i, later, discovered after reading an article about a girl that was trying to get this work plus persepolis banned from her college course (talk about ignorance), that the broadway musical i missed out, was based on a graphic novel/memoir! double regret. so i decided to check out the novel, and hopefully catch fun home on my next nyc trip.
so from the tony's performance, i discovered that fun home was about a woman that discovered her father was gay after she came out to her parents. i have to admit i was very excited when i got to the part of the book that tony's was based on. it performance stayed trued to the memoir, and really wish i had seen it on broadway.
the story of alison's sexuality was complicated, because after sharing she was a lesbian with her parents, her mother told her the truth about her father. in addition to this, her father's response was awkward and soon after he died when struck by a car. alison believed that it may have been a suicide based on what had occurred with her. i have to add that with no disrespect to alison, i didn't think her father committed suicide. yes, he was reading that camus work at the time, which made a convincing case. however, i felt that instead of wanting to commit suicide, he would have sought a new life, as a openly gay man. kind of like hannah's dad on season 4 of girls. he had lived so long with his secret, though he did get caught of it a handful of times, and his wife was fully aware that to suddenly end his life didn't make sense. i feel that if that accident hadn't happened, he would have came out, he did express to alison that now was different for gays and lesbian now, that they were able to experience a freedom, he could not. i feel he would have been hopeful about being there for his daughter versus wanting to end it all. he did give her colette, which helped her realized she was a lesbian. he wanted to help his daughter. i think the reason why he was so distant initially, was to allow her to understand her sexuality in her own terms versus being forced upon by her dad. being a gay father, he didn't want people to think that perhaps she made him gay. again i feel bad for typing this, because alison seemed to think it was a suicide. but i mean life is horrible and sometimes bad things just happen.
overall, i really enjoyed this memoir. for those of you curious, the title fun home, came from alison's family for the funeral home that they ran. speaking of the fun home, i, like the kids, loved the story of their grandmother about their father wandering out of into a field. i also delighted in their delight of the oven part! but that being said, i want to revisit this work, after i read the literary works that alison referenced. i have never read ulysses so that went over my head. i also need to read the importance of being earnest.
on the topic of literary works, i absolutely loved alison's dad's love of the fitzgeralds. just like him, after reading both of their works, i became obsessed with them. there is something so glamorous about their wild times. i need to read this side of paradise, but loved that we had both loved nancy milford's zelda biography. i will also look into reading some colette.
this was an interesting read and i look forward to reading it after i visit the above works, to hopefully get a different take on the memoir.
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