“The English translation arrives at a time when it’s harder than ever to pin the past down . . . Superstars is among other things a story about parallel desires for something inhuman and ego-destroying—a familiar tale about letting art be the less grueling or fatal version of that satisfaction.”
—Brian Dillon, 4 Columns
“Entrancing . . . Scott’s addictive narrative offers a kaleidoscopic look at a lively milieu and a woman’s struggle to overcome heartbreak and obsession, and make a life for herself as an artist. Readers will be thrilled.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“[A] propulsive, glittering read.”
—Sam Franzini, Our Culture
“First published in France in 2000, this wild European romp by author Ann Scott details the hardscrabble life of a thirtysomething queer woman named Louise and her friends who make life fun despite an absence of money or motivation in 1990s, Paris . . . a graphically detailed microcosm of hopes, dreams, and loves, both past and present. This is riveting fiction.”
—Jim Piechota, Bay Area Reporter
“Originally published in 2000, this French cult classic novel chronicles Paris’ queer rave scene in the ‘90s. Think: lesbian DJ love triangles, anticonformists, grainy MTV, and designer drugs. The long-awaited English translation of this pop novel is sure to be spotted on the L train this spring.”
—Sophia June, Playboy “Most Anticipated Books of 2026”
“The literary queen of the Paris techno scene, whose cult novel Superstars immortalized the hedonism and rivalry of the sweat-drenched dancefloors and rave parties of 1990s France . . . Scott’s writing contrasts beautiful party people with the fragility of life, the difficulty of being part of a crowd.”
—Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian
“The iconic Ann Scott chronicles the Paris lesbian techno scene of the ’90s with language as rhythmic and hypnotic as trance music itself, reveling in the debauchery and beauty, the hard drugs and rough sex. This is a wildly ecstatic novel, as the heavens open up for our heroine Louise, but only because she dances with the devils. Brilliant, relentless, and wild as fuck.”
—Paula Bomer, author of The Stalker
“[Superstars] propelled [Ann Scott] into the ranks of Generation X literary personalities . . . alongside Virginie Despentes . . . and Guillaume Dustan.”
—Le Monde
“A raw story, as direct as a slap or a first kiss, Superstars is a hymn to suffering, to furtive delights, to undying love. Scott writes like someone plunging a sword into her reader to disseminate the naughtiest of pleasures. Her book is pain and joy, enough to make you wince.”
—Nicolas Rey, Le Figaro
“We remember Ann Scott as the figurehead of Parisian underground nightlife in the 1990s, a close friend of Virginie Despentes, and the bestselling author of Superstars, the pulpy account of a thirty-year-old heroine being tugged in all directions by lesbian subculture, the techno of her professional life, her love for rock music, and nostalgia for a past lover. It was a portrait so true to life that it became a cult item, to the point of being cited as ‘the novel of Generation X’.”
—Isabelle Lesniak, Les Echos
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