In anticipation of tomorrow’s Salon on graphic nonfiction, I asked around the FPA office to see which graphic nonfiction works are most popular. I discovered that Alison Bechdel could start a fan club amongst our staff and even Kanye West has gotten into the graphic memoir field.

Vicki Solot, Artistic Director… Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home

Tiffany Thwaites, Marketing Intern… Through the Wire (illustrations by Bill Plympton based on the music and lyrics of Kanye West)

Sarah Crawford, Intern to the Artistic Director… Craig Thompson’s Blankets

Dan Gasiewski, Managing Director… Stitches by David Small tied with Bechdel’s Fun Home

Nick Forrest, Administrative Coordinator… Abandon the Old in Tokyo by Yoshihiro Tatsumi, with a caveat, “Although neither a memoir, nor nonfiction, per se, this graphic novel does an incredible job of capturing the feeling and politics of a particular time and place in history through small, personal stories that speak to much greater truths.”






As for me, my first foray into graphic nonfiction was Maus, so that will always hold a special place in my library. But I do think that Fun Home is my favorite. Bechdel created such sad intimacy in her work about her dysfunctional childhood; I can’t imagine reading it and not being affected.


Share YOUR favorite graphic nonfiction books in the comments section!


-Karina Kacala