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erinastin's review against another edition
3.0
There were so many aspects of this story that I found compelling, the most prominent being Alison's relationship with her father as well as the character of her father as a whole. However, I found her constant literary references unnecessarily pretentious and her constant need to make meaning of everything slightly irksome. Regardless, I still found this to be quite a powerful memoir.
readingwithcoffee's review against another edition
4.0
I think the book dances around it but takes it more seriously then the average reader but I wish people took more seriously the father preying on teenage boys as teacher (especially since he was also a deacon and how as a cradle catholic that dug a lot up for me) instead of pretending he was just a repressed gay man va a closeted guy that choose to mess with teen boys vs a man his age despite his wife having adult gay men friends and him and his wife having swinger friends that hit on both of them. If he didn’t want to miss with kids he wouldn’t have and it’s kinda a shame his daughter he emotionally neglected that’s for obvious reasons biased in favor of her fathers who’s approval she’s still chasing in the book was more honest about it still then the average reader.
Whether the victims are teen girls or boys people just make excuses for grown men constantly replacing them with a newer model bc they’ve aged and it’s very sad to me.
Whether the victims are teen girls or boys people just make excuses for grown men constantly replacing them with a newer model bc they’ve aged and it’s very sad to me.
marko_krstanovic's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.0
sneaky_tequila's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.25
seventhswan's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.5
May's read for book group, 4.5 stars. I haven't read a graphic novel since I was about eleven and I'm not entirely sure the pictures added much to this for me, other than that I do love a map and the jokes were fun to spot. Regardless, I thought this book managed to be both entertaining and moving - I can't imagine it's easy to write something funny about your father's suicide and sexual interest in teenage boys, but I never felt Bechdel was being overly self-pitying or morose. The quality of the writing was also really excellent and I enjoyed the references to various books and plays. Some I'd read and some I hadn't but I didn't find that, for example, not having read Ulysses myself harmed my understanding of the book. I found it easy to connect with Bechdel, I think we'd get on, we seem to have a lot in common.
I thought it was a bit rogue that the narrative was almost entirely "and my dad killed himself because he felt so much SHAME about being GAY" as if he was only struggling with attraction to other men and not, by the sounds of it, grooming teenagers. I can understand not wanting to reckon with that too deeply, I just kept waiting for it to be addressed and it never really was.
I was probably predisposed to like this, as I love a memoir in any form, but I still enjoyed it more than I expected. A creative and at-times relatable read that I'm excited to discuss with others.
I thought it was a bit rogue that the narrative was almost entirely
I was probably predisposed to like this, as I love a memoir in any form, but I still enjoyed it more than I expected. A creative and at-times relatable read that I'm excited to discuss with others.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Death of parent, and Suicide
Moderate: Homophobia, Death, Sexual content, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Alcohol