Booklist
The controversial French author of The Elementary Particles (2000) turns in another unremittingly bleak novel. In addition to amplifying his views on the decadence of Western civilization, Houellebecq displays an absolutely chilling prescience in his depiction of a violent Muslim sect. Misanthropic, sexually frustrated bureaucrat Michel embarks on a "Thai Tropic" package tour, amusing himself with snide commentary on his fellow vacationers and frequent visits to sex clubs. Although he is attracted to business executive Valerie, he has trouble engaging her in small talk. However, when they return to Paris, their relationship quickly turns passionate as they explore sadomasochism and public sex. Michel talks Valerie and her business partner into marketing sex tours to the Third World, selling them on his theory that Westerners have lost touch with their own sexuality. But when they decide to sample one of their own tours, their resort becomes a flashpoint for Islamic hatred. Houellebecq is unrelenting as he meticulously constructs a world that mirrors his own cold vision and that cuts uncomfortably close to the bone. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
?Howard Stern meets Albert Camus in this novel of sex and alienation . . . Houellebecq has sharp observations about ennui in the Western world and rage in the Muslim one.?
?Kyle Smith, People
?Astute, graceful, sexually preoccupied . . . Houellebecq rewards with glimpses through his particularly keen lens.?
?Arthur Hirsch, The Baltimore Sun
?A novel at once brilliant, charming, puzzling, annoying and sometimes downright repulsive . . . The work of a highly talented writer.?
?Jean Charbonneau, Cleveland Plain Dealer
?The talented, cynical Houellebecq blasts Western culture and Islam in his odd, subversive entertainment.?
?Carlo Wolff, The Boston Globe
?Blunt, arrogant, coolly detached, ultra-sophisticated, impeccably and simply presented, intellectually self-assured and very self-conscious . . . This is the real thing, the kind of novel that ends up in the canon.?
?Michel Basilières, The Toronto Star
?Kyle Smith, People
?Astute, graceful, sexually preoccupied . . . Houellebecq rewards with glimpses through his particularly keen lens.?
?Arthur Hirsch, The Baltimore Sun
?A novel at once brilliant, charming, puzzling, annoying and sometimes downright repulsive . . . The work of a highly talented writer.?
?Jean Charbonneau, Cleveland Plain Dealer
?The talented, cynical Houellebecq blasts Western culture and Islam in his odd, subversive entertainment.?
?Carlo Wolff, The Boston Globe
?Blunt, arrogant, coolly detached, ultra-sophisticated, impeccably and simply presented, intellectually self-assured and very self-conscious . . . This is the real thing, the kind of novel that ends up in the canon.?
?Michel Basilières, The Toronto Star
