Michel Houellebecq
Michel Houellebecq (real name Michel Thomas) was born on 26 February 1958 (birth certificate) or 1956, on the French island of Réunion.
Houellebecq gained fame with the novel Extension du domaine de la lutte in 1994 (translated into English by Paul Hammond as Whatever), he won the 1998 Prix Novembre with his novel Les Particules Élémentaires (translated by Frank Wynne) and published as Atomised (Heinemann, UK) or, The Elementary Particles (Knopf, US). The novel became an instant "nihilistic classic". The New York Times, however, described it as "a deeply repugnant read." The novel won Houellebecq—along with his translator, Frank Wynne—the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 2002. The author's following novel, Plateforme (2001), earned him a wider reputation. It is a romance, told mostly in the first-person by an aging male arts administrator, with many sex scenes and an approbation of prostitution and sex tourism. The novel's depiction of life and its explicit criticism of Islam and the Muslim faith, together with an interview its author gave to the magazine Lire, led to accusations against Houellebecq by several islamist organisations.
His most recent novel is The Possibility of an Island (translated by Gavin Bowd. Original title La Possibilité d'une île), is a ...
Michel Houellebecq: Not Casanova
When I got on the plane I realized that I’m traveling to a festival devoted to Casanova, and I found it slightly shocking. Well, I guess for you it has many connotations - it evokes ...
A platform for closed minds
Salman Rushdie argues that Michel Houellebecq's Islamic opponents have miscalculated badly.
Agent provocateur
Michel Houellebecq is the literary equivalent of a rock star - rebellious, adored and reviled - and a multi-millionaire. Andrew Hussey, who has known the controversial writer ...
Michel Houellebecq: The Possibility of an Island
How vividly I remember the first moments of my vocation as a clown! I was seventeen at the time, and spending a rather dreary month in an all-inclusive resort in Turkey-it was, ...
Michel Houellebecq: The Elementary Particles
The first of July 1998 fell on a Wednesday, so although it was a little unusual, Djerzinski organized his farewell party for Tuesday evening. Bottles of champagne nestled among ...
