Fun Home (by Alison Bechdel)

A friend of mine is teaching Fun Home this semester, and after flipping through her copy, I immediately went out and bought my own. I admit I would have been sold just on this blurb from Ms.: "If Vladimir Nabokov had ben a lesbian feminist graphic novelist, he might have produced something like this witty, erudite memoir."

I'm excited because my friend is lecturing on the final chapter next week, and I'm curious to see how it works in a classroom setting. Some of the references were things I was unfamiliar with (I've read Ulysses, but not Proust or Colette) and I imagine they're even more unfamiliar to most undergraduates. I think this would be a great novel to teach in my lit class next semester, but I'm curious to see how it all works.

Anyway, the point is, it's absolutely terrific. Dense and smart and emotional and sexy. It's Bechdel's memoir of her relationship with her father--she is a lesbian; her father has secrets of his own. Five stars, I can't imagine leaving this off my "best of" list at the end of the year.