Fun Home

 Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel, 232 pages.

Alison Bechdel, originally most famous for the comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For and what came to be known as the "Bechdel Test" (originally presented in that same comic strip), presents an extremely literary take on the memoir genre. This is especially impressive in comic form. This classic of the graphic novel genre is centered mostly on Bechdel's early life and her relationship with her father, who she only learned was a closeted gay man with his own troubled past shortly after her own coming out as a young adult (an event which tragically happened shortly before his death).

I've heard this book referenced many, many places and have meant to get around to reading it for years. I'm glad I finally did, because I do feel like it lives up to it's own reputation. I am often not the biggest enjoyer of the memoir genre, but Bechdel does an excellent job portraying not only very human and personal details, but also shaping them into a story that is so narratively neat it's hard to believe it is nonfiction. The comic is rich in detail and meticulously constructed, and I would definitely recommend it.