Circus

or, Moira Orfei in Aigues-Mortes: A Novel

Soft Skull is reissuing Koestenbaum’s first novel Moira Orfei in Aigues-Mortes with a new title, Circus

A story of art and obsession pushed to the extreme, Circus received glowing critical reviews; Kirkus described it as the “mad genius of Pale Fire with the florid outlaw sexuality of Jean Genet.”

Circus was extremely well-received by critics and contemporaries alike, but its arrival was under-publicized. Koestenbaum is a cult figure and a critically-acclaimed and award-winning poet, cultural critic, and novelist in the vein of Lynne Tillman, and we’re excited to introduce this book with his enthusiastic reading base and beyond

Soft Skull, under the editorial leadership of Yuka Igarashi, is committed to reissuing key titles from the backlist to introduce them to new readerships. From Maggie Nelson's Something Bright, Then Holes to Jillian Weise's The Amputee's Guide to Sex, these reissues have an iconic trade paper original packaging and are intended to be provocative and accessible.