The Guardian’s “The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century” describes Fun Home as a pioneering work that helped shaped the modern genre of “graphic memoir.” The book is praised for “combining detailed and beautiful panels with remarkable emotional depth.”
Fun Home was adapted into a Broadway musical and won five Tony Awards, including “Best Musical.” The author, Alison Bechdel ’77, is a recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Award.
In an interview, Bechdel credits her studies at Simon’s Rock as informing her work: “Arthur [Hillman]’s book art class taught me a LOT about cartooning, as it happens. Comics are basically artist’s books… Learning to not just illustrate a book but to make it… was revolutionary for me.”