Alison Bechdel

When I was growing up in the 1960s, there was starting to be more books geared towards young adults. ”

I probably read Harriet the Spy about 70,000 times. ”

One of them is already having some menopausal symptoms. I'm working on that. I'm giving them all little lines under the eyes, trying to sort of make them age gracefully. ”

And partly, the worst thing you could do in my family was need something from someone. So physical strength represented an avenue of self-sufficiency to me. ”

I never really read superhero stuff as a kid. ”

Partly I resented being perceived as weak because I was a girl. ”

I don't know, maybe it's because I was raised Catholic. Confession has always held a great appeal for me. ”

I get a lot of mail from men who really identify with Stuart, you know, Sparrow's boyfriend. I love that. Even though I used to say I wanted men to read the strip even though there weren't any men in it, so they'd be forced to identify with the women. ”

I love Jules Feiffer. I didn't discover him until I was a little older. ”

But mostly, it's a book about my relationship with my father. ”