A powerful, provocative, and genre-bending literary memoir that grapples with victimhood, recovery, and resilience
In the before, Jesse James Rose is happy. She has a beautiful boyfriend with melty glacier eyes, she’s on a euphoric journey of gender exploration, and New York City is perfect. In the after, she’s single, making dinner for her grandfather, and wondering if he’s going to forget her name today. Except, in the before, her first-grade music teacher lead her into a dark room to show her something he shouldn’t have. And in the after, she’s finding healing and comfort in coming into her own, even as her grandfather declines.
In the before, she was fine, more or less. But in the after, she has to reckon with whatever the hell restorative justice really, truly means.
Following the aftermath of an assault, and the heartache of caring for a grandfather with Alzheimer’s, sorry i keep crying during sex tells a captivating story of identity, recovery, grief, survivorship, and transness. Through lists, theatrical scripts, flashbacks, and Grindr DMs, Jesse James Rose’s genre-defying memoir is raw and hysterically funny, and takes readers on the wild ride of overcoming the struggles of a trans twentysomething.
“A visceral, raw portrayal of trans and queer life, sorry i keep crying during sex will have you holding on for dear life. This book doesn't pull a single punch. Jesse Rose writes with exactly the type of tender, aggressive, in-your-face narrative gumption we need right now. Don't call it a debut: bitch, it's an arrival.”—Jacob Tobia, author of Before They Were Men and Sissy
