The whole comic is a series of anecdotes from Alison’s life growing up, of all her interactions with her father. He worked as an English teacher, and was the director a funeral parlour in the small town they lived in. Through her juvenile eyes, he was mostly just aloof and detached, with odd tastes in hobbies and odder friendships. Throughout, she and her father are at constant logger heads.
But only after Alison herself goes to college, and comes out as lesbian, does she finally have a revelation; her dad was gay, but never came out of the closet. But just as she is ready to have that heart-to-heart with her father, he dies in an accident, which Alison believes was actually a suicide.
The narrative is non-linear and stream-of-consciousness, and delves deeply into Alison’s sexual development and journey. The book constantly pops up near the top of lists of “must read” graphic novels. It is not an easy read, but the story is compelling and the artwork is magnificent, with a lot of attention to detail and period-appropriate throwbacks. On the whole, worth reading once, but not a book one would thumb through repeatedly.