Mirkat Always Reading

Whereas Fun Home focused on Alison Bechdel's father, Are You My Mother? (as the title suggests) focuses on her mother. Bechdel takes her readers through her process of trying to determine the source of the emotional distance she has always felt between herself and her mother. As her mother herself observes upon reading early chapters of the book, this is very much a "meta-book." The opening reveals Bechdel struggling with the best way to let her mom know that she's doing another memoir and focusing on her this time. During this opening, Bechdel shares her uncertainty about where the story should begin. How far back should she go? Similarly, the end of the book is not truly an end. In between, the book is as much about its own composition as it is about the relationship between these two intelligent, creative women.

It took me all of two days to finish reading this book, and it only took me that long because I had the interruptions of daily life keeping me from just reading it straight through. Whenever I wasn't reading it, I wanted to pick it up again. Once I'd finished it, I missed it. I think I will need to re-read Fun Home now!