It has been quite some time since I last picked up a book to read for pleasure. I had a few weeks off recently because of a career switch, and found myself with too much free time on my hands. I figured why not check out the local book store and see if anything catches my eye. I am like most casual readers; I don’t know exactly what I am looking for in a book. I don’t really have a “Go-To-Author” or a particular genre of books that I am drawn to. So often I find myself just wandering the vast rows of books aimlessly.
So how do you finally decide on a book to read? Well in my case, I came across the book “Fun Home” written by Alison Bechdel. The name recalled a memory in me that immediately made me pick up the book to look it over further. The reason I picked it up originally was because I had heard about it during this year’s Tony Awards. “Fun Home” was adapted into a musical and won the acclaimed award of this year’s Best Musical. Ever since that night, I had been curious to see the show, but had not really thought about reading the book itself.
“Fun Home” is self-described as “A Family Tragicomic”. It is the auto-biographical story of the author’s life growing up in a small town and the strange family dynamics that occurred. The book is written in the style of a comic strip which allows for a very quick read. But do not be fooled by the structure of the book, it is both literarily and topically very mature. This book touches on subjects ranging from sexual-orientation to child abuse.
After finishing this book in only a few short days, I am even more interested in seeing the Broadway adaptation of the story. This was a great start to transitioning back into more casual reading and certainly worth the read.
