Cart
Free Shipping in Australia
Proud to be B-Corp

Whatever Michel Houellebecq, Won Prix Goncourt in 2010 for The Map and the Territory

Whatever By Michel Houellebecq, Won Prix Goncourt in 2010 for The Map and the Territory

Summary

A computer programmer by day, he is tolerably content, until he's packed off with a colleague - the sexually-frustrated Raphael Tisserand - to train provincial civil servants in the use of a new computer system.

Whatever Summary

Whatever by Michel Houellebecq, Won Prix Goncourt in 2010 for The Map and the Territory

Just thirty, with a well-paid job, no love life and a terrible attitude, the anti-hero of this grim, funny novel smokes four packs of cigarettes a day and writes weird animal stories in his spare time. A computer programmer by day, he is tolerably content, until he's packed off with a colleague - the sexually-frustrated Raphael Tisserand - to train provincial civil servants in the use of a new computer system Houellebecq's first novel was a smash hit in France, expressing the misanthropic voice of a generation. Like A Confederacy of Dunces, Houellebecq's bitter, sarcastic and exasperated narrator vociferously expresses his frustration and disgust with the world.

Whatever Reviews

Funny, terrifying and nauseating * Independent *
The balance between philosophy and narrative detail is perfectly judged; the book slips down easily like a bad oyster. As is the nature of such things, it is grimly comic -- Nicholas Lezard * Guardian *
Le grand fromage du jour * The Face *
It could well turn out to be a cult here too ... astonishing * Time Out *
Snappy, bite-sized, and often very funny. Is it European exhaustion? Is it the soul of man under late capitalism? Millenial gloom? Post-Christian despair? Is it the death of love? Whatever. But Houellebecq describes it perfectly * Literary Review *
This boy needs serious therapy. He may be beyond help * Washington Post *
The mischief-making enfant terrible of new-wave French fiction * Independent *
Houellebecq captures precisely the cynical disillusionment of disaffected youth * Booklist *

About Michel Houellebecq, Won Prix Goncourt in 2010 for The Map and the Territory

Novelist and poet Michel Houellebecq was born in 1958, on the French island of Reunion. At the age of six, Michel was given over to the care of his paternal grandmother, a communist, whose family name he later adopted. Houellebecq has won many prizes, including the Prix Flore in 1996, the Grand Prix National des Lettres Jeunes Talents in 1998, the Prix Novembre and, most recently, the Prix Goncourt in 2010. His first album, Presence Humaine, was released in 2000. He currently lives in Spain.

Additional information

GOR003529241
9781846687846
1846687845
Whatever by Michel Houellebecq, Won Prix Goncourt in 2010 for The Map and the Territory
Used - Very Good
Paperback
Profile Books Ltd
2011-05-05
160
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - Whatever