The "Fun Home" in Alison Bechdel's memoir is what her family calls the funeral home that her father, Bruce, runs, in addition to teaching high school English. His children spend a lot of time in the funeral home, unpacking new caskets, cleaning, and setting up for services. Sometimes they're even called into the part of the morgue where their father prepares bodies for funerals.
We learn early on that Alison's father dies at age 44, soon after it becomes clear that he was gay, which was soon after Alison came out to her parents as gay. Bechdel adeptly runs and reruns through times in her life, and in her parents' lives prior to their marriage, as she examines her family, and in particular, her father. Bruce was a perfectionist who painstakingly restored an old mansion he and his wife purchased. Alison, who hated flowers and the color pink, had no say in the pink floral wallpaper that was placed in her bedroom. Sometimes when she reruns through the past, her father is shown to be more involved with his children; most times he was more distant or disapproving.
English literature references are plentiful in this memoir, especially regarding James Joyce's Ulysses, but the fact that I hadn't read all the works referenced did not keep me from appreciating this book. The drawings are well done and the story is riveting.
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