Bechdel introduces her family character by character. At first I though she was an only child and lived with her father. Because, her family dynamics change dramatically with the addition of another character - brother, brothers, and eventually mother, I was able to reassess my initial assumptions. This is indicative of her overall style in the telling of a story. She gives you one part of a story, and then later goes back to fill in more, and then more until eventually you know the whole story. This approach is effective because she makes sure to give you the prior knowledge needed to appreciate her presentation of her life.
On another note, I find the genre of this novel to be somewhat unclear. I see that this book presents the reality of Bechdel's past constructed through memory. This novel offers a perspective on reality, but specifically Bechedel's point of view. Because she is telling the story of what happened, I'm sure that at least parts of the story are unbiased and that some ground can be safely regarded as neutral. For example, her mother was an actress. I don't feel pressured to analyze why the author decided on the career actress because I know this detail was not up to her discrepancy. Nevertheless, because she is not omnipotent, omnipresent, or omniscient her story cannot be regarded as a completely accurate portrayal of past reality. Memory can play tricks and so she may have remembered somethings differently. Therefore, I think this is well placed in realistic fiction.
Most interesting were the differences in some of her panels. I think she does this to demonstrate, what drawings are derived from memory, and which are from actual past photographs. For example, Roy on page 100 is very different from the majority of her work. From what I've heard, she took many, many Polaroids of actual people in the positions she desired, and then with the picture next to her paper, she drew out her comics.
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