to her parents. The memoir frankly examines her sexual development, including transcripts from her childhood diary, anecdotes about masturbation, and tales of her first sexual experiences with her girlfriend, Joan. In addition to their common homosexuality, Alison and Bruce share obsessive-compulsive tendencies and artistic leanings, albeit with opposing aesthetic senses: "I was

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

n to my father's

Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...

to his Victorian. Butch to his nelly. Utilitarian to his

aesthete Aestheticism (also the Aesthetic movement) was an art movement in the late 19th century which privileged the aesthetic value of literature, music and the arts over their socio-political functions. According to Aestheticism, art should be pr ...

." This opposition was a source of tension in their relationship, as both tried to express their dissatisfaction with their given

s: "Not only were we inverts, we were inversions of each other. While I was trying to compensate for something unmanly in him, he was attempting to express something feminine through me. It was a war of cross-purposes, and so doomed to perpetual escalation." However, shortly before Bruce's death, he and his daughter have a conversation in which Bruce confesses some of his sexual history; this is presented as a partial resolution to the conflict between father and daughter. At several points in the book, Bechdel questions whether her decision to come out as a lesbian was one of the triggers for her father's suicide. This question is never answered definitively, but Bechdel closely examines the connection between her father's closeted sexuality and her own open lesbianism, revealing her debt to her father in both positive and negative lights.

Themes

Bechdel describes her journey of discovering her own sexuality: "My realization at nineteen that I was a lesbian came about in a manner consistent with my bookish upbringing." Yet, hints of her sexual orientation arose early in her childhood; she wished "for the right to exchange ertank suit for a pair of shorts" in Cannes and for her brothers to call her Albert instead of Alison on one camping trip. Her father also exhibited homosexual behaviors, but the revelation of this made Bechdel feel uneasy. "I'd been upstaged, demoted from protagonist in my own drama to comic relief in my parents' tragedy". Father and daughter handled their issues differently. Bechdel chose to accept the fact, before she had a lesbian relationship, but her father hid his sexuality. He was afraid of coming out, as illustrated by "the fear in his eyes" when the conversation topic comes dangerously close to homosexuality. In addition to sexual orientation, the memoir touches on the theme of gender identity. Bechdel had viewed her father as "a big sissy" while her father constantly tried to change his daughter into a more feminine person throughout her childhood. The underlying theme of death is also portrayed. Unlike most young people, the Bechdel children have a tangible relationship with death because of the family mortuary business. Alison ponders whether her father's death was an accident or suicide, and finds it more likely that he killed himself purposefully.

Allusions

The allusive literary references used in ''Fun Home'' are not merely structural or stylistic: Bechdel writes, "I employ these allusions ... not only as descriptive devices, but because my parents are most real to me in fictional terms. And perhaps my cool aesthetic distance itself does more to convey the Arctic climate of our family than any particular literary comparison." Bechdel, as the narrator, considers her relationship to her father through the myth of

Daedalus In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. He is the father of Icarus, the uncle of Perdix, a ...

and Icarus. As a child, she confused her family and their Gothic Revival home with

the Addams Family ''The Addams Family'' is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 unrelated single-panel cartoons, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' over ...

seen in the cartoons of Charles Addams. Bruce Bechdel's suicide is discussed with reference to

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

' novel '' A Happy Death'' and essay ''

The Myth of Sisyphus ''The Myth of Sisyphus'' (french: link=no, Le mythe de Sisyphe) is a 1942 philosophical essay by Albert Camus. Influenced by philosophers such as Søren Kierkegaard, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Friedrich Nietzsche, Camus introduces his philosophy ...

''. His careful construction of an aesthetic and intellectual world is compared to ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby ...

'' by

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

, and the narrator suggests that Bruce Bechdel modeled elements of his life after Fitzgerald's, as portrayed in the biography '' The Far Side of Paradise''. His wife Helen is compared with the protagonists of the

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

novels '' Washington Square'' and '' The Portrait of a Lady''. Helen Bechdel was an amateur actress, and plays in which she acted are also used to illuminate aspects of her marriage. She met Bruce Bechdel when the two were appearing in a college production of ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken ...

'', and Alison Bechdel intimates that this was "a harbinger of my parents' later marriage". Helen Bechdel's role as Lady Bracknell in a local production of ''

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...

'' is shown in some detail; Bruce Bechdel is compared with Oscar Wilde. His homosexuality is also examined with allusion to Marcel Proust's '' In Search of Lost Time''. The father and daughter's artistic and obsessive-compulsive tendencies are discussed with reference to E. H. Shepard's illustrations for ''

The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and get ...

''. Bruce and Alison Bechdel exchange hints about their sexualities by exchanging memoirs: the father gives the daughter ''Earthly Paradise'', an autobiographical collection of the writings of

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known mononymously as Colette, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaking world for her ...

; shortly afterwards, in what Alison Bechdel describes as "an eloquent unconscious gesture", she leaves a library copy of

Kate Millett Katherine Murray Millett (September 14, 1934 – September 6, 2017) was an American feminist writer, educator, artist, and activist. She attended Oxford University and was the first American woman to be awarded a degree with first-class honors ...

's memoir ''Flying'' for him. Finally, returning to the Daedalus myth, Alison Bechdel casts herself as Stephen Dedalus and her father as

Leopold Bloom Leopold Bloom is the fictional protagonist and hero of James Joyce's 1922 novel '' Ulysses''. His peregrinations and encounters in Dublin on 16 June 1904 mirror, on a more mundane and intimate scale, those of Ulysses/ Odysseus in Homer's epic ...

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

's '' Ulysses'', with parallel references to the myth of

Telemachus Telemachus ( ; grc, Τηλέμαχος, Tēlemakhos, lit=far-fighter), in Greek mythology, is the son of Odysseus and Penelope, who is a central character in Homer's ''Odyssey''. When Telemachus reached manhood, he visited Pylos and Sparta in s ...

and Odysseus. The chapter headings, too, are all literary allusions. The first chapter, "Old Father, Old Artificer", refers to a line in Joyce's ''

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'' is the first novel of Irish writer James Joyce. A ''Künstlerroman'' written in a modernist style, it traces the religious and intellectual awakening of young Stephen Dedalus, Joyce's fictional al ...

'', and the second, "A Happy Death", invokes the Camus novel. "That Old Catastrophe" is a line from

Wallace Stevens Wallace Stevens (October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955) was an American modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as an executive for an insurance compa ...

's " Sunday Morning", and "In the Shadow of the Young Girls in Flower" is the literal translation of the title of one of the volumes of Marcel Proust's ''In Search of Lost Time'', which is usually given in English as '' Within a Budding Grove''. In addition to the literary allusions which are explicitly acknowledged in the text, Bechdel incorporates visual allusions to television programs and other items of pop culture into her artwork, often as images on a television in the background of a panel. These visual references include the film ''

It's a Wonderful Life ''It's a Wonderful Life'' is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story and booklet ''The Greatest Gift'', which Philip Van Doren Stern self-published in 1943 and is in turn loos ...

'',

Bert and Ernie Bert and Ernie are two Muppet characters who appear together in numerous skits on the long-running PBS/HBO children's television show, ''Sesame Street''. Originated by Frank Oz and Jim Henson, the characters are currently performed by puppeteer ...

of ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...

'', the

Smiley A smiley, sometimes referred to as a smiley face, is a basic ideogram that represents a smiling face. Since the 1950s it has become part of popular culture worldwide, used either as a standalone ideogram, or as a form of communication, such a ...

Face,

Yogi Bear Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in '' The Huckleberry Hound Show''. Yogi Bear was the first ...

, '' Batman'', the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote, the resignation of

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

and ''

The Flying Nun ''The Flying Nun'' is an American sitcom about a community of nuns which included one who could fly when the wind caught her cornette. It was produced by Screen Gems for ABC based on the 1965 book '' The Fifteenth Pelican,'' written by Tere ...

''.

Analysis

Heike Bauer, a professor at the University of London, categorizes ''Fun Home'' as part of the queer transnational archive for its contribution towards the "felt experiences" of the LGBTQ community. Bauer argues that books provide a relatable source, or a felt experience, as Alison uses literature to understand her own feelings in a homophobic society. Bauer notes that as Alison finds relatable literature for her experiences, ''Fun Home'' itself becomes a similar outlet for its readers by increasing representation of LGBTQ literature. Valerie Rohy, an English professor at the University of Vermont, questions the authenticity of Alison's archives in the book. Rohy explores how Alison uses her diary in her childhood and readings in her young adulthood to both document her life and learn about herself through written works. On the uncertainty relating to Bruce's cause of death, Rohy says Alison concludes it to be a suicide to fill in her knowledge gap of the situation, similar to her use of books to fill in gaps in her own understanding of her childhood. Judith Kegan Gardiner, a professor of English and Gender and Women's Studies at the University of Illinois, Chicago, views ''Fun Home'' as queer literature that bends the literary norms of the graphic novel genre, arguing Bechdel combines both tragedy, normally associated with men, and humor, normally associated with women, by discussing her father's death using a comic book style and dark humor. Gardiner argues Bechdel takes control of creating an open culture for lesbian feminist work through ''Fun Home'' by focusing less on Bruce's wrongdoings regarding minors, and more on the tragedy faced by Alison and the guilt towards his subsequent death after her coming out. She also says that by breaking the gender norms of the genre, particularly within lesbian and gay literature, ''Fun Home'' has dramatically affected representation.

Publication and reception

''Fun Home'' was first printed in hardcover by

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

(

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, New York City) on June 8, 2006. This edition appeared on the ''New York Times'' Hardcover Nonfiction bestseller list for two weeks, covering the period from June 18 to July 1, 2006. It continued to sell well, and by February 2007 there were 55,000 copies in print. A trade paperback edition was published in the United Kingdom by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

under the Jonathan Cape imprint on September 14, 2006; Houghton Mifflin published a paperback edition under the

Mariner Books Mariner Books, originally an imprint of HMH Books, was established in 1997 as a publisher of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry in trade paperback. Mariner is also the publisher of the Harvest backlist, formerly published by Harcourt Brace/Harcou ...

imprint on June 5, 2007. In the summer of 2006, a French translation of ''Fun Home'' was serialized in the Paris newspaper '' Libération'' (which had previously serialized ''

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

'' by

Marjane Satrapi Marjane Satrapi (; fa, مرجان ساتراپی ; born 22 November 1969) is a French-Iranian graphic novelist, cartoonist, illustrator, film director, and children's book author. Her best-known works include the graphic novel ''Persepolis'' a ...

). This translation, by Corinne Julve and Lili Sztajn, was subsequently published by

Éditions Denoël Éditions Denoël is a French publishing house founded in 1930. Acquired by Éditions Gallimard in 1951, it publishes collections spanning fiction, non-fiction and comic books. It published some of the most important French authors of the interwar ...

on October 26, 2006. In January 2007, ''Fun Home'' was an official selection of the

. In the same month, the

Anglophone Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...

Studies department of the Université François Rabelais, Tours sponsored an academic conference on Bechdel's work, with presentations in Paris and

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...

. At this conference, papers were presented examining ''Fun Home'' from several perspectives: as containing "trajectories" filled with

paradox A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically u ...

ical tension; as a text interacting with images as a

paratext In literary interpretation, paratext is material that surrounds a published main text (e.g., the story, non-fiction description, poems, etc.) supplied by the authors, editors, printers, and publishers. These added elements form a frame for the ma ...

; and as a search for meaning using drag as a metaphor. These papers and others on Bechdel and her work were later published in the peer-reviewed journal ''GRAAT'' (''Groupe de Recherches Anglo-Américaines de Tours'', or Tours Anglo-American Research Group). An Italian translation was published by Rizzoli in January 2007. In Brazil,

Conrad Editora Conrad Editora (also known as Conrad) is a book publishing company in Brazil. Generally known as one of the most popular distributors of manga and manhwa in the Brazilian Portuguese language. Publishing history Manga * Absolute Boyfriend, by ...

published a Portuguese translation in 2007. A German translation was published by Kiepenheuer & Witsch in January 2008. The book has also been translated into Hungarian, Korean, and Polish, and a Chinese translation has been scheduled for publication. In Spring 2012, Bechdel and literary scholar

Hillary Chute Hillary Chute (born 1976 in Boston, MA) is an American literary scholar and an expert on comics and graphic narratives. She is Distinguished Professor of English and Art + Design at Northeastern University. She was formerly Associate Professor ...

co-taught a course at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

titled "Lines of Transmission: Comics and Autobiography".

Reviews and awards

''Fun Home'' was positively reviewed in many publications. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' of London described ''Fun Home'' as "a profound and important book;"

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...

called it "a beautiful, assured piece of work;" and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' ran two separate reviews and a feature on the memoir. In one ''New York Times'' review,

called ''Fun Home'' "a pioneering work, pushing two genres (comics and memoir) in multiple new directions" and "a comic book for lovers of words".

Jill Soloway Joey Soloway (previously Jill Soloway; born September 26, 1965) is an American television creator, showrunner, director and writer. Soloway is known for creating, writing, executive producing and directing the Amazon original series '' Transparent ...

, writing in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', praised the work overall but commented that Bechdel's reference-heavy prose is at times "a little opaque". Similarly, a reviewer in ''

The Tyee The Tyee is an independent online daily news source primarily based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was founded in November 2003 as an alternative to "corporate media". Articles in The Tyee focus on politics, culture, and life. The Tyee was f ...

'' felt that "the narrator's insistence on linking her story to those of various Greek myths, American novels and classic plays" was "forced" and "heavy-handed". By contrast, the '' Seattle Times'' reviewer wrote positively of the book's use of literary reference, calling it "staggeringly literate". ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' said that ''Fun Home'' "shows how powerfully—and economically—the medium can portray autobiographical narrative. With two-part visual and verbal narration that isn't simply synchronous, comics presents a distinctive narrative idiom in which a wealth of information may be expressed in a highly condensed fashion." Alison Bechdel in London

Several publications listed ''Fun Home'' as one of the best books of 2006, including ''

'',

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...

, ''

'' of London, '' New York'' magazine and ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'', which ranked it as the best comic book of 2006.

named ''Fun Home'' the best nonfiction debut of 2006, admitting that they were fudging the definition of "debut" and saying, "''Fun Home'' shimmers with regret, compassion, annoyance, frustration, pity and love—usually all at the same time and never without a pervasive, deeply literary irony about the near-impossible task of staying true to yourself, and to the people who made you who you are." ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' called it the best nonfiction book of the year, and ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' named ''Fun Home'' the best book of 2006, describing it as "the unlikeliest literary success of 2006" and "a masterpiece about two people who live in the same house but different worlds, and their mysterious debts to each other." ''Fun Home'' was a finalist for the 2006

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their liv ...

for Outstanding Comic Book, the

Stonewall Book Award The Stonewall Book Award is a set of three literary awards that annually recognize "exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience" in English-language books published in the U.S. They are sponsored by the Rainbow ...

for non-fiction, the Publishing Triangle-Judy Grahn Nonfiction Award, and the

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

in the "Lesbian Memoir and Biography" category. ''Fun Home'' was nominated for the 2007 Eisner Awards in two categories, Best Reality-Based Work and Best Graphic Album, and Bechdel was nominated as Best Writer/Artist. ''Fun Home'' won the Eisner for Best Reality-Based Work. In 2008, ''Entertainment Weekly'' placed ''Fun Home'' at No. 68 in its list of "New Classics" (defined as "the 100 best books from 1983 to 2008"). ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' included ''Fun Home'' in its series "1000 novels everyone must read", noting its "beautifully rendered" details. In 2009, ''Fun Home'' was listed as one of the best books of the previous decade by ''The Times'' of London, ''Entertainment Weekly'' and Salon.com, and as one of the best comic books of the decade by ''

The Onion ''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satire, satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on ...

''s A.V. Club. In 2010, the ''

'' literary blog "Jacket Copy" named ''Fun Home'' as one of "20 classic works of gay literature". In 2019, the graphic novel was ranked 33rd on ''

''s list of the 100 best books of the 21st century.

Challenges and attempted banning

2006: Marshall, Missouri

In October 2006, a resident of

Marshall, Missouri Marshall is a city in Saline County, Missouri, United States. The population was 13,065 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Saline County. The Marshall Micropolitan Statistical Area consists of Saline County. It is home to Missouri Val ...

, attempted to have ''Fun Home'' and

Craig Thompson Craig Matthew Thompson (born September 21, 1975) is an American graphic novelist best known for his books '' Good-bye, Chunky Rice'' (1999), '' Blankets'' (2003), '' Carnet de Voyage'' (2004), '' Habibi'' (2011), and '' Space Dumplins'' (2015). T ...

's ''

Blankets A blanket is a swath of soft cloth large enough either to cover or to enfold most of the user's body and thick enough to keep the body warm by trapping radiant body heat that otherwise would be lost through convection. Etymology The term ...

'', both graphic novels, removed from the city's public library. Supporters of the books' removal characterized them as "pornography" and expressed concern that they would be read by children. Marshall Public Library Director Amy Crump defended the books as having been well-reviewed in "reputable, professional book review journals", and characterized the removal attempt as a step towards "the slippery slope of censorship". On October 11, 2006, the library's board appointed a committee to create a materials selection policy, and removed ''Fun Home'' and ''Blankets'' from circulation until the new policy was approved. The committee "decided not to assign a prejudicial label or segregate

he books He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' i ...

by a prejudicial system", and presented a materials selection policy to the board. On March 14, 2007, the Marshall Public Library Board of Trustees voted to return both ''Fun Home'' and ''Blankets'' to the library's shelves. Bechdel described the attempted banning as "a great honor", and described the incident as "part of the whole evolution of the graphic-novel form."Emmert
p. 39. Retrieved on August 6, 2007.

2008: University of Utah

In 2008, an instructor at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

placed ''Fun Home'' on the syllabus of a mid-level English course, "Critical Introduction to English Literary Forms". One student objected to the assignment, and was given an alternate reading in accordance with the university's religious accommodation policy. The student subsequently contacted a local organization called "No More Pornography", which started an online petition calling for the book to be removed from the syllabus. Vincent Pecora, the chair of the university's English department, defended ''Fun Home'' and the instructor. The university said that it had no plans to remove the book.

2013: Palmetto Family

In 2013,

Palmetto Family Council Palmetto Family Council is a nonprofit public policy organization focused upon implementing conservative Christian ideas in South Carolina state law, especially concerning sexual morality. It opposes same-sex marriage, sex education, and vaccina ...

, a conservative South Carolina group affiliated with Focus on the Family and the

Family Research Council The Family Research Council (FRC) is an American evangelical activist group and think-tank with an affiliated lobbying organization. FRC promotes what it considers to be family values. It opposes and lobbies against: access to pornography, emb ...

, challenged the inclusion of ''Fun Home'' as a reading selection for incoming freshmen at the

College of Charleston The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th oldest institution of higher learning in the Unit ...

. Palmetto Family president Oran Smith called the book "pornographic". Bechdel disputed this, saying that pornography is designed to cause sexual arousal, which is not the purpose of her book. The controversy made its way to the Senate and House of Representatives. In the Senate they were voting on whether or not to make budget cuts to the summer reading program for incoming freshmen. Senator Brad Hutto used a four-hour filibuster to delay the voting process and felt that this was "a challenge to academic freedom and an act that would shame our state." There was an alternative for students who find that the selection of reading chosen by their institution is offensive: they are offered a College Reads! as the alternative. The past president of College of Charleston, Glenn McConnell, had contradicting opinions on ''Fun Home''. When asked about the reading he stated that professors have academic freedom when it comes to what they teach in the classroom, but they should also ask themselves if it is worth it and "it certainly wouldn’t be my book of choice." The punishment given to the college was a cut to funding to prevent the institution from exploring identity and sexuality. Many tried to fight this because it was seen as a restriction and became a "battlefield in a full-blown culture war.” College provost George Hynd and associate provost Lynne Ford defended the choice of ''Fun Home'', pointing out that its themes of identity are especially appropriate for college freshmen. However, seven months later, the Republican-led

South Carolina House of Representatives The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly. It consists of 124 representatives elected to two-year terms at the same time as U.S. congressional elections. Unlike many legislatures, seati ...

Ways and Means Committee cut the college's funding by $52,000, the cost of the summer reading program, to punish the college for selecting ''Fun Home''. Rep. Garry Smith, who proposed the cuts, said that in choosing ''Fun Home'' the university was "promoting the gay and lesbian lifestyle". Rep. Stephen Goldfinch, another supporter of the cuts, said, "This book trampled on freedom of conservatives. ... Teaching with this book, and the pictures, goes too far." Bechdel called the funding cut "sad and absurd" and pointed out that ''Fun Home'' "is after all about the toll that this sort of small-mindedness takes on people's lives." The full state House of Representatives subsequently voted to retain the cuts. College of Charleston students and faculty reacted with dismay and protests to the proposed cuts, and the college's

Student Government Association A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...

unanimously passed a resolution urging that the funding be restored. A coalition of ten free-speech organizations wrote a letter to the South Carolina Senate Finance Committee, urging them to restore the funds and warning them that " nalising state educational institutions financially simply because members of the legislature disapprove of specific elements of the educational program is educationally unsound and constitutionally suspect". The letter was co-signed by the

National Coalition Against Censorship The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), founded in 1974, is an alliance of 50 American non-profit organizations, including literary, artistic, religious, educational, professional, labor, and civil liberties groups. NCAC is a New York-bas ...

, the ACLU of South Carolina, the

American Association of University Professors The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States. AAUP membership includes over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations. The AAUP's stated mission is ...

, the Modern Language Association, the

Association of College and Research Libraries The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association, is a professional association of academic librarians and other interested individuals. It is dedicated to enhancing the ability of academi ...

, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) is an American non-profit organization formed in 1986 to protect the First Amendment rights of comics creators, publishers, and retailers covering legal expenses. Charles Brownstein served as the organiz ...

, the

Association of American Publishers The Association of American Publishers (AAP) is the national trade association of the American book publishing industry. AAP lobbies for book, journal, and education publishers in the United States. AAP members include most of the major commercia ...

, the

National Council of Teachers of English The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is a United States professional organization dedicated to "improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education. Since 1911, NCTE has provided a forum ...

and the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

. After a nearly week-long debate in which ''Fun Home'' and Bechdel were compared to slavery, Charles Manson and

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, the state Senate voted to restore the funding, but redirect the funds towards study of the United States Constitution and ''

The Federalist Papers ''The Federalist Papers'' is a collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. The c ...

''; the university was also required to provide alternate books to students who object to an assignment due to a "religious, moral or cultural belief". Governor Nikki Haley approved the budget measure penalizing the university.

2015: Duke University

In 2015, the book was assigned as summer reading for the incoming class of 2019 at Duke University. Several students objected to the book on moral and/or religious grounds.

2018: Somerset County, New Jersey

In 2018, parents challenged ''Fun Home'' in the

Watchung Hills Regional High School Watchung Hills Regional High School is a regional comprehensive public high school and school district serving students in portions of Somerset and Morris Counties in New Jersey, United States. Students from Warren Township and from the neig ...

curriculum. The challenge was rejected, and the book remained in the school. One year later, a lawsuit was filed in May 2019 against the administrators of the school asking for removal of the book. The lawsuit claims that if the book is not removed, "minors will suffer irreparable harm and that New Jersey statutes will be violated." After the Watchung Hills High School challenge, administrators at nearby North Hunterdon High School removed ''Fun Home'' from their libraries as well, but the book was later restored in February 2019.

2022: Wentzville, Missouri

In January 2022, the Wentzille school board in Missouri voted 4–3 to ban ''Fun Home'', going against the review committee's 8–1 vote to retain the book in the district's libraries. The ban included three other books, as well: George M. Johnson's '' All Boys Aren't Blue'',

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' So ...

's ''

The Bluest Eye ''The Bluest Eye,'' published in 1970, is the first novel written by Toni Morrison. The novel takes place in Lorain, Ohio (Morrison's hometown), and tells the story of a young African-American girl named Pecola who grew up following the Great De ...

'', and

Kiese Laymon Kiese Laymon (born August 15, 1974, Jackson, Mississippi) is a Black southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi. He is a professor of English and Creative Writing at Rice University. He is the author of three full-length books: a novel, ''Long D ...

’s ''Heavy''.

2022: Rapid City, South Dakota

In May 2022, parents challenged ''Fun Home'' in the Rapid City Area Schools, claiming the book is "pornographic" and the overall picture of having books similar to ''Fun Home'' in schools is a "Marxist Revolution." Some teachers disagreed because the book has highly marginalized voices such as the LGBTQ+ community. The school board decided to temporarily remove the book.

2022: Nixa, Missouri

In May 2022, the Board of Education in

Nixa, Missouri Nixa is a city in Christian County, Missouri, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 23,257. It is a principal city, and the second largest city in the Springfield, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The ar ...

voted to remove Fun Home from school libraries.

Adaptations

Stage Musical

''Fun Home'' has been adapted into a

stage musical Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

, with a book by

and music by

. The musical was developed through a 2009 workshop at the Ojai Playwrights Conference and workshopped in 2012 at the Sundance Theatre Lab and

's Public Lab. Bechdel did not participate in the musical's creation. She expected her story to seem artificial and distant on stage, but she came to feel that the musical had the opposite effect, bringing the "emotional heart" of the story closer than even her book did. The musical debuted Off-Broadway at The Public Theater on September 30, 2013. The production was directed by Sam Gold and starred

Michael Cerveris Michael Cerveris (born November 6, 1960) is an American actor, singer, and guitarist. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including several Stephen Sondheim musicals: '' Assassins'', ''Sweeney Todd'', '' Road Show'', and '' Pass ...

and

Judy Kuhn Judy Kuhn (born May 20, 1958) is an American actress and singer, known for her work in musical theatre. A four-time Tony Award nominee, she has released four studio albums and sang the title role in the 1995 film '' Pocahontas'', including her r ...

as Bruce and Helen Bechdel. The role of Alison was played by three actors: Beth Malone played the adult Alison, reviewing and narrating her life,

Alexandra Socha Alexandra Socha (born April 10, 1990) is an American actress who made her Broadway debut in the rock musical '' Spring Awakening'' in May 2008. Other notable stage appearances include Nora in the brief 2009 revival of ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'', D ...

played "Medium Alison" as a student at Oberlin, discovering her sexuality, and Sydney Lucas played Small Alison, at age 10. It received largely positive reviews, and its limited run was extended several times until January 12, 2014. The musical was a finalist for the 2014

; it also won the

for Outstanding Musical, the

Award for Best Musical, and the Obie Award for Musical Theater. Alison Bechdel drew a one-page comic about the musical adaptation for the newspaper '' Seven Days''. A

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

production opened at

Circle in the Square Theatre The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street, in the basement of Paramount Plaza, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is one of two Broadway theaters that use a thrust stage that extends ...

in April 2015. The production won five 2015 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and ran for 26 previews and 582 regular performances until September 10, 2016, with a national tour that began in October 2016. Kalle Oskari Mattila, in ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', argued that the musical's marketing campaign "obfuscates rather than clarifies" the queer narrative of the original novel.

Film

On January 3, 2020, it was announced that

Jake Gyllenhaal Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal (; ; born December 19, 1980) is an American actor. Born into the Gyllenhaal family, he is the son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, and his older sister is actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. He ...

and Riva Marker, through their

Nine Stories Productions Nine Stories Productions is a New York-based film, theater and television production company founded by Jake Gyllenhaal and Riva Marker in 2015. Nine Stories has a first-look deal with Bold Films, the company behind ''Whiplash, Drive,'' and '' Nig ...

banner, secured the rights to adapt the musical version of ''Fun Home'' into a film. Sam Gold, who directed the Broadway production, is set to helm the film in his feature

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

, in which Gyllenhaal will star as Bruce Bechdel.

References

External links

Houghton Mifflin's ''Fun Home'' press release
with excerpts from the book and video of Bechdel's artistic process
dykestowatchoutfor.com
author Alison Bechdel's blog and official website
What the Little Old Ladies Feel: How I told my mother about my memoir.
'' Slate'' article by Bechdel {{GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book 2000s LGBT literature 2006 graphic novels 2006 comics debuts American memoirs Autobiographical graphic novels Biographical graphic novels Comics about women Eisner Award winners GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book winners Houghton Mifflin books Lambda Literary Award-winning works Lesbian-related comics Lesbian non-fiction books LGBT-related graphic novels LGBT autobiographies LGBT literature in the United States Obscenity controversies in comics Stonewall Book Award-winning works Works about dysfunctional families Censored books LGBT-related controversies in literature