The transition days were very difficult, because I mostly just wanted to keep doing the memoir, but in the end, I think I would never have finished the memoir if I hadn’t had that constant prod of having to stop and start and switch gears. I alternated: I had two weeks on the memoir, two weeks on the comic strip, something like that. I think things have changed a lot in the 25 years since I started doing this.ĮMMERT: How long have you been working on Fun Home ?ĮMMERT: I figured it was a pretty lengthy process, just because of the size of the book, but I had no idea.īECHDEL: Well, I was having to do my comic strip concurrently, so that slowed me down, but I still feel like I needed that length of time just for it all to gestate properly.ĮMMERT: So was it hard to work on that kind of project while doing your strip, all through that seven-year period?īECHDEL: It was always difficult to grind to a halt.
I’ve just been living with that possibility all these years and it’s been … scary!ĮMMERT: Do you think the reading public is now more accepting of work that is outside of their comfort zone?īECHDEL: I do. I really didn’t know until now -January of 2007 - that I really probably am not going to have to get a day job. You know? So, while I am surprised, I’m also just really deeply gratified.ĮMMERT: On your website, you talked about working on the “fringes of acceptability,” and now getting all this establishment recognition.īECHDEL: Well, yeah. Somewhere deep down I knew that it was a good book, like it should get attention. Well, you know, I say no, and that’s true, but at the same time, I think, I don’t know. Did you expect this kind of reaction to the book?ĪLISON BECHDEL: No. LYNN EMMERT: So far, your graphic novel Fun Home has been named “Book of the Year” by Time magazine, “#1 Non-fiction book” by Entertainment Weekly, one of the top 10 books of by the London Times and New York Times Magazine, and made the New York Times list of “100 Notable Books for 2006”: pretty heady stuff, there.
©Alison Bechdelīechdel took some time out of her busy schedule of writing, drawing and promoting her new book to talk about her work, her career and having her book banned in Missouri. With its political commentary and spot-on observations of lesbian culture, her enduring bi-weekly strip, Dykes to Watch Out For, continues to thrive in print and online. But her devoted fans, who have been following her career for more than two decades, were well aware of her talent as both an artist and a writer.
From the TCJ Archives The Alison Bechdel Interviewįrom The Comics Journal #282 (April 2007)įor readers unfamiliar with her work, it might appear that Alison Bechdel came out of nowhere to receive critical acclaim for her comic memoir Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, published in 2006.
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