Non-fiction Review: Fun Home

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
by Alison Bechdel

Overall Rating: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters 5/5
Writing: 4/5

Alison Bechdel is also the author and illustrator of Dykes to Watch Out For. This graphic novel follows Bechdel through her early life and details her relationship with her father, who ran a funeral home and died when she was in college. It also maps her coming-out story and how her relationship with her family affected the person she became.

Fun Home is funny, discomforting in places, and honest. While this bills itself as a "family" tragicomic, it is more about family than it is family-friendly. There is nudity and content that would probably make most parents think twice about allowing a younger teen read it, though it is a stellar offering for adults and older teens.

I really enjoyed this insightful examination of family dynamics and how they can affect us, personally and formatively. I did find the story to wander a bit aimlessly, though, which happens sometimes in memoirs. A great read, though, and one I would highly recommend.

Non-fiction Review: White Girls

White Girls
by Hilton Als

Overall Rating: 4/5
Plot: n/a
Characters: 4/5
Writing: 4/5

White Girls is a collection of essays by Hilton Als on such subjects as gender identity, representation, intersectionality, and pop culture. As such, there really is no plot to rate, but the characterization of the people he talks about and the way in which he writes are what I'm basing my rating on. I particularly enjoyed his essay on Truman Capote.

I feel like I did this book a disservice by not reading it as deeply or as carefully as it deserved. This needs to be held up with other writers of his era, like James Baldwin and Truman Capote. This is an important book and should be given the attention it deserves. I really didn't do that and I blame the manner in which I read it: there was a hold behind me, so I rushed through the essays and didn't spent much time meditating on their meaning and place in the scheme of life. This is not a light read, but it definitely one that needs to be read to be appreciated.