Jordy Rosenberg Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Jordy Rosenberg is a popular American author of historical fiction, gay & lesbian, and thriller genres. He is particularly famous for writing his first book, Confessions of the Fox. This book has been praised as a mesmerizing and astonishing one by several literary magazines. Many others have described it as crudite, irreverent, and something that should not be missed. In addition to being selected as the Best Summer Book of 2018 by Publisher’s Weekly, the book has been nominated for the ‘Center for Fiction First Book Prize’. Author Rosenberg’s novel is one of the first books penned by a transgender author with a non-binary editor, and released under the banner of a major publishing company. The book is considered to be an electrifying work of sui generis. It describes a love story that took place in the 18th century London and revolves around notorious thieves & queer subcultures. The genre-bending first book tells an interesting story of desire, liberation, and gender.

In one of his interviews with the Huffington Post, author Rosenberg has discussed how trans fiction’s relationship is a broader liberation project. He says that there are many ways in which, for genderqueer, trans, and other oppressed people, the existence of transgenders is treated like an unreality. That is something that Rosenberg has tried to fight against through his novel. He believes that literature and language are one of the ways, but there is no limitation in the ways that can be adopted to fight for the cause. Rosenberg also says that another effective way is to fight in favor of the ability to write stories and write fiction. Apart from being an upcoming author, Rosenberg is also an associate professor and a scholar. He is employed at the Massachusetts Amherst University, where he is involved in teaching 18th-century literature and sexuality and gender studies.

Rosenberg has received awards and fellowships from the Ahmanson Foundation, the UCLA Centre for 17th and 18th Century Studies, Cornell University’s Humanities Society, the Marion & Jasper Whiting Foundation, J. Paul Getty Trust, and the Science Fiction & Fantasy Workshop of the Clarion Foundation. Rosenberg has authored a scholarly monograph called Critical Enthusiasm, which deals with the religious passion’s transformation and capital accumulation. Currently, he resides in Northampton, Massachusetts and New York City. When talking about his book, Rosenberg says that he is very much attached to the character of Dr. Voth. He is depicted as a scholar and transgender. While working at a certain university, Voth feels the pinch of austerity politics against his sexual orientation. There are certain things about Voth that are fictionalized for a literary purpose. Rosenberg’s publisher had given him all the freedom to make the voice of Dr. Voth as unhinged as he wanted to. In creating Voth’s character, author Rosenberg had to go back & forth a lot.

The book’s earlier iterations didn’t have much of Voth’s voice in footnotes. It was only after half of the editing work was completed that Rosenberg realized he can use the footnotes to add an editor character. He was helped by being directed to it by Tisa Bryant, the MFA Writing Program’s chair at CalArts. She made Rosenberg realize that it is important to know the editor character well before using him/her in footnotes and it is not feasible to use any editorial voice that does not represent a character. Subsequently, Rosenberg gave it a lot of thought and wrote Voth in a very intense burst. Rosenberg is of the opinion that the marginalized groups are forced upon certain kinds of unreality such as unreality of the ability to have self-determined identities, their lives, etc. And it is this kind of painful unreality that Rosenberg wished to metabolize. He wanted to analyze the relationship between struggle and pain and eventually ended up writing the mind-blowing story of Dr. Voth. This book was not only appreciated by the queer community, but also readers from all sections of the society. They hailed the efforts of author Rosenberg in developing such a meaningful story. This led to the immense success of the novel throughout the world. As a result, Rosenberg became a popular name in the literary world.

The debut book written by Jordy Rosenberg is entitled ‘Confessions of the Fox’. It was released in 2018 by the One World publication. The primary characters mentioned in the book include Dr. Voth, Bess, P, Jack Sheppard, and several others. Rosenberg has set the plot in London. The story begins by depicting that Dr. Voth is increasingly unhinged and recently jilted. He indulges himself into work and carries out obsessive research on Jack Sheppard’s life. Jack was a legendary thief from the 18th century. The true story of Jack is not known to anyone as his confessions were never found. When Dr. Voth discovers some mysterious papers having the title same as that of this novel, he becomes aware of the real story of Jack Sheppard. The manuscript discovered by Voth is dated 1724 and it describes an orphan’s life, who goes by the name P. At the age of 12, P was sold into slavery. Over the years, he struggles with the desire of living as ‘Jack’. Later, he comes in contact with a sex worker named Bess and falls in love with her. Bess is looking to free herself from the prison of the flesh trade.

While being in the company of Bess, P starts imagining a different life for both of them. P is brought into the underworld of London by Bess. There, he gets acquainted with the rogues and scramps, who often clash with the newly formed police force of London. He also sees the thriving of queer subcultures and the imminent threat of an upcoming plague. In the end, P decides to become Jack Sheppard, the most wanted and most notorious thieves in the history of England. Dr. Voth seems to believe every word mentioned in the manuscript and works tirelessly to get it authenticated. He learns that there are others who want Jack’s story at any cost. They seem to be going to any lengths to retrieve the story from Voth. In the events that follow later, Dr. Voth gets drawn into conspiracy and corruption. The struggles that he goes through to do justice with Jack Sheppard’s story makes him realize that his fate is intertwined with that of Jack’s. He shows the willingness to do everything in his capacity to save their fates. Overall, the book depicts a high -spirited adventure, provocative wit, and subversive history to animate the extraordinary characters in forgotten histories.