Alison Bechdel, author of “Fun Home,” Seeks Superhuman Strength

I’m about to hold up the telephone as my late-September interview with Alison Bechdel is winding down after I lastly ask her concerning the faint, rhythmic crunching within the background. She laughs and acknowledges she’s out strolling. “It’s solely simply in the previous few days that the leaves have began to return down, and I’m making an attempt to step between them, however I can’t handle it each time,” she says apologetically.

There’s no have to apologize, after all, as a result of her newest guide, “The Secret to Superhuman Power,” is an encyclopedic ode to Bechdel’s have to maintain shifting. The graphic memoir, her third, chronicles her journey by means of a mindboggling array of health pursuits, from yoga and bosu balls to Nordic snowboarding, mountaineering, Pilates, karate, biking and far, rather more. Solely a idiot would count on her to conduct an interview whereas sitting nonetheless. 

However make no mistake—whereas Bechdel’s accounts of her life typically start along with her early admiration for the man within the Charles Atlas advertisements who recreates himself to get even with the bully who kicked sand in his face, this isn’t a get-fit guide. Somewhat, it’s a continuation of the mission of her first two memoirs, “Enjoyable Residence” and “Are You My Mom?”: the pursuit of self-understanding.