Summary

“Are You My Mother?” is a nonfiction graphic novel memoir by Alison Bechdel. Bechdel begins her book, as she begins every chapter in this book, by sharing a dream she has had. In this dream, she is trying to cross a body of water, but is unable. Then she wakes up.

The action cuts abruptly to Bechdel in her car where she is having an imaginary conversation while driving. She is practicing how to tell her mother that she will be writing a book about her father. This book is “Fun Home,” a book previously written and illustrated by Bechdel. This might be painful for her mother, since Bechdel wants it to be truthful. She will include her father's bisexuality and suicide.

As she's practicing this conversation, a Stroehmann's bread truck cuts her off. She takes this as a sign of some kind of...