Fun Home is one of my all-time favourite books, but I haven’t enjoyed Alison Bechdel’s subsequent memoirs as much, and I’ve only read bits and pieces of Dykes to Watch Out For. So I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up her newest graphic novel, Spent. It stars a graphic memoirist named Alison Bechdel, whose book about her taxidermist father was made into a hit TV show. She runs a pygmy goat sanctuary with her partner, Holly, and is surrounded by a quirky cast of friends and their friends’ kid: an asexual nonbinary activist who drops out of school to start a podcast with their partner (named Badger) about polyamory and anti-capitalism.
At first, I was skeptical. The characters felt… cartoonish, for lack of a better word. They seemed uncomfortably similar to a right-wing strawman version of leftists. And in someone else’s hands, this story could very much be a sneering satire of activists. Instead, though, as the story went on, the characters felt more real. They’re flawed—and none more so than Alison, a neurotic and sometimes self-centred character who becomes convinced she needs to write a reality show that’s about freeing people from consumerism—but they also show up for each other.
In fact, by the end, I didn’t want to leave this community. I doubt Bechdel intends to write a sequel, but I could spend hundreds more pages with these characters. (Which is maybe a sign to finally read Dykes to Watch Out For.) I also found it inspirational. Alison and her friends struggle with the myriad crises of the world, but they don’t succumb to apathy or despair. They organize letter-writing campaigns. They protest. They write books and make podcasts. They shop locally. They support each other. They try.
I know I’m not alone in feeling overwhelmed by the state of the world and unsure what to do. This book felt like an unexpected bit of guidance showing the importance of pushing back any way you can, as well as the rewards of community building—no matter how messy and imperfect.
There are a lot of threads going on simultaneously: Alison’s horror at how her book is being adapted into a TV show that’s jumped the shark, Holly’s sudden social media fame after posting a video about chopping wood, the stumbling beginnings of a throuple, Alison’s relationship with her right-wing sister, and more. Together, they make this the story of a whole community.
I’m glad that I pushed through those first few chapters, where I wasn’t sure the tone the narrative was going to strike. While Bechdel is definitely not afraid to poke fun and herself and fellow leftists, it’s clearly from a place of love. I did not expect to finish this book feeling inspired, but Spent turned out to be exactly what I needed.
