Superstars

by Ann Scott

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Pub Date Apr 07 2026 | Archive Date Mar 24 2026

General Fiction (Adult) | LGBTQIAP+ | Women's Fiction

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Description

One of the premier French cult novels of the last thirty years, a tender and combative portrait of Paris’s queer rave scene in the 90s — for fans of Virginie Despentes and Gary Indiana.

Louise is a woman in her early thirties with a record contract, colorful roommates, and a passionate, volatile relationship with the lesbian community around her. She used to be part of the French rock scene, having dated and collaborated with a man named Nikki who was a crucial figure in that milieu. But she has been out of that world for years, having switched from rock to rave culture and, concurrently, having started to date chiefly women. Her longest and most combative relationship in this scene has been with Alex, another woman who has established herself as a DJ and has recently started seeing a much younger woman named Inès.
One day, Louise receives a life-changing advance from a record label to produce her own electronic music. She struggles to handle the responsibility of professionalizing her lifestyle, one suffused with the omnidirectional drama of the women in her circle, and with her own equivocations about her role in it. They bar-crawl, watch MTV, go to each other’s sets, hook up, and do copious drugs.
Tension builds as Louise finds herself pulled toward multiple possible paths: forward in her career in the techno world; backward toward rock’n’roll, Nikki, and the life he represents; toward Alex again; and toward Inès, leading to a dangerous and ultimately devastating affair. Ann Scott portrays the Paris underground in all its beauty, ugliness, and pulpy grandeur, with the caustic voice of a born punk struggling to conform to the standards of a new, hungry world of anticonformists.

Available Editions

EDITION	Other Format
ISBN	9781662603471
PRICE	$22.00 (USD)
PAGES	304

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Additional Information

Average rating from 2 members

Featured Reviews

Paolo R, Reviewer

Superstars? More supernova! Because this book was definitely explosive. It caught my attention from the very start.

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Camille L, Reviewer

‘Superstars’ reads like the hardcore nepo baby of ‘The L Word’ and ‘brat’, except it was originally published in French in 2000 and thus predates those pieces of media entirely. We don’t really follow a plot as much as experience the life of Louise, a DJ in her early 30s, as she drifts in a drug-fueled haze through the queer Parisian techno scene.

Louise is deeply unlikeable and at best completely delusional. At one point, she monologues about how she’s so mature and knows how act in relationships, but at the same time is in a secret situationship with her ex’s new girlfriend (who is 17, btw) and then cheats on said situationship with her current roommate and best friend (did I mention this is a book about lesbians? Lol).

The authentic 90s setting is really prominent and enjoyable. Louise is annoyed by Britney Spears and everyone’s baggy clothes (she’s clearly not like other girls) and she constantly watches MTV. The ravers also have a “standard survival kit” that consists of a TV, VCR, and stereo.

Louise struggles with a heroin addiction, which gets increasingly worse as she crashes-out more and more throughout the novel. In general, the hard drug-use that’s portrayed is pretty graphic and consistent, so be aware of triggers related to that before reading.

The writing and translation are both excellent; some moments in the novel are truly beautiful and made me pause. Overall, I enjoyed ‘Superstars’ and I’m excited that it’s finally being released in English!

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