She was shocked to see the man’s genitals as well as his internal organs. On the table was a dead, naked man with his chest cut open. One day, Alison’s father asked her to come to the room where he embalmed the bodies. They would often spend the night at the “Fun Home” and have their grandmother tell them stories about their father’s childhood. Their grandmother lived in the back and the business was in the front. They played with the chair trolleys, the flower stands, and the smelling salts as they invented worlds of their own. Due to the low population, the funeral home did not make enough to pay the bills, so he took on a second position at the local high school teaching English.Īlison and her brothers dubbed the funeral home the “Fun Home” because they usually had more fun in the funeral home than in their actual home. Alison’s father took over the family business after his father had a heart attack. The Bechdel Funeral HomeĪlison’s great-grandfather founded the Bechdel Funeral Home. He had an affinity for restoration, and, often, forced his family to help him with his projects. When they first bought the house, it was falling apart, but he was determined to restore it to its former glory. Her father, a notably distant man, put more energy into working on their home than he did focusing on his family. (Shortform note: because this is a graphic novel, this summary pulls from both the book’s text and illustrations.) Life at HomeĪlison Bechdel grew up in an old, Victorian home in Beech Creek, Pennsylvania with her two brothers, mother, and father. Told in a non-linear fashion, the book touches on the themes of gender identity, sexual orientation, dysfunctional households, suicide, and literature as a way of connecting to life. It follows Alison through the early years of her life as she navigates her relationship with her closeted father, discovers her own sexuality, and grapples with her father’s supposed suicide. 1-Page Summary 1-Page Book Summary of Fun Homeįun Home is a graphic memoir by cartoonist Alison Bechdel.

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel