Editing Alison Bechdel (section)

== Graphic novels ==

=== ''Fun Home'' ===
{{Main|Fun Home}}

In 2006, Bechdel published ''[[Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic]]'', an autobiographical "tragicomic" chronicling her childhood and the years before and after her father's suicide. It follows the past and present phases of her relationship with her parents, principally her father, and depicts the hardships individuals face when coming out.<ref>Killacky, John R. "Alison Bechdel: graphic alchemist." ''The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide'' 19.5 (2012): 44+. ''Literature Resource Center''. Web. March 8, 2016.</ref> ''Fun Home'' has received more widespread mainstream attention than Bechdel's earlier work, with reviews in ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'', ''[[People (magazine)|People]]'' and several features in ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/18/books/review/18wilsey.html?pagewanted=all|title=The Things They Buried|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 18, 2006|last=Wilsey|first=Sean}}</ref> ''Fun Home'' spent two weeks on ''[[The New York Times Bestseller List]]'' for Hardcover Nonfiction.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/books/bestseller/0709besthardnonfiction.html?ex=1155096000&en=aaca93d5bcae9024&ei=5070|title=July 9, 2006 Hardcover Nonfiction Best Sellers|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 9, 2006|access-date=December 18, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/books/bestseller/0716besthardnonfiction.html?ex=1155096000&en=516fbdccced8ce0c&ei=5070|title=July 16, 2006 Hardcover Nonfiction Best Sellers|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 16, 2006|access-date=December 18, 2006}}</ref>

''Fun Home'' was hailed as one of the best books of 2006 by numerous sources, including ''The New York Times'',<ref>{{cite news|title=100 Notable Books of the Year|url=https://www.nytimes.com/ref/books/review/20061203notable-books.html?ref=books|series=Sunday Book Review|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 3, 2006|access-date=December 12, 2006}}</ref> [[amazon.com]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=br_lf_m_1000024441_pglink_2?ie=UTF8&docId=1000024441&plgroup=1&plpage=2|title=Best Books of 2006: Editors' Top 50|website=Amazon|access-date=June 19, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/1000020751/|title=Best of 2006 Top 10 Editors' Picks: Memoirs|website=Amazon|access-date=June 19, 2014}}</ref> ''[[The Times]]'' of London,<ref>{{cite news|first=Tom|last=Gatti|title=The 10 best books of 2006: number 10—Fun Home|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/the-10-best-books-of-2006-v5qqztzf2zs|work=[[The Times]]|date=December 16, 2006|access-date=December 18, 2006|location=London}}</ref> ''[[Publishers Weekly]]'',<ref>{{cite news|title=The First Annual PW Comics Week Critic's Poll|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6401289.html?nid=2789|work=Publishers Weekly Online|publisher=[[Publishers Weekly]]|date=December 19, 2006|access-date=December 19, 2006|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070123003531/http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6401289.html?nid=2789|archive-date= January 23, 2007|url-status= dead}}</ref> [[salon.com]],<ref>{{cite news|author1=Laura Miller|author2=Hillary Frey|title=Best debuts of 2006|url=http://www.salon.com/books/awards/2006/12/12/debut/|work=[[salon.com]]|date=December 12, 2006|access-date=December 12, 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512125029/http://www.salon.com/books/awards/2006/12/12/debut/|archive-date=May 12, 2008}}</ref> ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'' magazine,<ref name="Bonanos">{{cite news|author1=Christopher Bonanos|author2=Logan Hill|author3=Jim Holt|title=The Year in Books|url=https://nymag.com/arts/cultureawards/2006/25308/|work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]|date=December 18, 2006|access-date=December 12, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061213023121/http://nymag.com/arts/cultureawards/2006/25308/|archive-date=December 13, 2006|url-status= live|display-authors=etal}}</ref> and ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''.<ref name="Bonanos" />

''Time'' magazine named Alison Bechdel's ''Fun Home'' number one of its "10 Best Books of the Year." [[Lev Grossman]] and Richard LeCayo described ''Fun Home'' as "the unlikeliest literary success of 2006," and called it "a stunning memoir about a girl growing up in a small town with her cryptic, perfectionist dad and slowly realizing that a) she is gay and b) he is too… Bechdel's breathtakingly smart commentary duets with eloquent line drawings. Forget genre and sexual orientation: this is a masterpiece about two people who live in the same house but different worlds, and their mysterious debts to each other."<ref>{{cite news|first=Lev|last=Grossman|author-link=Lev Grossman|author2=Richard Lacayo|title=10 Best Books|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570801,00.html|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=December 17, 2006|access-date=December 18, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070109043704/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C1570801%2C00.html|archive-date=January 9, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>

''Fun Home'' was a finalist for the 2006 [[National Book Critics Circle Award]] in the memoir/autobiography category.<ref>{{cite news|first=Josh|last=Getlin|title=Book Critics Circle nominees declared|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jan-21-na-books21-story.html|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=January 21, 2007|access-date=June 19, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bookcritics.org/?go=finalists|title=NBCC Awards Finalists|access-date=January 22, 2007|work=[[National Book Critics Circle]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061002082415/http://www.bookcritics.org/?go=finalists|archive-date=October 2, 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref> It also won the 2007 [[Eisner Award]] for Best Reality-Based Work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_eisners_07win.shtml|title=The 2007 Eisner Awards: Winners List|access-date=July 31, 2007|work=[[San Diego Comic-Con]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626060301/http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_eisners_07win.shtml|archive-date=June 26, 2010}}</ref> ''Fun Home'' was also nominated for the Best Graphic Album award, and Bechdel was nominated for Best Writer/Artist.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_eisners_07nom.shtml#nomlist|title=The 2007 Eisner Awards: 2007 Master Nominations List|access-date=July 31, 2007|work=San Diego Comic-Con|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808201201/http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_eisners_07nom.shtml|archive-date=August 8, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2014, the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]-led [[South Carolina House of Representatives]] Ways and Means Committee considered cutting the [[College of Charleston]]'s funding by $52,000 for selecting ''Fun Home''. The addition of ''Fun Home'' to the summer reading list caused significant backlash from some conservative students who found the depiction of sexuality to be "immoral," and "pornographic" for "graphically showing lesbian acts."<ref name="punish">{{cite news|last=Seanna|first=Adcox|date=February 19, 2014|title=SC lawmakers vote to punish colleges' book choices|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/19/sc-legislators-want-to-punish-2-colleges-in-budget/|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=[[Washington Times]]|access-date=February 10, 2025}}</ref><ref name="promotion">{{cite news|url=http://blog.postandcourier.com/palmetto-politics/2014/02/20/palmetto-sunrise-college-charleston-dollars-cut-promotion-lesbians/|title=Palmetto Sunrise: College of Charleston dollars cut for 'promotion of lesbians'|newspaper=[[The Post and Courier]]|date=February 20, 2014|last=Borden|first=Jeremy|location=Charleston, SC|access-date=February 21, 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140221064315/http://blog.postandcourier.com/palmetto-politics/2014/02/20/palmetto-sunrise-college-charleston-dollars-cut-promotion-lesbians/|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 21, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/09/01/bcst-books-thread-fun-home-controversy|title=College students object to reading bestselling, 'pornographic' memoir|website=Minnesota Public Radio News|date=September 1, 2015|author=Tracy Mumford|access-date=January 13, 2017}}</ref>

''[[Fun Home (musical)|Fun Home]]'' premiered as a musical Off-Broadway at [[The Public Theater]] on September 30, 2013, and officially opened on October 22, 2013. The score was written by [[Jeanine Tesori]] and the book and lyrics were written by [[Lisa Kron]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/the-verdict-critics-review-jeanine-tesori-lisa-kron-musical-fun-home-at-the-210911|title=The Verdict: Critics Review Jeanine Tesori-Lisa Kron Musical Fun Home at the Public Theater|magazine=Playbill|date=October 23, 2013|access-date=January 13, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Ben Btantley|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/theater/reviews/fun-home-a-new-musical-at-the-public-theater.html|title='Fun Home,' a New Musical at the Public Theater|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 12, 2014|access-date=January 13, 2017}}</ref> Kron and Tesori made history as the first all-woman team to win a Tony Award for best score.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Purcell|first=Carey|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/fun-home-duo-make-history-as-first-all-female-writing-team-to-win-the-tony-350678|title=Fun Home Duo Make History as First All-Female Writing Team to Win the Tony|magazine=Playbill|date=June 7, 2015|access-date=January 13, 2017}}</ref> Originally scheduled to run through November 3, 2013, the run was extended multiple times and the musical closed on January 12, 2014. The Public Theater production was directed by Sam Gold. Sets and costumes were by David Zinn, lighting by Ben Stanton, sound by Kai Harada, projections by Jim Findlay and Jeff Sugg and choreography by Danny Mefford.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=497807|title=Fun Home &#124; IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information|date=October 12, 2014|access-date=November 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012002947/http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=497807|archive-date=October 12, 2014}}</ref> The musical played at Broadway's Circle in the Square Theatre, with previews from March 27, 2015, and an official opening on April 19, 2015, running to September 10, 2016. Sam Gold, who directed the Public Theater production, also directed the show on Broadway, leading the Off-Broadway production team. The Off-Broadway cast reprised their roles on Broadway, except for the actors playing John, Christian, and Medium Alison. The Broadway musical won five [[Tony Awards]], including Best Musical, Best Performance by an Actor in Leading Role in a Musical, Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Direction of a Musical.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Pedersen|first1=Erik|title=Tony Award Winners 2015 – Full List: 'Fun Home,' 'Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time' Lead The Way|url=https://deadline.com/2015/06/tony-award-winners-2015-tonys-winner-list-1201438989/|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|date=June 8, 2015|access-date=April 15, 2017}}</ref>

On January 3, 2020, it was announced that [[Jake Gyllenhaal]] and his [[Nine Stories Productions]] banner secured the rights to adapt the musical version of ''Fun Home'' into a film. Sam Gold, who directed the Broadway production, is set to helm the film, in which Gyllenhaal will star as Bruce Bechdel.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.broadway.com/buzz/198003/jake-gyllenhaal-to-produce-star-in-movie-musical-adaptation-of-fun-home/|title=Jake Gyllenhaal to Produce & Star in Movie Musical Adaptation of Fun Home|website=Broadway.com}}</ref>

=== ''Are You My Mother?'' ===
{{Main|Are You My Mother? (memoir)}}

Bechdel suspended work on ''[[Dykes to Watch Out For]]'' in 2008 so that she could work on her second graphic memoir, ''[[Are You My Mother? (memoir)|Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama]]'', which was released in May 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comicsbeat.com/bechdels-are-you-my-mother-gets-100k-first-printing/|title=Bechdel's ARE YOU MY MOTHER gets 100K first printing|date=January 4, 2012|access-date=January 14, 2012|work=The Beat: The News Blog of Comics Culture}}</ref> It focuses on her relationship with her mother. Bechdel described its themes as "the self, subjectivity, desire, the nature of reality, that sort of thing,"<ref>{{cite web|last=Garner|first=Dwight|date=July 20, 2007|title=Stray Questions for: Alison Bechdel|url=https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/20/stray-questions-for-alison-bechdel/|department=ArtsBeat (blog)|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 14, 2007}}</ref> which is a paraphrase of a quote from Virginia Woolf's ''[[To the Lighthouse]]''.

The story's dramatic action is multi-layered and divides into a number of narrative strands:
*Bechdel's phone-conversations with her mother in the present.
*Bechdel's memories of interactions with her mother throughout her life, beginning in childhood.
*Bechdel's therapy sessions, whose primary content is composed of analysis of her relationship with her mother.
*Bechdel's richly imagined, and diligently researched, historical portrayals of psychoanalyst [[Donald Winnicott]], and author [[Virginia Woolf]], spliced together with Bechdel's own therapeutic journey with text from the psychoanalytic writings of [[Alice Miller (psychologist)|Alice Miller]], along with the story of Bechdel's own reading-through and relating to the works of [[Sigmund Freud]].

An excerpt of the book, entitled "Mirror", was included in the ''[[The Best American Comics|Best American Comics 2013]]'', edited by [[Jeff Smith (cartoonist)|Jeff Smith]]. This episode riffs heavily on psychoanalytic themes quoted explicitly from the work of psychoanalysts Alice Miller and Donald Winnicott.

=== ''The Secret to Superhuman Strength'' ===
Bechdel published another memoir, ''[[The Secret to Superhuman Strength]]'', in 2021. The book chronicles Bechdel's fascination with fitness, jumping from sport to sport and discovering that she gets in her own way.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.bibliopolis.com |title=The Secret to Superhuman Strength by Alison Bechdel on Underground Books |url=https://www.undergroundbooks.net/pages/books/10167/alison-bechdel/the-secret-to-superhuman-strength |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=Underground Books |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== ''Spent: A Comic Novel'' ===
{{Main|Spent}}

Bechdel's next graphic novel, ''[[Spent: A Comic Novel]]'', is set for release in May 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.goodreads.com |title=Spent: A Comic Novel by Alison Bechdel on Goodreads |url=https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/217896244-spent |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=Goodreads |language=en-US}}</ref> The novel features a cartoonist named Alison Bechdel running a pygmy goat sanctuary in Vermont.