Graphic Memoirs and Graphic History Too!

[Michael Martin]

I want to recommend "Fun Home" a graphic memoir by Allison Bechdel. Bechdel is known for her strips "Dykes To Watch Out For." She is an extremely talented artist and a great un-self-conscious story teller. "Fun Home" is a great introduction to this singular and unapologetic talent.

[Tamora Pierce]

I read FUN HOME--it's getting a lot of play in high school libraries, and got nominated for a bunch of awards in the teen lit community. I thought it could have been shorter, but a bunch of my GLBT friends and fans love it. It really speaks to where they live growing up and finding the courage to come out.

[Michael Martin]

Tamora, thanks for the comments. I was knocked out by the artwork and by Bechdel's honesty. I took a couple of days to read it so it didn't seem too long to me. I didn't know it was gaining such popularity. I think most of my GLBT friends around here are more into music and sculpture than literature or graphic stories. Oh well...

[Betty]

I think Fun Home is really a marvellous work which, as someone on a panel on it I attended at Wiscon pointed out, really manages to connect with every kind of reader, regardless of their background or self-identification. We all have parents we didn't understand as much as we could have.

[lisaatneptune]

Fun Home is an excellent book. We haven't sold many copies in my store - it's hard to get comic book readers into less "main stream" stuff, but we're working to be recognized more for our diversity in graphic novel products, so I hope that this book and others like it will start to sell better not just at bookstores but also at COMIC book stores.

I would love it if we could get here here to help give advice to other women looking to make books like Fun Home.