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Night Night Fawn
From the author of Confessions of the Fox comes a novel in which a yenta on her deathbed gives an unrepentant account of all her failures—including her child.
“Jordy Rosenberg might be one of our most fearless living novelists. There are no half-measures in his work, just big ideas and living characters and gorgeous sentences and metafictional panache and surprise after heart-stopping surprise. Night Night Fawn is extraordinary.”—Carmen Maria Machado, author of In the Dream House
In a cluttered rent-controlled apartment in the middle of Manhattan, Barbara Rosenberg is terminally ill, high on opioids, and writing the story of her life. She has opinions about her smutty late husband, her career as the receptionist for a disreputable plastic surgeon, her glory days as an accomplished jazzerciser, and her failed aspirations to be a film noir actress. But what she really wants to talk about are unhinged thoughts on gender, Karl Marx, Zionism, and her two great disappointing loves: an estranged trans son and a long-lost best friend whose betrayal haunts Barbara still. As she descends further into delirium and illness, Barbara finds herself in a nightmare from which she cannot escape, and her circumstances put her on a crash course with these intimates—or are they avenging nemeses?—once again.
Part novel, part someone’s mother’s unauthorized memoir—all diatribe, gutter schtick, and deranged manifesto, Night Night Fawn is a ferociously candid account of intergenerational conflict.
“Jordy Rosenberg might be one of our most fearless living novelists. There are no half-measures in his work, just big ideas and living characters and gorgeous sentences and metafictional panache and surprise after heart-stopping surprise. Night Night Fawn is extraordinary.”—Carmen Maria Machado, author of In the Dream House
In a cluttered rent-controlled apartment in the middle of Manhattan, Barbara Rosenberg is terminally ill, high on opioids, and writing the story of her life. She has opinions about her smutty late husband, her career as the receptionist for a disreputable plastic surgeon, her glory days as an accomplished jazzerciser, and her failed aspirations to be a film noir actress. But what she really wants to talk about are unhinged thoughts on gender, Karl Marx, Zionism, and her two great disappointing loves: an estranged trans son and a long-lost best friend whose betrayal haunts Barbara still. As she descends further into delirium and illness, Barbara finds herself in a nightmare from which she cannot escape, and her circumstances put her on a crash course with these intimates—or are they avenging nemeses?—once again.
Part novel, part someone’s mother’s unauthorized memoir—all diatribe, gutter schtick, and deranged manifesto, Night Night Fawn is a ferociously candid account of intergenerational conflict.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published March 3, 2026
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4285 people want to read
About the author
Jordy Rosenberg
5 books285 followersJordy Rosenberg is a Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His novel, Confessions of the Fox, was published in 2018 by Random House US/Canada, Allen and Unwin AUS/NZ, and Atlantic Books UK. In 2021 Paseka published Confessions in Czech. A new novel, Night Night Fawn, is forthcoming from Random House/One World in 2026.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
February 4, 2026
Wow yeah okay! The epigraph ponders telling a story through the eyes of an SS Officer and I think that really sets the tone of this book. This follows Barbara, a Jewish woman from New York who is dying and reflecting on her life in all its disappointment while being cared for by her gender non-conforming child who she considers to be the biggest disappointment of all. Barara's voice really stands out, she's evil, delusional, and dare I say a bit camp.
Her story really cleverly envelops this ordinary Jewish American family’s involvement in the Zionist movement. I appreciated how this explored the conversations taking place within the community at the time, defying the narrative that this has always been a movement universally supported by American Jews.
The gender stuff is of course really good if hard to read at times. We do not access the child’s perspective of growing up queer and gender non conforming, we just watch through Barbara’s homophobic and transphobic eyes.
Rosenberg is such a smart author and this really comes through here, this is such a clever and unique book that will stick with me for a long time.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC
Her story really cleverly envelops this ordinary Jewish American family’s involvement in the Zionist movement. I appreciated how this explored the conversations taking place within the community at the time, defying the narrative that this has always been a movement universally supported by American Jews.
The gender stuff is of course really good if hard to read at times. We do not access the child’s perspective of growing up queer and gender non conforming, we just watch through Barbara’s homophobic and transphobic eyes.
Rosenberg is such a smart author and this really comes through here, this is such a clever and unique book that will stick with me for a long time.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC
March 5, 2026
I have been waiting for this book for...well, since I finished Confessions of the Fox. And it did not disappoint.
March 10, 2026
Night Night Fawn joins the increasingly large number of books addressing end of life issues as witnessed by someone on their deathbed. What sets this one apart is that Jordy Rosenberg has given voice to Barbara Rosenberg, an elderly woman who is facing death in her rent controlled apartment that she has lived in for decades. She finds herself reliant on the ministrations of her only offspring, a trans daughter whose sexual orientation Barbara has been aware of since early on and who has been estranged for a good deal of her life. In addition to the physical indignities she suffers, she also is heavily reliant on opiods for relief. I wonder at the choice of her last name, ponder if this isn't a form of metafiction, and applaud the entire project as it will remain with me for a long time.
March 6, 2026
Night Night Fawn by Jordie Rosenblum, we meet Jewish wife and mother Barbara Rosenberg who’s ill at the end of her life. As she looks over her life with her husband Steve and her daughter who’s never named we learn about her daughter who rather dress like a boy than a girl her husband who she thinks is wishy-washy with no opinion of his own at the best of times it didn’t sound like she was all too affectionate with her child but it is her daughter who at the end of her life is there taking care of her not that Barbara can remember day-to-day but she does remember that she comes around now and then. Even though in the book we learned the daughter lives with her and even brings her girlfriend over for overnight something that really hurt Barbara. There are many things in this book that had me thinking this must be a real person and a real thoughts because it was not only hilarious but so I don’t wanna say relatable but familiar. From her jazz size to the plastic surgeon she worked for all her grievances the whole situation with the picture at the funeral I mean this book is hilarious. I really was hoping that would be a resolution by the end with her and her daughter and whether there was or not I won’t say you’ll have to read the book but if you love a funny book and love Jewish women then you’ll definitely enjoy this book I know I certainly did it was truly a funny yeah down to fiction memoir that I definitely enjoyed. there were times when certain family members were around that had me rolling like when Stan paid for them all to eat at that fancy restaurant and she was sitting next to sugar OMG that was funny I just really enjoyed this book. just be warned she doesn’t like the fact her daughter is either trans or lesbian and she’s very vocal about that and there’s also lots of talk about her over using her OxyContin so if those are triggers maybe don’t read this. #NetGalli, #TheBlindReviewer, #HonestReview,
March 24, 2026
How a hateful, bitter protagonist still manages to be hilarious and enjoyable is a testimony to the author’s talent. Saying that I read this book is not even worthy of the work…I experienced this book. Brilliant writing! Furthermore, listening to the audio version further elevates the experience.
March 9, 2026
Are the transphobes okay? NO! In this brilliant dark comedy, a Zionist yentel on her deathbed enumerates her life's many disappointments, including her son: a trans man, a Marxist, and... a giant owl?? Come for the unhinged stream of interfamilial bitterness, stay for the stinging Proustian insights.
March 8, 2026
There are so many well-crafted sentences I kept pausing just to admire them.
March 11, 2026
jordy rosenberg has done it again i fear
March 5, 2026
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC. Reading through this synopsis I thought this book would be great. But the execution of it felt disjointed, meandering and really hard to connect with the main character. It’s a quick read though and the last 10% was great.
October 1, 2025
This book was really fun to read and was very uniquely written. Barbara is a character like none other and I was wildly fascinated with her. Heavy on the theme of mental illness this book is like a wild ride through the brain filled with madness. I gasped a lot and had to take a big deep breath when I was finished. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
It's a delight to see that Jordy Rosenberg can riff on multiple genres and styles, I look forward to a world where we have a pile of his books and they are all wildly different. Night Night Fawn may have very little in common with Confessions of the Fox on the surface, but they both Go Hard. These are books that are A Lot but in the best way. They are not quite linear (though this is a lot closer to it). And they both involve a kind of festival of grievances, this time from Barbara Rosenberg.
The story of a great man on his deathbed is its own literary subgenre and it's nice to see it so beautifully upended. Barbara is not a great man, she does not have any noteworthy accomplishments. But her story is enthralling anyway, it's clear very quickly that Barbara is smarter and funnier than the life she has made. But also that there are limits to her ability to look back and reflect. It is a kind of play on the unreliable narrator, since Barbara is basically being truthful, it's just that the reader sees more than Barbara does.
If I had known going in that this was a book that is (to oversimplify things) the perspective of a boomer parent who cannot accept their queer child, I am not sure I would have picked it up. I am, to be quite honest, pretty fatigued with the near-constant stream of books and films about this type of parent, most of which end with a reconciliation and acceptance with (or often without) an unrealistic apology. That is not this book, thankfully. I am not sure what it is about Rosenberg's touch, but this book did not hurt me the way the others sometimes do. It isn't that the homophobia and transphobia isn't explicit on the page, it very much is. But seeing through Barbara's eyes, seeing how she will only accept one type of child, seeing how her frustration calcifies into something brittle and ultimately deeply self-sabotaging is not exactly revelatory but it allowed me to actually look at this kind of thing straight on without having my own reflexive refusal to engage. This is not a book about forgiveness or making things right. It is a book about misdirected anger, about the ways it destroys a person. It is about becoming pitiful.
It is a tragedy in more than one way. Because you hate Barbara but you also don't. As Barbara tells her story we get to see in a way she doesn't grasp that she is part of a generation of Jews, of women, who were given a path to walk. Barbara walks the path and she does it well, even though it isn't what she really wants. Barbara's frustration is never at the system that sent her here, never at the rules she dutifully follows. Instead her anger directs itself at the people who refuse to follow the system--her best friend and her only child. Barbara takes their decisions as judgment, as betrayal.
It is a familiar song to some of us, I'm sure. And will likely resonate even more deeply with anti-Zionist Jews, since Rosenberg has a lot to say about the way Zionism worked its way into this system Barbara so dutifully follows. (If you want an appetizer for this book, I would recommend watching Exodus, or at least checking a Wikipedia summary if you're unfamiliar.)
Because this is a much more accessible book (not a single footnote, if I recall correctly) I hope it opens up Rosenberg to a wider audience. This has a lot to latch on to, it's a surprisingly propulsive book for a deathbed meditation, and Barbara is such a complex and recognizable character. There's some surrealism and a couple of gut punches along the way.
The story of a great man on his deathbed is its own literary subgenre and it's nice to see it so beautifully upended. Barbara is not a great man, she does not have any noteworthy accomplishments. But her story is enthralling anyway, it's clear very quickly that Barbara is smarter and funnier than the life she has made. But also that there are limits to her ability to look back and reflect. It is a kind of play on the unreliable narrator, since Barbara is basically being truthful, it's just that the reader sees more than Barbara does.
If I had known going in that this was a book that is (to oversimplify things) the perspective of a boomer parent who cannot accept their queer child, I am not sure I would have picked it up. I am, to be quite honest, pretty fatigued with the near-constant stream of books and films about this type of parent, most of which end with a reconciliation and acceptance with (or often without) an unrealistic apology. That is not this book, thankfully. I am not sure what it is about Rosenberg's touch, but this book did not hurt me the way the others sometimes do. It isn't that the homophobia and transphobia isn't explicit on the page, it very much is. But seeing through Barbara's eyes, seeing how she will only accept one type of child, seeing how her frustration calcifies into something brittle and ultimately deeply self-sabotaging is not exactly revelatory but it allowed me to actually look at this kind of thing straight on without having my own reflexive refusal to engage. This is not a book about forgiveness or making things right. It is a book about misdirected anger, about the ways it destroys a person. It is about becoming pitiful.
It is a tragedy in more than one way. Because you hate Barbara but you also don't. As Barbara tells her story we get to see in a way she doesn't grasp that she is part of a generation of Jews, of women, who were given a path to walk. Barbara walks the path and she does it well, even though it isn't what she really wants. Barbara's frustration is never at the system that sent her here, never at the rules she dutifully follows. Instead her anger directs itself at the people who refuse to follow the system--her best friend and her only child. Barbara takes their decisions as judgment, as betrayal.
It is a familiar song to some of us, I'm sure. And will likely resonate even more deeply with anti-Zionist Jews, since Rosenberg has a lot to say about the way Zionism worked its way into this system Barbara so dutifully follows. (If you want an appetizer for this book, I would recommend watching Exodus, or at least checking a Wikipedia summary if you're unfamiliar.)
Because this is a much more accessible book (not a single footnote, if I recall correctly) I hope it opens up Rosenberg to a wider audience. This has a lot to latch on to, it's a surprisingly propulsive book for a deathbed meditation, and Barbara is such a complex and recognizable character. There's some surrealism and a couple of gut punches along the way.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
An elderly woman lays dying at home. She calls to her adult daughter to help her and imagines her daughter as a somewhat frightening bird. The woman, Barbara, has had a life filled with disappointment--in her inability to pursue a career on the stage, in her choice of husband who ended up pursuing a career in public health instead of medicine, and in her daughter, a butch lesbian. Barbara comes from a generation just prior to the Baby Boomers, in which finding the right husband who can provide for an upwardly mobile life and having a child who can fulfill her mother's own thwarted dreams are the hallmarks of a good life.
While at times a sympathetic main character and narrator, Barbara isn't especially likeable. She's overly critical of just about everyone, jealous of her friend who seems to have fulfilled her dreams, and deeply homophobic and sexist toward her daughter.
Clearly, the author has a larger purpose in writing such a novel. It was difficult to understand in the first third of the book if there was even a plot or merely a character study. But things become a bit more engaging toward the middle and there's a big plot twist in the last few pages.
In his Acknowledgements, the author seems to imply that the book is a Marxist critique of colonialism and Zionism. The daughter is described as a Marxist, much to the mother's displeasure, and there are a few trips to Israel for the family, mostly notably the last one described in which the daughter is forced into becoming a volunteer for the IDF, a situation that leads to nothing good. The author also spends quite a number of words describing Barbara's recounting of the plot of the movie, Exodus, as an example, I guess, of how American Jews were propagandized about Israel.
The author has done a good job capturing a specific generation of Jewish women raised in NYC's outer boroughs with a hunger for upward mobility through marriage. The writing is hyper-specific and unsparing. Unfortunately, the few diary entries from the daughter included toward the end seem similar to the way the mother speaks and a more distinct style would have been more realistic.
This is a hard book to rate given the strong writing but the thematic problems.
I was provided an ARC by the publisher via NetGalley.
While at times a sympathetic main character and narrator, Barbara isn't especially likeable. She's overly critical of just about everyone, jealous of her friend who seems to have fulfilled her dreams, and deeply homophobic and sexist toward her daughter.
Clearly, the author has a larger purpose in writing such a novel. It was difficult to understand in the first third of the book if there was even a plot or merely a character study. But things become a bit more engaging toward the middle and there's a big plot twist in the last few pages.
In his Acknowledgements, the author seems to imply that the book is a Marxist critique of colonialism and Zionism. The daughter is described as a Marxist, much to the mother's displeasure, and there are a few trips to Israel for the family, mostly notably the last one described in which the daughter is forced into becoming a volunteer for the IDF, a situation that leads to nothing good. The author also spends quite a number of words describing Barbara's recounting of the plot of the movie, Exodus, as an example, I guess, of how American Jews were propagandized about Israel.
The author has done a good job capturing a specific generation of Jewish women raised in NYC's outer boroughs with a hunger for upward mobility through marriage. The writing is hyper-specific and unsparing. Unfortunately, the few diary entries from the daughter included toward the end seem similar to the way the mother speaks and a more distinct style would have been more realistic.
This is a hard book to rate given the strong writing but the thematic problems.
I was provided an ARC by the publisher via NetGalley.
March 3, 2026
Thanks to Net Galley and One World Imprint from Random House for the chance to read an early copy. The opinions are my own, but I must warn that this book is not for everyone. The whirlwind of polysyllabic words and a mish mash of Yiddish (A lot of it incorrectly used, and I know because I am fluent.)
I got pulled into this maelstrom of a novel, into the mind of an elderly woman in Manhattan, upper East Side, dying o f cancer in a tiny rent-controlled apartment. Interspersed with the horrifying symptoms of her dying, we learn about her girlhoos and early life, as well as her work, marriage, and daughter who likes to wear men's clothes. This woman, Barbara Rosenberg, is described as a Yenta, but she is not. A Yenta is a gossip but Barbara is something far from that. She is a homophobic mother who makes her daughter's life a misery. Yet it would seem that this daughter, Jordana, (after a character in the film Exodus, is her mother's caregiver. She also takes on the body of a giant bird.(?) There is the story of Barbara's best friend Sugar, who is very successful but has done something to ruin the friendship.
Much of the novel deals with Zionism, Marxism and the early State of Israel. It's chock full of information, some very funny lines, and a major surprise at the end that left me reeling. I must admit that I have never read anything quite like this before and that I will have to go back glean what I feel I may have missed. Is this a novel, is it a posthumous biography of a parent? It requires more thought.
I got pulled into this maelstrom of a novel, into the mind of an elderly woman in Manhattan, upper East Side, dying o f cancer in a tiny rent-controlled apartment. Interspersed with the horrifying symptoms of her dying, we learn about her girlhoos and early life, as well as her work, marriage, and daughter who likes to wear men's clothes. This woman, Barbara Rosenberg, is described as a Yenta, but she is not. A Yenta is a gossip but Barbara is something far from that. She is a homophobic mother who makes her daughter's life a misery. Yet it would seem that this daughter, Jordana, (after a character in the film Exodus, is her mother's caregiver. She also takes on the body of a giant bird.(?) There is the story of Barbara's best friend Sugar, who is very successful but has done something to ruin the friendship.
Much of the novel deals with Zionism, Marxism and the early State of Israel. It's chock full of information, some very funny lines, and a major surprise at the end that left me reeling. I must admit that I have never read anything quite like this before and that I will have to go back glean what I feel I may have missed. Is this a novel, is it a posthumous biography of a parent? It requires more thought.
March 24, 2026
A flawed Jewish mother is dying and she is recounting her life. She has long since been estranged from her now adult child who is her caregiver.
We get all of our information from Barbara who is filled with disappointment in her family and how her life turned out. This of course is everyone else’s fault for not living up to her expectations. It’s impossible not to laugh at Barbara’s stories, opinions and musings. This is a compelling story and while you may or may not like Barbara, she’s certainly entertaining. The author’s narration is absolute perfection in the audiobook production. Because the narration is outstanding, get this one on audiobook if you can. There is a shocking revelation late in the story, so don’t read too many reviews as someone is sure to spill a spoiler. I’ll be thinking about Barbara and her family for some time. Brilliant and a must read.
We get all of our information from Barbara who is filled with disappointment in her family and how her life turned out. This of course is everyone else’s fault for not living up to her expectations. It’s impossible not to laugh at Barbara’s stories, opinions and musings. This is a compelling story and while you may or may not like Barbara, she’s certainly entertaining. The author’s narration is absolute perfection in the audiobook production. Because the narration is outstanding, get this one on audiobook if you can. There is a shocking revelation late in the story, so don’t read too many reviews as someone is sure to spill a spoiler. I’ll be thinking about Barbara and her family for some time. Brilliant and a must read.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A mother. A deathbed. A rent-controlled Manhattan apartment filled with regret, sharp opinions, and unfinished business.
In Night Night Fawn by Jordy Rosenberg gives readers a raw, darkly funny, and deeply uncomfortable final confession.
Barbara is flawed, furious, hilarious, and heartbreakingly human. This novel doesn’t offer easy redemption, it offers reckoning. And it asks: what do we say when time is almost up?
If you love character-driven stories, nonlinear narratives, and complicated family dynamics, this one is worth the read. 📚
My Review
Thank you to Broadspire PR and NetGalley for the gifted eARC for review consideration.
In Night Night Fawn by Jordy Rosenberg gives readers a raw, darkly funny, and deeply uncomfortable final confession.
Barbara is flawed, furious, hilarious, and heartbreakingly human. This novel doesn’t offer easy redemption, it offers reckoning. And it asks: what do we say when time is almost up?
If you love character-driven stories, nonlinear narratives, and complicated family dynamics, this one is worth the read. 📚
My Review
Thank you to Broadspire PR and NetGalley for the gifted eARC for review consideration.
March 20, 2026
Simply incredible. Rosenberg has done it again. Confessions of the Fox was one of the best books I’ve read in the last decade and Night Night Fawn is probably up there. Barbara Rosenberg’s voice is soooo precise, such a sharp and perfectly clear character. So much to say about social striving and motherhood and desperately wanting to be seen in a way that nobody is acknowledges. but honestly that’s not even what the book is about. It’s a trans gay Marxist anti-Zionist intertextual trip. And fucking hysterical. I dunno I will have to reflect more to say something more astute about it but reading it was such an experience. Jordy Rosenberg you are the goat. Also the Zohran Mamdani shout out in the acknowledgments was a crazy surprise.
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October 25, 2025I received an advance review copy for free through Netgalley
This is truly a book that you are not sure exactly what story you're following until the back half and then the rug is pulled out from under you at the very end.
I honestly was not sure if I enjoyed this book mainly because the main character is not likeable at all even though it's clear she's nearing the end of her life due to illness you still don't like her as she recounts parts of her life.
Overall this ended really strong and I won't say anymore so as to not give anything away but it ends with a lot more heart than you ever think it will.
This is truly a book that you are not sure exactly what story you're following until the back half and then the rug is pulled out from under you at the very end.
I honestly was not sure if I enjoyed this book mainly because the main character is not likeable at all even though it's clear she's nearing the end of her life due to illness you still don't like her as she recounts parts of her life.
Overall this ended really strong and I won't say anymore so as to not give anything away but it ends with a lot more heart than you ever think it will.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I appreciated this complex character of an elderly woman. It is rich storytelling to have someone looking back on their life.
I appreciated the representation of an anti-zionist Jewish woman. I felt the depiction of her struggle to accept her trans son was handled deftly.
This is a great read and I would recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.
I appreciated the representation of an anti-zionist Jewish woman. I felt the depiction of her struggle to accept her trans son was handled deftly.
This is a great read and I would recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.
December 1, 2025
incredibly charming and fearless book told in the form of a memoir from an elderly Jewish woman discussing her past regrets and some of the people most important in her life, including her trans son and her former best friend. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.
March 4, 2026
If my mother were a self-centered, transphobic lunatic, I would also write autofiction about it; but to write it from her own point of view is, I think, a genius move, or at the very least an innovative way of dealing with one's mommy issues.
March 22, 2026
Thank you to PRHAudio for the free audiobook. All opinions are my own.
4.25 stars
Kudos to Jordy Rosenberg for the wonderful narration. Once again, I'm pleasantly surprised when an author reads their own works and pulls it off. Jordy was Barbara Rosenberg and you can't convince me otherwise.
Barbara is dying. She's also high as a kite on painkillers and seeing a large dark bird that she thinks is her daughter. In between visions, Barbara, in a less death-like voice takes the reader through her memories of being a young woman with dreams. Dreams mostly unrealized. She gossips and tells tales, is obnoxious, judgemental, and a product of her time. She also dreams the dreams of the drugged and yet seems to understand her days are numbered.
Also woven into all the memories is her desire to have children and the huge disappointment in the daughter she did have. Very early on there is a battle being fought between Mother and Daughter over gender identity. As the author is transgender, I believe the characterization of both characters is authentic. At times funny, but often cringeworthy as are the aggressive confrontations between the two.
As funny as this tale can be at times, ultimately Barbara ends up mostly alone. That gave this reader something to ponder.
4.25 stars
Kudos to Jordy Rosenberg for the wonderful narration. Once again, I'm pleasantly surprised when an author reads their own works and pulls it off. Jordy was Barbara Rosenberg and you can't convince me otherwise.
Barbara is dying. She's also high as a kite on painkillers and seeing a large dark bird that she thinks is her daughter. In between visions, Barbara, in a less death-like voice takes the reader through her memories of being a young woman with dreams. Dreams mostly unrealized. She gossips and tells tales, is obnoxious, judgemental, and a product of her time. She also dreams the dreams of the drugged and yet seems to understand her days are numbered.
Also woven into all the memories is her desire to have children and the huge disappointment in the daughter she did have. Very early on there is a battle being fought between Mother and Daughter over gender identity. As the author is transgender, I believe the characterization of both characters is authentic. At times funny, but often cringeworthy as are the aggressive confrontations between the two.
As funny as this tale can be at times, ultimately Barbara ends up mostly alone. That gave this reader something to ponder.
March 25, 2026
maybe my favourite writer? excited to read this again when I’m smarter lol
March 27, 2026
I know it’s only March, but I think this may already be my favorite novel of 2026.
October 28, 2025
I loved Rosenberg's last book and was wondering. where he would go for his follow up. As it turns out, the answer is deep into the dying psyche of an elderly Jewish woman as she also reflects on the two great disappointments of her life: her estranged trans son and her ex best friend who betrayed her. Props to Rosenberg for also essentially doing a deep dive into the psyche of some of the worst TERF-adjacent bullshit that says that people like him shouldn't exist. The voice work is astounding here, and this has been one of my favorite reads of the last little while. Pick this up and enjoy the ride.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
NIGHT NIGHT FAWN is dazzling and miserable and hilarious and ruthless, clear-eyed and wholly original, a fucking nightmare and a god damn work of art.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews