Has mad, bad Michel Houellebecq come in from the cold?

The opening shots were fired last week when Tahar Ben Jelloun, a Moroccan-born novelist and member of the Prix Goncourt jury, made clear he would not be voting for Houellebecq. "I wouldn't have read it if I hadn't been obliged to because of my place on the jury," he said of Houellebecq's eagerly awaited The Map and the Territory. "I wasted three days reading it."

But fans of Houellebecq (pronounced "wellbeck") attributed Ben Jelloun's outburst to jealousy. "Who does he think he is?" asked one blogger. "The only reason he's attacking the book is Houellebecq's reputation for being anti-Islamic."

In 2002, a court acquitted Houellebecq of spreading racial hatred after he declared Islam the stupidest of all religions.

Accused of being a racist, a nihilist and a drunk, Houellebecq, 52, has conversely been described as the most eloquent spokesman for a frivolous, celebrity-obsessed age, and is one of the most popular French novelists abroad.

His latest work, a satire on the contemporary art world, contains no overt misogyny, deviant sex or anti-Islamic sentiment - but is nonetheless set to become the sensation of the French autumn publishing season, which generates the sort of excitement many countries reserve for big sporting events.

One striking aspect of the novel is Houellebecq's appearance as a principal character. It is not a pretty sight: he is depicted, some would say realistically, as a stinking alcoholic with a skin disease and a penchant for eating mortadella and biscuits in bed.

Houellebecq also pokes fun at various celebrities, including television presenter Jean-Pierre Pernaut, a favourite with age pensioners who, in the novel, comes out as gay.

Read more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/has-mad-bad-michel-houellebecq-come-in-from-the-cold/story-e6frg6so-1225911561705